Maths 'should be optional'

[Dave]

Take a look at this.

 

I can see where he's coming from, but personally I think that perhaps there should be a choice between a more applied mathematics GCSE and a full mathematics GCSE. One should be compulsory, because pupils definately need some basic mathematical skills.

[Dave]

On a completely separate point, what do you think of the current education system in Britain as regards to examinations?

 

For people who are outside Britain, it basically goes like this. You get exams when you are 7, 11, 14 and 16. Then, if you decide to do your A-levels (which get you into university) then you have to do exams when you're 17 and 18, which is, in total 6 sets of examinations.

 

In my opinion this is far too much, and the teachers are right to boycott some of these examinations, because at the end of the day they're not going to have time to teach the kids what they need for life, but what they need for the exams. Also, I think the old A-level scheme was a hell of a lot better than bringing in separate AS and A2 level examinations, which are just pointless.

[Radical Edward]

I haven't followed the exam situation much in the UK lately, but I do agree that there is too much emphasis on testing. I can understand why the government did it though - there were too many underperforming and failing schools damaging the future of children, and this really needed to be adressed. About the only way the government could really monitor the situation was through exams. The exams though will never ever count for anything, so from the student's point of view, they are a waste of time. Perhaps the government should only examine schools intermittently and randomly, with the frequency determined by how good the school has been behaving in the recent past. tests pre-gcse should not be worked towards, they should merely be a measure of how good the school is as a whole.

 

Incidentally I thought the old A level system was a pile of cack too, because it forced too much specialisation at too young an age. I think the IB system is alot better, and should take 3 years rather than 2, with some specialisation in the final year.

[daisy]

Back in the dark ages when I was at school, Maths and Arithmetic were two separate 'O' grades (we had "grades" as opposed to "levels" in Scotland - now superseded by standard grades). I think that was fair enough because the arithmetic ensured a basic grounding and was taken by everyone and you could drop Maths after O grade. Personally, I would ban Maths from the whole world - but only because I'm crap at it:) !!! And as for statistics - don't even get me started. I freeze whenever I see an equation.

[the GardenGnome]

Just wondering but should'nt this be in Education?

[BPHgravity]

This is a similar situation that is currently happening in the State of Florida. Florida has mandated a series of exams at all public schools. The schedule is somewhat like this: Read/Math - 3-10 grades, writing - 4,8,10 grades, science - 5th grade.

 

This has been extremely controversial because the teachers feel that they are only teaching kids how to take a test and not teaching them how to learn. Its a fine line. The purpose of the exams is to determined student comprehension and provide funding to the schools.

 

Now you see the issue, funding. For every student that gets over a certain grade, the school gets a certain dollar amount. This has led to schools in every district spending an average of 3 hours a day for exam preparation. The grades that arent taking the exams get an hour of preparation for the next years exam.

 

The bottom line is that some feel the students are going to come out of school with less knowledge and skills to learn but will do very well on any standarized tests they may ever encounter as adults.

 

Unfortunately, no one else seems to be able to come up with a better solution to hold schools and teachers accountable for student progress. Since they enacted these exams a few years ago, it is still predicted that the average high school graduate has a reading comprehension level of about 8th grade and can handle mathematic concepts up to being able to barely balance a checkbook. Go figure? :bs:

[fafalone]

Anyone who can't pass the FCAT shouldn't graduate anyway.

[blike]

Yea, from what I've heard, the FCAT isn't incredibly hard.