Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Reform

Re:Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Reform by Ididntdothis on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @10:10AM (#21692884)

Maybe I am misreading your comment but I am wondering. Why would a math book that was OK ten years ago not be OK now? It’s not like math is changing much. Seems to me that textbooks should be relatively timeless in most subjects.

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Re:Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Reform by wiglaf1979 on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @11:40AM (#21693909)

In principle it should be but in this case the devil was in the details.

Take the Quadratic Expression forms

  o Standard Form: ax^2 + bx + c
  o Factored Form: a(x – r1)(x – r2)
  o Vertex Form: a(x – h)^2 + k

Arkansas could decide that in Algebra I all students must know those three forms. But the book I had was created off of a standard that said that the Factored/Vertex forms weren't needed until Algebra II so it didn't cover all of them.

I would have needed to recognize that shortcoming and figured out a way to cover it so that my students didn't appear to be lacking according to the ever-shifting standards. Not impossible but arbitrarily stupid to redesign the standards every couple of years.

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Re:Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Reform by Ididntdothis on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @11:52AM (#21694025)

" redesign the standards every couple of years."

That seems to be the real problem.

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