Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Some West Virginia county school systems plan to opt out of a new integrated high school math course structure and return to traditional algebra and geometry classes.
The traditional structure, which predates national Common Core standards, focused on individual math subjects. The integrated structure combines algebra, geometry and other math subjects in each course.
Data presented to the state Board of Education on Wednesday shows Brooke, Calhoun, Greenbrier, Hardy, Harrison, Kanawha, Mason, Morgan, Pendleton, Putnam and Ritchie counties plan to revert to the traditional structure in the 2015-2016 school year, The Charleston Gazette (http://bit.ly/1MsbAKB) reported.
Barbour, Berkeley, Cabell, Grant, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, McDowell, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Ohio, Randolph, Summers and Tyler counties plan to keep the integrated structure.
Any other county that wants to revert to the traditional structure must notify the state before the next school year begins, said Joey Wiseman, director of secondary learning for the West Virginia Department of Education.
Schools that revert to the traditional structure must still teach to national Common Core standards. The traditional structure predates the national standards.
"It's the same set of standards," told the board. "It's just how they're grouped."
The board had voted in February to allow county school systems to revert to traditional math courses. Wiseman said counties that revert must have viable plans to transfer students currently in the integrated course path to the traditional course path.
"I don't foresee any of them not being approved because, basically, the counties have been very cooperative," he said.
The most common issue is transferring students from the integrated Math I course to the traditional geometry course, which requires more previous understanding of algebra.
Also Wednesday, state schools Superintendent Michael Martirano told the state board that the Department of Education will open a website on June 18 to take public comment on the Common Core standards. West Virginia University will maintain the site through Sept. 30. The comments then will be analyzed and used to determine whether any changes should be made.
___
Information from: The Charleston Gazette, http://www.wvgazette.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
