Hundreds of NC teachers are flunking math exams

I thought this was kinda funny...

"Hundreds of NC teachers are flunking math exams. It may not be their fault."

"Almost 2,400 North Carolina elementary school teachers have failed the math portion of their licensing exams, which puts their careers in jeopardy"

This is the part that caught my eye..

"Math has proven to be a stumbling block, said Tom Tomberlin, director of school research, data and reporting for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The first year only 65 percent of teachers passed the new “foundations of math” exam, falling to 54.5 percent by 2016-17, the most recent year reported."

55 to 65 percent.
That's how many local kids pass their standardized testing.
But kids dont get to say the test is to hard.

This test is probably over the top difficult, I can only go by what the article says. Either way, our kids dont seem to get the same benefit of a doubt.

www.charlotteobserver.com...

a reply to: Bluntone22

If it's over Common Core, the answer isn't important. Only the process matters. Did they know the process?

a reply to: ketsuko

Ha, yeah it is.
But there is also a do as I say attitude in schools.

We have a volleyball meeting last night with the coach and she informed us that the girls could randomly be drug tested, they use a lottery system.

I asked if the coaches were in the lottery...
She just stared at me..
So I said, you should lead by example....
Got some chuckles but my kid might never see the court.....lol

So a first grade teacher can't pass a math test? That's part of the issue here. You have thousands of teachers who teach grade school who don't do at more than addition or subtraction. You don't even do multiplication with more than one number until 5th grade. So we need a little perspective here.

a reply to: Bluntone22


If you had a child who came home with the common core math homework, you would understand. When my daughter was in elementary school, she would cry over trying to do the math homework the way she HAD TOO! I asked her what is so hard about math, let me see your homework. So I looked at it and could not believe the BS! It isn't math as we know it and learned it but math with a whole bunch of BS ridiculous busy work where they don't care if the answer is right, they care about whether or not you used their lame brained method to get to your answer. So even if a child is capable of doing math in their head as you and did and they just wrote down the answer? NOPE! Where is your work!


I told my daughter to have her GD teacher call me, because that is how ridiculous this common core CRAP is. Never got that call either.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: ketsuko

Ha, yeah it is.
But there is also a do as I say attitude in schools.

We have a volleyball meeting last night with the coach and she informed us that the girls could randomly be drug tested, they use a lottery system.

I asked if the coaches were in the lottery...
She just stared at me..
So I said, you should lead by example....
Got some chuckles but my kid might never see the court.....lol

Wow...they do random drug tests for students on sports teams now? That's pretty messed up.

And I agree...the coaches should have to as well.

As for the teachers....I guess if they cant cut it then they need to find other teachers. I have gone over some of my kids homework for math a few times and it truly is foreign to me. I went through linear differential and equations for computer science in college and I have a hard time following the common core junk.

Moved my kids to a private school starting this year and thankfully wont have to deal with that anymore.

originally posted by: seeker1963
a reply to: Bluntone22


If you had a child who came home with the common core math homework, you would understand. When my daughter was in elementary school, she would cry over trying to do the math homework the way she HAD TOO! I asked her what is so hard about math, let me see your homework. So I looked at it and could not believe the BS! It isn't math as we know it and learned it but math with a whole bunch of BS ridiculous busy work where they don't care if the answer is right, they care about whether or not you used their lame brained method to get to your answer. So even if a child is capable of doing math in their head as you and did and they just wrote down the answer? NOPE! Where is your work!


I told my daughter to have her GD teacher call me, because that is how ridiculous this common core CRAP is. Never got that call either.

I was really good at math for a while but they kept beating me down over and over every day every year taking point after point pretending I didn't know how to do math, because I hated showing all of my work. Probably my stubbornness, but eventually I just refused to show any work. Then I stopped doing any work, and just wrote down bs answers for the homework. Good answers alone on exams were not enough to pass many classes. I honestly can't remember how I even graduated because of those math requirements.

-Alee

a reply to: seeker1963

Hey man not agreeing with said policy but I am over 40 and in the UK back in the mid to late 80s, math always required to show working, if you dont understand the method then I/you/anyone could have guessed , I know I did with one question regarding how much fluid was in a beaker, i just looked at the drawing and took a guess, problem was the drawings were in no way representitive of the numbers regarding how much liquid was in each, DOH!!

a reply to: seeker1963

Oh, but some of the big adherents say that it's all about showing and teaching kids that there is more than one way to get the answer. I say we've simply moved on to a different one way -- that way and it's a stupid way. If it works for a kid, let them use it, but they've mandated that every kid has to know it and use it instead of simply getting the right answer.

But then, math is white oppressive, and I may just be white-splaining to say that we should be concerned with the outcome of success rather than a process that leads to failure but looks impressive.

It is pretty sad... I mean I'd want to know what the consider a "hard" math question. It appears the issue is that elementary school teachers aren't passing as the math is related more to the middle and high school classes which is the complaint. Of course, they are probably just talking basic alegbra which really isn't helping make the case for these teachers being qualified.

With that said, if you are teaching third graders, I guess as long as you can do that well is all that matters.

In fairness, I've found in my career and education, that often times there is a huge disconnect between standardized testing and actual job performance as the tests don't actually test what you do in the job.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

My daughter started her sophomore year today.
They are not allowed to carry bookbags or purses to class this year and the excuse is the jewel/vape epidemic.....
Good god the kid had a vape....whoopie....

I pointed out that half the school is teenage girls and they need a purse if ya get my drift..

Crickets....

I gotta run for school board

a reply to: Bluntone22

I am 47, and the way math problems are now, are not the way I as taught. I work with Autistic and special needs kids. One of the kids, I do homework with. He is 14 high end autistic and smart! English is still English, Science is still Science. Some ways they teach math have changed, and it is not taught the way I learned.

So, luckily the guy who runs the PC lab, at the Boys and Girls club, I work with my case at, I go to him. He explains it to me, then I am like, oh ok. It has always ended up being something I knew, its just is not taught the same. If PC guy would not explain it to me, I would be clueless.


Not saying thats what is up with these teachers, but this has been my experieance having to do homework with a 14 year old.

originally posted by: schuyler
So a first grade teacher can't pass a math test? That's part of the issue here. You have thousands of teachers who teach grade school who don't do at more than addition or subtraction. You don't even do multiplication with more than one number until 5th grade. So we need a little perspective here.

I would think being able to "reach" kids and make them think is what a good teacher is.

I took a class to be a teachers aide. Then they gave us a test like this. Only 2 people out of the whole class past it.

My instructor was livid. She was about being able to communicate with the kids.

originally posted by: UpIsNowDown
a reply to: seeker1963

Hey man not agreeing with said policy but I am over 40 and in the UK back in the mid to late 80s, math always required to show working, if you dont understand the method then I/you/anyone could have guessed

, I know I did with one question regarding how much fluid was in a beaker, i just looked at the drawing and took a guess, problem was the drawings were in no way representitive of the numbers regarding how much liquid was in each, DOH!!

I am over 50 and yes we did have to show our work as well, however for basic arithmetic it meant crossing out and carrying over. That isn't common core by far. They are forcing these kids to do 3 times as much to get to the answer as I was taught. Sad thing is the answer doesn't have to be right! Only the process they used to get to their answer......

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Vasa Croe

My daughter started her sophomore year today.
They are not allowed to carry bookbags or purses to class this year and the excuse is the jewel/vape epidemic.....
Good god the kid had a vape....whoopie....

I pointed out that half the school is teenage girls and they need a purse if ya get my drift..

Crickets....

I gotta run for school board

That's ridiculous.

a reply to: Annee

My old history teacher knew everything in the book, too bad he was about as exciting as burnt toast.

You are spot on, teachers need to communicate.

I would to see a racial and sexual breakdown of the test scores

Math is racist(per a prof at UI), do the teachers test results support that claim?


www.google.com...

Don’t have kids and it’ll be sometime before I have personal experience with the State’s education arm, but I do remember dating a girl from Michigan (MSU graduate) who took her first teaching job in NC...this was during grad school, so I wanna say it was 2007-8, but she, along with 10s of other first-time teachers, came here because of the higher pay and Michigan’s educational bureaucracy.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that, at one point in the recent past, NC appeared to have solid teacher landscape. My $0.02

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Annee

My old history teacher knew everything in the book, too bad he was about as exciting as burnt toast.

You are spot on, teachers need to communicate.

Exactly!

I was very much against the law requiring all teachers in primary grades to have a Masters Degree (some Bachelor, depending on state).

Communication is what is needed with young children (even high school, IMO)

originally posted by: kurthall
a reply to: Bluntone22

I am 47, and the way math problems are now, are not the way I as taught. I work with Autistic and special needs kids. One of the kids, I do homework with. He is 14 high end autistic and smart! English is still English, Science is still Science. Some ways they teach math have changed, and it is not taught the way I learned.

So, luckily the guy who runs the PC lab, at the Boys and Girls club, I work with my case at, I go to him. He explains it to me, then I am like, oh ok. It has always ended up being something I knew, its just is not taught the same. If PC guy would not explain it to me, I would be clueless.


Not saying thats what is up with these teachers, but this has been my experieance having to do homework with a 14 year old.

In my mid 40s. We couldn't use calculators until I think Trigonometry because of the graphing... around 11th grade IIRC.

Math is a game of practice. In my old age, I really only remember basic stats and algebra. I really don't remember any of the geometry, trig, or calculus I took as I've never really used it in my professional life. I used a ton of stats (regressions, financial calcs, etc) in my professional life though.

We were taught with brute force. Flash cards and "times tables." I remember my grandmother wouldn't let me out the house one summer in 2nd grade until I completely memorized my time tables which was a card 1 through 12 horizontal and vertical. It had the multiplication result 1 x 1, 1x2, 1x3, etc for each row and column.

Once I got to algebra though, the teacher could make or break how easy it was to learn. Nothing is worse than a horrible math teacher.