Teachers questions Taft's curricula

COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft's plan to require tougher math and science classes for high school students doesn't add up, some educators and researchers said.

Many students are failing basic courses such as algebra and biology, and teachers groups said they think pushing students into more advanced classes would increase the state's dropout rate.

"You can't just say, 'OK, now everybody's going to pass physics and Algebra II,'" said Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

Taft's plan calls for higher graduation standards to start in 2011, meaning students now enrolled in seventh grade would be the first affected graduates. The program, dubbed "the Ohio Core," would require high school students to take biology, chemistry and physics and four years of math, including Algebra II, among other courses.

Taft's intention is to better prepare graduates for college and careers, he said when he proposed the plan in January.

Mooney said it would more likely drive away at-risk students who struggle with simpler schoolwork.

However, states with similar requirements haven't seen dropouts increase.

If lawmakers approve the plan, Ohio would become the fifth state to make completion of Algebra II a condition for graduation. No other state requires the specific science curriculum Taft has proposed.

Fewer students are dropping out since Alabama implemented stricter requirements, said Education Department spokeswoman Rebecca White.

And dropout rates haven't budged in Indiana.

"What we've seen is, when you ask them to do more, they do," said Mary Tiede Wilhelmus, spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Education.

In some cases, states may not see higher dropout rates because students who can't meet the higher standards likely would have dropped out anyway, said Robert Balfanz, an education researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

Susan Bodary, Taft's education adviser, is developing model curricula for the math courses to guide school districts. Training middle school teachers to prepare students for the harder classes also would be necessary, she said.

But Balfanz said he is skeptical struggling students will get the help they need.

"People always say they will give extra support, but the history is the requirements come and the support doesn't," he said.