I recall standing on the sidelines of a soccer field a few years back listening to a young woman complain to her friend, "Please pray for me this weekend. I have to take the Praxis exam again, 'cause I flunked it the last 2 times." Now, I had to take calculus II 3 times because I'm not the brightest person out there when it comes to numbers. (for the record I did get a B on the 2nd go-round at the local Community College, but the policy required I take it again at Tech, where I got a C) But these standardized tests are so easy that even a non-mathematically inclined person like myself managed to score 187/190 on the math portion of the Praxis exam.
So... the question is how dumb are all these Elementary Education majors that they can't pass a very easy standardized test? And do you really want them teaching your children? I have much more confidence in parents who care enough to take on their own kid's education and are willing to sacrifice to do so.
MALDEN, Mass. (WPRI) - According to state education officials, nearly three-quarters of the people who took the state elementary school teacher’s licensing exam this year failed the new math section.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the results Tuesday. They say that only 27 percent of the more than 600 candidates who took the test passed. The test was administered in March of this year.
The teacher’s licensing exam tested potential teachers on their knowledge of elementary school mathematics. This included geometry, statistics, and probability.
Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester was not surprised by the results. He told the Boston Globe that these results indicate many students are not receiving an adequate math education.
Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents , said "The high failure rate puts a shining light on a deficiency in teacher-prep programs."
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Does a standardized test show "real" knowledge? Many homeschoolers that I have come to know will say passing a standardized test just shows they know how to take a test. It may not even show what they know, that is evident in the statement "these standardized test are so easy that even a non-mathematically inclined person like myself managed to score 187/190 on the math portion."Perhaps the question is why don't they know how to take a standardized test? Shouldn't they know how to take these things, after all they are going to be spending a good portion of their time teaching kids how to take and pass various test including standardized testing.
After college I came back to my home state to get a teaching certificate. Since I didn't major in teaching, I had to take some teaching classes, substitute teach and pass the CBEST (this is the CA version of the Praxis I assume). I was told, by school teachers and councilors helping me get my certificate, not to be surprised if I had to take the CBEST a few times, and that most people do have to take it 2 or 3 times. I passed with flying colors the first time and couldn't understand what was so hard about it. To me it said a lot about education when your teachers have to be taught again what is considered basic knowledge any high school student should know.
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