Three parents voiced their objections to proposed math course progression changes at the Feb. 13 meeting of the Upper Arlington Board of Education.

Mary Lynn Caswell, the mother of three children in the UA district, said the new course progression will funnel all seventh-grade students who are taking either Pre-Algebra or Math 7 into a class called Common Core 8.

Under the proposed course progression, these students will take Algebra I in the ninth grade, Geometry in the tenth grade, Algebra II in the 11th grade and Pre-Calculus in the 12th grade. Previously, seventh-grade Pre-Algebra students went on to take Algebra I in the eighth grade, advancing the course progression by one year.

“The administration’s contention is that the students will end in the same place, so they are not harmed by the new progression,” Caswell said. “The problem is the new progression defers Algebra II until the junior year. The math portion of the SAT contains Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II. The vast majority of our seventh grade students will sit for the SAT and the ACT without completing Algebra II.”

Caswell said she wrote a letter to administrators proposing solutions, raised concerns with administrators at PTO meetings and met privately with math teacher leader Neal Bluel and Hastings Middle School principal Robb Gonda.

“The administration has been very polite, but they are not willing to offer high school Algebra I to current Pre-Algebra students,” she said. By delaying Algebra II until the junior year, Caswell said, the students will “necessarily be disadvantaged as compared to students who have had the opportunity to complete the course.”

“I know these students. They are in my Girl Scout troop. They’ve spent the night at my house. My husband has coached their soccer teams. I cheer for them at sporting events. I’m friends with their parents. They are going to four-year institutions,” she said.

“I say this to remind us that these kids are real people with real potential. They are the real stakeholders here.”

Caswell’s husband, Jeff, also addressed the board. The Caswells’ daughter, Meredith, is a seventh-grader who is currently taking Pre-Algebra.

“I took the Common Core 8 standards and mapped them against the current Pre-Algebra book,” Jeff Caswell said, offering board members copies of a comparison chart he prepared. “I will tell you that it is my firm contention that (Meredith) will not be exposed to new concepts next year.”

Jeff Caswell said they are asking that these students be given the opportunity to take Algebra I in the eighth grade, but they will settle for students being offered Geometry.

“What I would really like to do is talk to teachers and administrators at the same time,” he said. “We have not been able to present this to teachers who know our kids, who teach our kids every day and who know what they are capable of.”

Cathy Pultz said her children are not currently in middle school, but she has been following the math curriculum changes, both as a parent and as a former teacher.

“I do not understand how you can tell these seventh-grade Pre-Algebra students that as of last year, they were capable of taking Algebra I as an eighth-grader, but now that the math curriculum is changing, they are somehow no longer qualified to take Algebra I,” she said.

“Why would you take these bright math kids and make them take the same class over again?”

Board president Robin Comfort thanked all the parents for their comments, and for taking the time to address the board. The board did not take any action on the proposed course progression changes at the Feb. 13 meeting.

Neal Bluel, the teacher leader for 4-12 mathematics, told ThisWeek that he greatly appreciates the feedback from parents.

“We’re making a very concerted effort to work with the community,” he said. “It’s the only way to go if we’re going to make this successful.”

With regard to specific concerns raised by the parents at the board meeting, Bluel said the phrasing of standards in the Common Core is “very different” than the phrasing in the current course of study.

“Some of the correlations, content wise, are there, but the deep understanding of mathematics is different,” he said. Furthermore, Bluel said, two options are offered that will allow students to test into the old track of courses.

“We would like to meet (students) where their academic needs are. There are other options that allow parents, students, teacher and administrators to help make that decision, per kid.”

Bluel said he could not speak for the College Board, which administers the SAT, or for the ACT.

He referred to the respective websites for the companies, where the ACT identifies itself as an “active partner with the Common Core State Standards Initiative” and the College Board states that they “endorse these standards” and “encourage their adoption and implementation.”

Next year, those responsible for writing the new math curriculum will be looking more closely at the assessment portion, Bluel said. The district has always been able to meet standardized achievements, he said, and remains committed to doing so.

“We’ll continue to learn and adjust over the next two years as a district and as a community, and we will implement these standards to the best of our ability,” he said.