Number of Nashville High School Students Taking Algebra Exams Declines as Proficiency Rates Double

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–As the percentage of Metropolitan Nashville Public School high school students who have been rated proficient in end-0f-course Algebra I exams over the six years has doubled, some 10 percent fewer students actually took the exam.

In 2010, a total of 4,870 MNPS high school students in grades 9 through 12 took the Algebra I end-of-course exam. 1,400 of these students, or 28 percent, were rated proficient or better.

In 2015, a total of 4,380 MNPS high school students in grades 9 through 12 took the Algebra I end-of-course exam. 2,470 of these students, or 56 percent, were rated proficient or better.

As Breitbart News reported earlier, whistleblowing teachers told Nashville’s News Channel 5 that they had been ordered to remove poor performing Algebra I students from their classrooms so they would not be able to take the end-of-course exams.

The allegation is that these orders by MNPS school officials violate Tennessee state law and are designed to “rig the system.”

Joseph Bass, a spokesperson for the MNPS offers this explanation for the dramatic decline, which he sent to Breitbart News on Monday morning:

Below are the number of MNPS students taking the Algebra I End of Course Exam each year and the number and percent at each of the four proficiency levels (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced). The last column shows the percent Proficient or Advanced. We are now held accountable for the results in grades 9-12, and that is what is publicly reported. But we have had an increase in the number of students taking Algebra I in the middle school grades in recent years, and those numbers are shown in the second table. Obviously as more students take Algebra I in grades 6-8, the number taking the course in high school will go down. Furthermore, the data show that our proficiency rates are much higher in middle school, as these are many our highest achieving students. So the increase in students taking Algebra I in middle school negatively impacts our high school accountability numbers.

Here are the raw numbers on grades 9 to 12 provided to Breibart News by MPNS:

Number and Percent of MNPS Algebra I Students by Proficiency Level: 2010-2015
Grades 9-12
Year	Subject	Grades	# Tested	# Below Basic	# Basic	# Profic	# Adv	% Below Basic	% Basic	% Profic	% Adv	% Profic or Adv
2015	Algebra I	9-12	4380	801	1109	1441	1029	18.3	25.3	32.9	23.5	56.4
2014	Algebra I	9-12	4488	945	1401	1363	779	21.0	31.2	30.4	17.4	47.8
2013	Algebra I	9-12	4644	969	1284	1460	931	21.0	27.6	31.4	20.0	51.4
2012	Algebra I	9-12	4388	1014	1542	1044	788	23.1	35.1	23.8	18.0	41.8
2011	Algebra I	9-12	4128	1192	1387	979	570	28.9	33.6	23.7	13.8	37.5
2010	Algebra I	9-12	4870	1640	1830	1025	375	33.7	37.6	21.0	7.7	28.7