Aspiring Massachusetts Teachers Fail In Math

Unfortunately for the 73% of prospective new teachers who failed to pass the math section of the state elementary school teacher's licensing exam, Massachusetts does not grade on a curve. More than 600 applicants took the exam that tests knowledge of elementary school mathematics including geometry, statistics, and probability. Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, says "The high failure rate puts a shining light on a deficiency in teacher-prep programs."

Comments

Deficiencey in Teacher Prep????

[queenb**ch]

OMFG!!! They were *supposed* to have learned this stuff in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL...... How is that a failing of the teacher prep? It sounds like a failing of the public education system.

Re:Deficiencey in Teacher Prep????

[v1]

I've ran into people that made it halfway through high school without being able to read. It happens.

Re:Deficiencey in Teacher Prep????

[mariox19]

This is a sore point for me. For a time, I was trying to get a job as a social studies teacher in New York. Most interviews went this way.

At some point during an on-site interview, in addition to filling out a job application and interviewing with one or more people, I would be asked to write a short essay, on the spot, in longhand. It was usually something like, "Tell about a time when a student really affected you," or some other touchy-feely thing.

I soon realized, since people include all sorts of fluff in their cover letter, that this was more or less a literacy test. Believe me, I went to school with other education majors. Some of them have huge holes in what you would consider basic education. Even some of the English majors are lacking (though not as bad as some of the other majors).

In any case, here's what I consider to be the irony. I was educated in New York public schools. I went to a state university in New York, both as an undergraduate (in history) and for graduate studies (in education). I am a product of New York public schooling. All of this is available on my resume. Moreover, I had to pass certain standardized tests in New York, given to teachers as a part of licensing requirements. The schools I was applying to were public schools. So, the joke is that even with a B.A. and an M.A., and my state certification, the schools could not trust my credentials -- and my credentials are the credentials they themselves award! They are credentials awarded by the New York State education system.

That's how bad it's gotten.

Re:Deficiencey in Teacher Prep????

[WNReynolds]

Ummm.... before we get to high and mighty, perhaps we would like to take crack at this test ourselves: http://www.mtel.nesinc.com/PDFs/MA_FLD009_PRACTICE_TEST.pdf I would think it reasonble to expect a new undergrad in science or engineering to do this (before they start forgetting stuff). But this exam is non-trivial, and would be very tough for someone without several years of undergraduate math (like say, a humanities teacher).

Re:Really Watson? Elementary?

[CorporateSuit]

Around the same time they stopped speaking english. Check out the

Practice Test in PDF form

It was like a random-word generator spat out the questions in the most convoluted way possible, asking the oddest, nonsensical questions they can. For example:

Given that 100 milliliters is equal to approximately 0.4 cup, 205 milliliters is equal to approximately how many cups?

Which of the following expressions models the solution to the problem above?
A. (100 - 0.4)(205)
B. 105% of 0.4
C. (205 - 100)(0.4)
D. 205% of 0.4

The person who wrote this exam probably did so from a mental hospital.