Let’s Play Math!

The teacher’s attitude makes a tremendous difference in the student’s learning. Which of the following teachers would you rather have?

I continued to do arithmetic with my father, passing proudly through fractions to decimals. I eventually arrived at the point where so many cows ate so much grass, and tanks filled with water in so many hours. I found it quite enthralling.

— Agatha Christie
An Autobiography

…or…

“Can you do addition?” the White Queen asked. “What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?”

“I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.”

— Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass

…in other words…

If you could lead through testing, the U.S. would lead the world in all education categories. When are people going to understand you don’t fatten your lambs by weighing them?

— Jonathan Kozol
at Westfield State College’s 157th Commencement

I have to say that, from what I’ve read by Jonathan Kozol, there are many educational issues on which he and I would disagree — but I love the image in this quote.

What good are tests?

I don’t know whether standardized tests actually provide much information about individuals, other than whether the student is good at taking standardized tests. Tests can let us accurately compare large groups of similar students — but if that was all the testers wanted, why require the students’ names?

So much depends on:

• reading speed, which varies tremendously from student to student
• whether the student has the sniffles
• or had an argument with Mom and Dad the night before
• or gets easily bored and decides to play “random dots”
• or finds the reading passages interesting or not
• or has indigestion
• or forgot to eat breakfast
• or is taking the test in a familiar or unfamiliar setting
• or is worried about a sick pet
• or…well, so many things.

I’m always grateful if my students do well on the tests, because that can forestall problems with authorities or extended family, and good test scores will eventually help with college admissions. But I’ve never, ever felt the scores gave me any information I didn’t already know from working daily with the student.

Be prepared

Because facility at taking standardized tests is especially important for high school students, I always recommend homeschoolers work through several test prep books. There are many factors we can’t control, but at least we can make sure the student is as familiar as possible with the test format and the types of questions they will see.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

• How to “Teach to the Test”
• It’s Elementary (School), My Dear Watson
• Elementary Teacher Education
• Quotations XIII: Mathematics Education is Much More Complicated Than You Expected
• National Math Advisory Panel Report Released