Comments on: Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction http://www.kingrat.us/2008/11/washington-state-superintendent-of-public-instruction Private Life Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:20:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Momma Knows http://www.kingrat.us/2008/11/washington-state-superintendent-of-public-instruction#comment-72 Momma Knows Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:42:23 +0000 http://unused.wordpress.com/?p=105#comment-72 This is true, however math and science exams should primarily test math and science skills, not reading. If you have ever seen the WASL exam, you will know what I am talking about. Even more, if you have seen the garbage that Bergeson has pushed on the districts under the guise of math curriculum, you will see why our students perform so poorly and a large percentage of them must take remedial math in college (remedial, as in Algebra 1). Open a CMIC text and you will see very little actual MATH.... just lots and lots of math-sounding terms. When my 9th grader was required to write a 10 paragraph report to explain four very simple statistical graphs which could be interpreted by the average fifth grader, you have to know something is wrong here. This is true, however math and science exams should primarily test math and science skills, not reading. If you have ever seen the WASL exam, you will know what I am talking about. Even more, if you have seen the garbage that Bergeson has pushed on the districts under the guise of math curriculum, you will see why our students perform so poorly and a large percentage of them must take remedial math in college (remedial, as in Algebra 1). Open a CMIC text and you will see very little actual MATH…. just lots and lots of math-sounding terms. When my 9th grader was required to write a 10 paragraph report to explain four very simple statistical graphs which could be interpreted by the average fifth grader, you have to know something is wrong here.

]]> By: Olympic Softworks - Dave http://www.kingrat.us/2008/11/washington-state-superintendent-of-public-instruction#comment-71 Olympic Softworks - Dave Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:55:52 +0000 http://unused.wordpress.com/?p=105#comment-71 I am voting for Bergeson. Some of the data I found online suggests that Dorn has proposed Computation and Facts, while Bergeson is on understanding concepts and using more story-type questions. Grinding numbers does not make you intelligent in math, understanding what to do with the numbers you have does. Also Dorn wants to go straight multiple choice on the WASL while Bergeson thinks it should be challenging and wants to include essay type answers. Reading and writing are important, yes, but Math and Science are staples. The whole 'teach a kid to think' as opposed to reciting memorized data is all good for me. I am voting for Bergeson. Some of the data I found online suggests that Dorn has proposed Computation and Facts, while Bergeson is on understanding concepts and using more story-type questions. Grinding numbers does not make you intelligent in math, understanding what to do with the numbers you have does.

Also Dorn wants to go straight multiple choice on the WASL while Bergeson thinks it should be challenging and wants to include essay type answers. Reading and writing are important, yes, but Math and Science are staples. The whole ‘teach a kid to think’ as opposed to reciting memorized data is all good for me.

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