Gene, I don't disagree that the NYTimes is a questionable source of science and math info, but in this case they were merely disseminating an AP story. And it may even be an accurate report. As far as sample question 10, yes, I looked up the answer. The "correct" answer assumed that the table given in the question was correct, relevant, and should be used (despite the fact that any decent 10th grade chemistry student would know that it was nonsense). The actual question asked for the molecule with the largest weight, not the molecule with the largest [nonsense] value in the table. It reminds me a little of the question my daughter once had on her elementary school math homework, which began "19 people compete in a three-legged race..." For the political part of this discussion, if you want to pursue it, we should take it offline. --ms Eugene Salamin wrote:
--- Mike Speciner <speciner@ll.mit.edu> wrote:
Gene,
There's plenty of fault to go around. Assuming the story is accurate (which is already suspect), you can't really fault Jeb for not knowing the answer off the top of his head, or even for coming up with two angles that add up to more than 180.
I don't fault Jeb for not knowing the answer. Governors are not usually elected for their mathematical skills.
And it's not a surprise that Ms. Marques didn't know the right answer either (at least if one is cynical about U.S. public education).
I'm not surprised that Ms. Marques didn't know the correct answer, and yes, I am very cynical about U. S. public education.
What would be somewhat dfisturbing is if Ms. Marques' answer is the FCAT's official correct answer. So just out of curiosity, I went to the FCAT website to look at their sample Grade 10 Mathematics test. I only got as far as question 10 (on molecular weights) before realizing that I was going to have a similar experience to my investigation of the MCAS when my kids were first subjected to it, namely that a bright kid might have difficulty deciding whether they should answer the questions correctly or give what is more likely the officially correct response.
Did you persevere and find the official answer?
You seem to have missed the essential point of my message. It was not an attack on Gov. Bush, or on an 18-year old student, or even public education. It was an attack on the New York Times.
Who makes up this stuff, anyway?
Which "stuff"? The exams are made up by "educational professionals". The requirement that students pass the test is made up by lawmakers who are responding on the one hand to public demand for better quality, and on the other hand to teacher organizations who don't want their members to lose their cushy jobs.
It's funny that students alone, and not teachers too, are being tested. Actually, about 25 years ago in California, there was a proposal that teachers pass a literacy test. The political compromise enacted was that new teacher candidates would have to take the test, but already credentialed teachers would not. About 1/3 of the candidates were found to be illiterate.
And why do we let them? --ms
Who is "we", sir. This question is best answered by opponents of school vouchers. I do hope that the next step in the President's plan is to let "No Child Left Behind" evolve into "No Child Beneath His or Her Potential".
Eugene Salamin wrote:
Lest anyone be under the illusion that the New York Times has even
the
slightest degree of credibility in their scientific articles, I
quote
from the July 7, 2004 issue, page A17.
FLORIDA: MATH QUESTION STUMPS JEB BUSH. At a speech to high school students in Orlando, Gov. Jeb Bush was stumped on a math question
from
the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which he has championed.
A
student, Luana Marques, 18, posed the question: "What are the angles
on
a three-four-five triangle?" The governor gave a steely grin. "The angles would be -- if I was going to guess," he said. "Three-four-five, Three-four-five. I don't know, 125, 90, and
whatever
remains on 180?" Ms. Marques had the correct answer: 30, 60, 90.
"The
fact that a 51-year old man can't answer a question is not really relevant," Mr. Bush, a Republican, said. "You're still going to
have
to take the FCAT and you're still going to have to pass it in order
to
get a high school degree." (AP)
(So blame the AP for this one.)
Gene
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