Both history and math departments are making efforts to commonize assessments for respective classes so both students and teachers can achieve similar standards and results. The changes are being made in an effort to equalize and improve student performance in courses taught by multiple teachers, such as modern world history, math analysis, algebra, US history, and geometry.

“We’re looking at who did better, and why,” history teacher Ken Brown said.

Brown said tests and other assessments will be examined and compared with those of other teacher’s students in the same courses. Brown used modern world history and fellow teacher of the same course, Mark Cowherd, as an example.

“I would compare the results with those of Mr. Cowherd’s class, look at data and graphs, and understand the differences and why.”

Despite the new attempts to commonize assessments between teachers, the practice is not new, especially to PHS, where the English department has been using freshman, sophomore, and junior assessments to compare the results of English students through written passage analysis. The student’s essays, graded on a 1-6 scale, are looked at by the entirety of the respective grade’s teachers, whereupon results and data are examined.

“The English department has done a great job with [common assessments],” Brown said, “They’ve really helped put a name to it in the last few years.”

Along with history, the math department is following suit as well. Courses such as geometry, algebra, and math analysis all have multiple teachers, who are collaborating to improve the practice of common assessments and to prioritize certain content.

“Algebra, for example, has been tougher in terms of content, and time has always been an issue,” math teacher Doyle O’Reagan said. “We use tests as a means to foster collaboration, so we see which things are more important than others, and whether to emphasize certain content or not.”

O’Reagan said test collaboration is also a good way for teachers to examine which areas students excel at, and which areas students struggle in.

“Rather than relying on anecdotal evidence, we’re looking at specific data and numbers,” O’Reagan said.

Math teacher John Hayden, who teaches algebra and geometry, said, “There is a lot of talk about disparity over classes and teachers, and how it might be easier to get an A in a certain teacher’s class than another’s. It’s a lot about bringing us in line.”

Hayden also said examining data from tests is a method to combat solely numerical statistics from STAR Test data. By picking out a few tests and looking at results, teachers are able to focus on how well students know process and concepts rather than just results.

For both history and math, the departments hope to make strides with this practice to benefit both teaching and learning in the future.