Posted on 01/05/2004 9:54:39 PM PST by Holly_P
Change aimed at getting kids to do some math on their own
Students taking this year's Minnesota Basic Skills math test face new restrictions on the use of calculators.
For the first time in the test's seven-year history, students will have a section of computational questions that must be answered by doing the math in their heads or on scratch paper and not with a calculator.
The change — mandated by the Legislature three years ago — is part of a national debate over the use of calculators in the math classroom. Fans of calculators say they are a needed tool to help students tackle complicated math concepts; critics complain they are a crutch that prevents students from mastering basic concepts.
The state's eighth-graders will sit for the exam Feb. 3. State officials aren't sure how the no-calculator rule will affect passing rates. But last spring's compromise on new state math standards appears to have created a temporary truce in Minnesota on the issue, and parents and teachers are expressing more comfort in testing students on their math skills without calculators.
"There's a broader change (among teachers and parents) in the thinking about how much kids should be able to do without a calculator,'' said Mark Davison, director of the University of Minnesota's Office of Educational Accountability. "It's a swinging back of the pendulum on the issue.''
Since the class of 2000, students must pass the state Basic Skills Tests in math, reading and writing in order to earn a diploma. Students first take the math test in eighth grade and most — about 81 percent last year — pass on their first attempt.
The math tests have always included a string of estimation questions where calculators were not allowed. Those involved estimating the answer to word problems without coming up with the exact answer, such as: If a person can type 48 words in a minute how much is typed in an hour? (Answer: About 3,000 words.)
But now seven new questions have been added that require students to compute exact answers without calculators. The test has 75 questions and students need to get about three of every four questions correct to pass.
Similar no-calculator sections are included in the state Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, the other state test given at different grades.
State testing experts are unsure if the changes will make the test harder or not. The difficulty in the questions is still aimed to gauge if a student has mastered basic math skills.
"It will be interesting to see if testing computational skills in this way will give us a different result,'' said Reg Allen, the state Department of Education's testing director.
Rep. Jeff Johnson, R-Plymouth, authored a bill in 2001 that would have banned calculators from all state tests for grade school and middle school students. He was satisfied with the resulting compromise that expanded the calculator-free section of the Basic Skills Test.
"Kids should be able to prove they can use basic math without calculators. It seems pretty fundamental,'' Johnson said. "It sends at least a small message that we are interested in basic computational skills.''
North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District's Ellen Delaney, who won the state Teacher of the Year award in 1998 as a math teacher, said calculators are not making children flabby mathematicians. The wise use of calculators can make students' tackling of geometry and higher algebra more efficient, she said.
"We gain calculation power with the use of calculators that allows us to get to much more interesting mathematics,'' she said.
Still, she said, she understands the public's skepticism about calculators.
"I don't want to fight the fight'' over calculators, she said.
Delaney served on a committee that developed the state's new math standards. Dissension on the committee at one time prompted members to produce two sets of competing standards and the use of calculators was a key dividing issue. Eventually, however, a compromise was reached and the new standards contain specific information when calculators are appropriate and inappropriate for use.
John Welsh covers education. He can be reached at jwelsh@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5432.
Here are examples from the state's Basic Skills practice test of questions students should answer without a calculator.
1. Elise bought 8½ yards of material. She used 3¼ yards for pants. How many yards does she have left?
A. 4¼ yards
B. 5 1/8 yards
C. 5 1/6 yards
D. 5¼ yards
2. A pen costs $1.39. Sarah bought 3 pens. Not including tax, how much did Sarah
pay?
A. $3.39
B. $3.97
C. $4.17
D. $4.39
3. Tony wanted a bike regularly priced at $800. He bought the bike at 20 percent off the regular price. How much did Tony save?
A. $ 40
B. $160
C. $200
D. $640
4. Henri had a $40 restaurant bill. He decided to leave a 15% tip. How much did
Henri leave?
A. $0.60
B. $1.50
C. $4
D. $6
5. Mia typed 120 words in 5 minutes. What was Mia's average number of words typed per minute?
A. 20 words per minute
B. 24 words per minute
C. 600 words per minute
D. 1440 words per minute
A NSWERS:
1. D
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. B
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Seven subtraction questions without a calculator. Painful!
If you can read books and can learn from them without additional help, you will be set for life. No matter what the subject, there will always be a book that can teach you what you are trying to learn.
Funny story:
Last Saturday, my wife and I were eating at our usual restaurant and the waitress commented about our books. As we wait for our meals to be served, my wife and I often use that time to read our books.
The waitress was absolutely amazed that we always have books with us when we eat at that restaurant.
How can the two of you read so much? My worst subject in school was reading!
My wife and I were very nice and did not say what immediately popped into our heads. However, we were both thinking:
"Well, if reading was your worst subject in school, perhaps that is why you are only a waitress today?"
Tyrone is grossing $400 a day, but then he has to give a small little cut to his hoe, per trick. Also Tyrone needs to keep some bail money loose too.
Got news for you - one of my sisters is taking a teacher's exam and this is the level of math that's on it. And, to make the stereotype complete, she was having trouble with some of it.
She wasn't an ed major (surprise), but at this level of math, there's really no excuse for an adult w/a college degree to have problems, is there?
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