Thursday, September 06, 2007

Math - In the News

These two articles compliment each other.

The Math Debate: When Johnny Can't Count

A new survey shows three out of four high school graduates aren't ready for college even though they've taken the recommended classes. The problem for many students is math.

But math is an issue for teachers, too, because many educators can't even agree on the best way to teach it.




If they've taken the classs, why aren't they ready? This article may help explain.

Daily News exam finds math scores up when difficulty rating went down

When test scores rise, politicians crow that schools are getting better, but a Daily News analysis of recent standardized math exams and a News experiment suggest another reason: The questions might be getting easier.

The News obtained technical details on high-stakes math tests given to fourth-graders across the state over the past six years and found that in every year when scores went up, testmakers had identified the questions as easier during pretest trials.

In years when scores were lower, pretest trials showed the questions were harder.


It appears that to make things look better they have dumbed down the content. As a result, students are not prepared for college level work.

This reminds me of the problem at my local school last year.


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