By Garrett Hedman

I’ve been thinking about this post for a long time. I’ve been thinking about these 474 students a long time.

About a week ago I received the list of students retaking the state tests students must pass to graduate. There were 474 students REtaking the Algebra I test. 474! Put that number in the context of 1500 students that go to our school and…and I’m glad I’m here to help.

During testing week, school productivity yields for this logistical nightmare. Every day we only have one class of students for eight hours. Because I didn’t want to have the third of the class taking tests fall too far behind on material, I opted to have a chemistry review rather than teach 8 hours of new material. Other teachers avoid eight-hour lessons by showing an eight-hour movie marathon, and because many teachers show movies, my students retaliated at the idea of a Chemistry review. Fortunately for my students, during the midst of the review another class joined because their teacher needed to administer a test. Now having a third of my class gone and twenty new students in the classroom, I clearly understood that the powers that be did not want much instruction completed that day. I stopped the review and began an “educational movie marathon” with Planet Earth, and as tough as I thought I had it, the students who take tests have a difficult time with the week too.

By proctoring the English II test, I saw the reality of the monster they were facing. I have heard these tests labeled as “endurance tests” because they are so large. There is also no time limit to the test—students can take all day, which several did. In the class that I proctored, two students finished in a couple hours, most finished in three hours, and a handful of students took four hours. My very last student didn’t fall asleep once (as many do), and spent the full time (6 hours) overcoming this obstacle that is in her way of graduating.

But there’s hope. Foremost, I really do believe with the right instruction many of these students can excel. Being a chemistry teacher I have the opportunity to see how students learn without requiring too much previous knowledge. From this, I’ve really found that anyone can learn science, can learn chemistry, they just need the right motivation. So when I found out some students who were doing exceptionally well in my class were also retaking math tests, all I wanted to do is help because I’ve seen them succeed.

Many of my peers have similar feelings. For the past several months, students retaking Algebra I could go to an after school remediation class to try to learn the material they needed to know to pass the test. Why mention this? All the classes were taught by Teach for America teachers spending their extra time helping students learn. There is nothing like walking down the hall at the end of the day and seeing three inspired teachers teach a room crammed of Algebra students. This is also the only opportunity for students to get remediation for the specific tests unless they retake the class, which is actually uncommon because students can pass the class, but not the test.

So the situation is large, yet there seems to be hope, but what does it all really add up to? A while back, I was teaching a class on how to name hydrocarbons and was really having some difficulty investing some students in my class. While trying to find a way to convince students to try, one student muttered under his breath, “this isn’t a tested subject, why do have to learn so much?” This question struck me hard. I felt like chemistry was secondary to Algebra I, to US history. I could only ask what do these students really want? Or better yet, what are we telling students they need?

I am still searching for the answer.