Algebra is just Algebra, I s'pose (January Post)

This past Wednesday, Tiffany, Meredith, and I were lucky enough to attend a professional development workshop for Algebra I. I will say that the woman training us was definitely very well informed and knew plenty about the curriculum, and I do believe her heart is in the right place. We sat there for 2 hours putting together four 2 inch binders of lesson plans, notes, assessment, motivators, and basically any other "how to be a teacher" material, wondering why we were there since none of actually teach Algebra I. Although some found it a complete waste, I actually found some of the material helpful...and I wouldn't mind keeping those binders as a resource. But why would I? I teach Algebra II, right? Not really. It dawned on me that everything I have "taught" thus far in my Algebra II class was part of the Algebra I state test. They were supposed to have learned it then, most of them in 9th grade, in Algebra I. Then they took Geometry (with a teacher last year who was a nice, intelligent man who simply chose to teach very little, and therefore the students did very little). Then they have me, for Algebra II, which is really just Algebra I again, except this time not in the "I Can" computer lab but in a classroom setting.
So the professional development was not a complete waste for me. It led me to the realization that I have been re-teaching my kids, and yet they still, for the majority of them, don't get it. They have no excuse, right? Well, I brought this revelation to most of my classes yesterday (Thursday) in hopes to understand. It usually went something like this (I brought this up while my students were copying some unusually long notes on factoring)
"I realized yesterday in an Algebra I workshop that everything I have taught this year, you learned in Algebra I."
Now the responses varied, but usually, there was an overall "Nawww!" followed by "I have learned a lot this year."
So then I was confused. I knew from looking at the Algebra I curriculum that I had not covered anything new. So I questioned further, asking whether they didn't remember, or what happened to this prior knowledge? It seems that for the juniors, the first to be on the computers for the "I Can" program, what they learned they learned FOR THE TEST. They became excellent at picking from the multiple choice answers. They excel in the process of elimination. However, they skipped the step of actually mastering concepts, of understanding something enough to apply it, explain it, do it on a regular paper and pencil test with no multiple choice answers but just a blank spot to "show all your work," as they do now in Algebra II. I took a poll in my first period class to see who would rather still be on the "I Can" computers, and who would rather be in the classroom. The below and average-performing students would rather be in the classroom. The above-average students would rather be on the computers. And these are the students that I feel sorry for, because I (and their classmates) are holding them back. They mastered these concepts, and are ready to move on, and I can't, because the rest (the majority) of the class would be dragged along. It's cruel and unfair, and I wish our school had more Honors classes for the purpose of pushing the high-performing students, instead of always forcing them to settle for mediocrity.
So in conclusion, I suppose I have taught (some) of my students this year something. And for a few, a lot, and for a lot I have taught a little. I do hate what high-stakes testing has done to the curriculum for these subject-areas. It's no longer about finding a deeper understanding of fewer things, but instead being able to check off a long list the required skills that are supposed to be acquired during Algebra I. But just because they do well on that multiple choice test on the computer, do they really get it? Could they work it out on paper? Will they forget it in a year when they have to relearn it again in a classroom setting? Doesn't it seem like something much more worthwhile could be going on here, with better planning and teaching and reasoning behind the teaching and planning? I don't know. I'd like to think so.