Algebra II or its equivalent is a gateway course for higher education and teaches quantitative reasoning skills important for the workplace.

In the fall of 2005, nine ADP Network states—Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island—came together to develop specifications for a common end-of-course exam in Algebra II. Five additional states—Arizona, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Carolina and Washington—are in the process of joining the partnership, bringing the total number of participating states to fourteen.

The goals of this unprecedented multi-state assessment are:

• to improve high school Algebra II curriculum and instruction;
• to serve as an indicator of readiness for first-year college credit-bearing courses; and
• to provide a common measure of student performance across states over time.

In March 2007, the contract was awarded to Pearson Educational Measurement (Pearson). At its own expense, Pearson will develop the test items to meet the specifications agreed upon by the nine states.

Field testing of Algebra II End-of-Course Exam items was conducted in October 2007 and February 2008. The first operational test administration is May 1-June 13, 2008. The exam will be administered at the end of fall—December and January and at the end of spring—May and June beginning with the 2008-2009 school year.

About the Exam

The Algebra II end-of-course exam will consist of a common core, which will be taken by students across all participating states. This core will cover a range of algebraic topics that are typically taught in an Algebra II course, and fall into five content standards: 1) Operations and Expressions 2) Equations and Inequalities 3) Polynomial and Rational Functions 4) Exponential Functions and 5) Function Operations and Inverses.

In addition, seven optional modules will be available to states to enrich the core with content that is important to colleges and employers alike. These include: 1) Data and Statistics 2) Probability 3) Trigonometric Functions 4) Logarithmic Functions 5) Matrices 6) Conic Sections 7) Sequences and Series.

Read more about the exam content standards.

Join the Consortium

Additional states that want to use this test and participate in the broader mathematics consortium – including comparative reporting of performance and progress and working with other states to improve secondary mathematics – can do so at any time.

For more information on joining the consortium and participating in the Algebra II end-of-course exam, please read the fact sheet.

More Questions?

Contact Achieve for more information.