Tag team. That's what Maureen and I were the past couple days covering the State Board of Education (SBE) meetings down in Tumwater. Held at the New Market Skills Center (which, btw is a great vocational school. I encourage you to check it out!), I was there on Wednesday to witness panel presentations (admittedly, some more riveting than others) and hear interesting discussion around the third year of math, a new graduation requirement that will be phased in by 2013.

Now, I realize this is a long post but bear with me. Much like the SBE agenda that was chocked full of good information, so is this post so read on!

Two parts of the meeting really stood out to me. The first was a presentation by Susan Bodary, executive director of EDvention, a P–16 collaborative in Dayton, Ohio designed to systemically, strategically and collaboratively support STEM talent development. Susan eloquently presented Ohio's work to strengthen math and science education -- extremely relevant since WA is going through that same process now.

What was great about Susan's presentation was the innovative and inspiring approaches to ed reform both at the policy level and in the classroom. At a policy level, things like:

• Proposing a bill to lessen the amount of money 4-year institutions are given for remediation courses over time. Their goal is to shrink the pool of money to less than 5% per institution over five years. This reduces the incentive for schools to stick with the status quo of students coming to college unprepared. AND it motivates them to work with 2-year colleges and the K-12 system to ensure kids are ready for higher ed upon leaving high school. (Genius!)
• Or addressing the issue of teacher quality and capacity by proposing a bill that gives teachers the choice between $20,000 in loan forgiveness over five years, or $20,000 more salary over five years. Ohio recognized that depending on who those particular teachers are and/or what district they're in, some may want the loan while others may want money in their pockets. Ohio clearly understands that giving teachers options: 1) empowers them and 2) reduces barriers, therefore, nurturing a collaborative ed environment!

In the classroom, Ohio came up with ideas like:

• Integrating economics and financial literacy into Social Studies classes to teach students that STEM is a way of learning. That it is used across disciplines and is for ALL kids.
• Requiring two semesters of Fine Arts in grades 7-12 (not just 9-12) to acknowledge the importance of such subjects, but also create more flexibility in the high school years for additional math and science. (What a great idea!!)
• And offering dual enrollment opportunities for high schools so while raising the floor for all kids, they're not inadvertently lowering the ceiling for those who can do more.

I wish we could clone Susan and bring her here to Washington!

Then there was the debate around the third year of math. Should it be Algebra 2? Should there be an opt-out policy? Do all kids really need Algebra 2? These are questions we've talked ad nauseum about over the past year. And if you click on "Math" in our tag cloud, you can read everything we've ever said about math.

I think it's good that the state board is taking this issue seriously, which is why it is so hotly debated. One board member said that the research that shows Alg 2 as a predictor of college completion is "correlation, not causation." Yes, this is true. But another board member countered that by saying, "that research is the best data we have to date" and we need to make decisions based on the best information available to us. Then there's the issue of whether it's the "traditional Algebra 2 course" or the "skills and concepts learned in Algebra 2" that kids need to be successful. All good questions. But here's my bottom line:

We can't continue to set the bar at the minimum. Doing so is a disservice to our students.

The best data we have today says this:

• Four-year institutions require applicants to have passed Algebra 2 in high school.
• Two-year colleges require the skills of Algebra 2 in order to take credit-bearing math courses. That means, yes, you can get into a two-year college without Algebra 2, but you will most likely have to take and pay for remedial courses to get you up to an Alg 2 level. And kids do not receive college credit for these classes.
• Employers say that they want employees with Algebra 2 skills.

So why would we set the bar any lower than this?

Some argue, because not all kids NEED Algebra 2: What about those kids who want to be a violinist? Or a chef? Why do they need "traditional" Algebra 2?

Well, perhaps they don't. But the purpose of statewide policy is to provide ALL kids with the best education that will give them an array of options after high school. Those kids who have a clear path towards things like music or the culinary arts, probably also have the gumption to do whatever is required of them, by the state, to graduate. Clearly, Algebra 2 will not be a problem for these students.

It's those kids who are "floaters," who don't know what they want to do after high school -- and let's face it, this is the majority of kids -- that we need to make sure do not fall through the cracks. Algebra 2 helps to open doors for these kids. And they CAN rise to the occasion. We just need to give them the chance.

On Thursday, more discussion ensued and the board decided to work on language for a rule that will mandate Algebra 2 for all students with a narrow opt-out policy. The SBE will then vote on the Algebra 2 rule adoption at their next meeting in March. Read this article from The Olympian for more and stay tuned to see how this all unfolds!