Everything that's wrong with American education summed up in one image

American Thinker ^ | 2-21-2022 | Andrea Widburg

[servo1969]

A photograph came across my screen today that perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with modern, traditional education. (I use the word "traditional" as a contrast to Montessori or Waldorf schools.) In it, we see that a child gave a correct answer to an ambiguous question, only to be told his answer was wrong because the teacher was unable to see beyond the confines of her answer book. Things like this turn students into the kind of mindless drones who think as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does.

Here's the photograph:

If it doesn't come through clearly, what you see is that the child was given the following problem in a math class:

8. Reasonableness Marty ate 4/6 of his pizza and Luis ate 5/6 of his pizza. Marty ate more pizza than Luis. How is that possible?

As you can see, the child is presented with a statement of fact: Marty's 4/6 of pizza was less than Luis's 5/6 of pizza. The child is asked to describe a scenario in which this is, in fact, a possible outcome. Presumably, the word "reasonableness" was a tip-off that the answer should be "that is unreasonable," even though the question isn't framed to elicit such an answer. "How is this possible" is framed to elicit an explanation, not a denial.

In the case of the photograph, the smart child noticed that Marty and Luis were not sharing a single pizza. Instead, each clearly had his own pizza. The child, obviously bright, immediately realized exactly how this could be possible:

Marty's pizza is bigger than Luis's pizza.

That is a correct answer. Not only is it correct, but it also shows a child with a flexible mind capable of thinking outside the box.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

[twoputt]

Marty had a deep dish pizza and Luis had thin crust.

There, solved it.

[T.B. Yoits]

High school is usually when students usually begin to suspect some of their teachers are morons but apparently it's now happening in grammar school.

This teacher is not only ignorant, they're arrogant about it as well - true Dunning-Kruger Effect in action.

[WMarshal]

"It’s a poorly worded question and of course the answer is that Marty’s pie is bigger to begin with. There’s really nothing wrong with what either of them said, but I tend to side with the teacher on this. The question was how is this possible and there is an answer for that. Everyone gets all worked up about everything these days."

Read the test question again carefully. This is a logic question, not a direct comparison of fractions and the fractions mentioned are a distraction. The kid had the right answer and the teacher marked it wrong mistakenly.

Are you in education?

[Big Red Badger]

Must be “Woke” math,,,
Freaking Garbage!
.
Think outside the Box,
My A$$.
.
Math is MATH
NOT SOCIAL STUDIES.

[Chode]

i ask for a pound of Tao’s chicken at wally’s yesterday, the girl told me they don’t do pounds anymore but i can haz 8oz, 16oz or 24oz!

i told her i’ll have the 16oz thank you very much, bless her heart...

damn...

[steve8714]

The Sicilian pie is actually great with anchovies. It has the bready Gravitas to soak up the extra salt and oil.

[real saxophonist]

Marty took the rest of Luis’ pizza.

[Yo-Yo]

As you can see, the child is presented with a statement of fact: Marty's 4/6 of pizza was less MORE than Luis's 5/6 of pizza.

[glennaro]

Let's revise the question:

An elementary school student's brain is smaller than their teacher's adult brain. The student is smarter than the teacher. How is this possible?

[Spoiler Alert
Answer: The teacher is "woke" and is therfore an effin' moron!]

[Mr.Unique]

There’s really nothing wrong with what either of them said,

I'd suggest that you go back and read again. What you have said makes no sense.

[Openurmind]

lol, Brilliant! Bet it went right over his head too. I do that stuff to these woke kids too.

[dinodino]

Who said there were six slices? The word problem gives fractions, not slices…

[dinodino]

You’re absolutely wrong in siding with the teacher! Read the word problem again, carefully this time. I can’t believe anyone needs to explain this to you.

[kiryandil]

Justine Turdeau had the bank accounts of the kid’s parents frozen.

[ThunderSleeps]

The student's answer is correct, the "teacher" only succeeded in teaching the student that teachers are not perfect, not right all the time.

The student's answer holds true as long as Marty's pizza is more than 25% larger than Luis's pizza.

[Robert DeLong]

Yeah, reading the question, I came up with the same answer as the child, and could not figure out why the teacher said it isn't possible.

So, then I asked myself how is it possible that the teacher wrote that response on his or her test.

The answer I came up with is stupid teachers and stupid text book authors. Education in U.S. schools, is an abysmal failure, from top to bottom.

[Magnum44]

[Navy Patriot]

Actually, the child gave the correct answer, and for the child's age and development, the answer is just fine.

However it is not complete.

Apparent from the incorrect evaluation by the (teacher, instructor, aide) marking in green, it can be deduced that Marty is a Person Of Color and got special treatment in the form of a larger pizza, while Luis is not, and the setting is a Radical Liberal Marxist controlled pizza eating situation, illustrating the endemic Racist anti White mental derangement of Liberal Democrat Socialist Marxist in Liberal America.

This act was a Crime against White People, everywhere.

THAT is the correct answer.

[ThunderSleeps]

Agreed. The question asked "How is this possible?" Meaning the student should come up with a possible explanation. Marty's pizza may have been larger than Luis's. Marty's pizza may have had thicker crust than Luis's. Marty's pizza may have had more toppings on it...etc.

I *like* this question. It makes kids look for ways to make things happen. It is a very engineering oriented viewpoint - how can I make this work? Rather than a negative viewpoint (ie. political?) of "Why isn't this possible?"