Aspiring Teachers Flunk Math Test

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I used to be a whiz kid in high school math. Now I am over 50 and going back to get my teacher certification. I am afraid of the basic problems in statistics and proability.
Can someone reccomend a good web site or good basic Algebra book that shows "step-by-step" reasoning to figure out any problem in these areas?
Also, I only took Chemistry in College and not Earth Science or Biology> Help!
Thanks,
Teacher Fears Standardized Texes Exam

Teacher to be after 40 years of TX 1:11PM February 13, 2010

"I feel pretty safe in assuming geometry and statistics are NOT being taught in Elementary (grade 5 and lower)."
Yes, they are. A lot of geometry is taught at the elementary level. Perimeters, diameters, angles, etc. are typically taught in 3rd to 4th grade. Statistics aren't taught as a separate area of math but do come up a lot.

JC of CA 1:47PM July 20, 2009

I agree teachers should be able to break things down and teach things step by step. However, should ELEMENTARY teachers need to pass a standardized test for information NOT TAUGHT IN ELEMENTARY school? I'm from MA originally, and while times have changed and more is being asked of our children earlier, I feel pretty safe in assuming geometry and statistics are NOT being taught in Elementary (grade 5 and lower). How much was wasted studying this issue, devising a test and debating the issue? While there are precursors for these subjects in elementary school, I doubt the test was on the names of typical geometric shapes or ratios of one color of discs in a bag of so many other colors. These are how these precursors are taught at the elementary level. Maybe what we are now seeing is the last "improvement" to teaching coming to fruition. 25 years or so there as a big move to "new math", as well as non-phonics based reading programs. "Time-savers" they called them back then. In the long run, more kids needed more time to grasp what they would have grasped the old way...in some cases...they never grasped it, as the first poster testified. These teachers that now have 5 years to learn the required material and retake the test surely wouldn't consider it a time-saver, if in fact the change contributed to the issue. I am only speculating, but I think it bears consideration that going back to the tried and true is sometimes a progressive attitude, especially if what was "fixed" was never broken to begin with.

D.Crosby of TX 9:30AM June 15, 2009

I have the experience to know that a teacher must know math well to teach the subject. I use to fail math every year in high school. Then I found a book at the U of Windsor that explained basic algebra. By showing me step by step what was happening, I realized the teachers in high school were skipping many steps at a time to go from one equation to the next. No wander I thought it was magic. When I realized how simple math is if you explain it step by step, I even saw how derivatives were only algebra, but using a pattern so you don't have to repeat 7 steps each time to calculate a rate. I was even told by the dean of technicians at Devry in Toronto to stop making a remedial class they assigned me to teach, so easy, because it was getting difficult to keep the students back to repeat a term. If a first year calculus student can not figure out at what time two trains will pass each other at different speeds, it is probably because, starting in grade 4, the teachers did not know the basics so well, that they could not show that math is not complicated. Even inter-dimensional and none-real numbers and triple integration should be fun. If at any time you have to think 'What the heck?', it is only because the equation or how to derive the equation was not taught properly.
Note: State choice did not include Ontario, the closest state to me is Michigan.

Bruce Walman of MI 12:27PM June 13, 2009

Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; and those who can't teach, teach teachers !!!!

Dr. Alfred Lightfoot of WI 5:39PM June 08, 2009

I truly agree with the statements concerning adequate preparation for aspiring teachers. My major was Physics with no plans of entering the education field. Five years later, I am still here. Being said, I did take some education prep courses while in college. Unfortunately, these classes did not prepare me for what I face in the classroom. I feel after sophmore year, aspiring teachers should student teach. I think this would weed out the ones that are not skilled enough to accept this calling. As a teacher, you are impacting the lives of individuals whether positively or the opposite. Much is to be considered prior to entering this field.
Granted, standardized testing is beneficial; however, I do not think it is an adequate indicator of how successful a teacher will be in the classroom. Some of the smartest people in the world are not great teachers.

Chandra of TX 12:39PM May 31, 2009

I've been arguing for forty years that college education programs do not screen teacher candidates effectively, if at all. Testing for spelling (!), English grammar, mathematics (at least arithmetic!), history, geography, and basic science are the bare minimum needed for grammar or elementary school teachers. We hardly take into account that a "grammar school" will take care of all the essentials of a reading, writing, and spelling program through grades 1-8; and an "elementary school" should teach the very basics necessary.
As for high school and junior high teachers, in addition to that knowledge required of grammar school teachers, the higher grade teachers should have a complete mastery of the area in which they teach: to be an English teacher, you need a major in English; to be a History teacher, you need a major in History, etc.
Further, all college education departments should require a non-credit course at the end of one's sophomore year for those who wish to enter the field of education. Testing using the MMPI, an IQ test, a test based on teacher-aptitude (not all who wish to teach should necessarily be allowed to do so), as well as other appropriate tests indicative of minimal requirements for teachers.
In addition, no college student in an education program should have less than a C+ average in all courses; in one's major, the minimum should be B+. Mediocre students do not belong in the teaching profession.
I would suggest that Education Departments begin to prepare those who wish to teach with the realities they shall face in the classroom: not having enough textbooks, having to buy supplies for students the schools will not furnish and the parents can't afford, having both mentally and physically handicapped students in the same classroom, having student "attitude" issues because of no regard for education by parents, having students who have minimal English language skills because they come from a non-English speaking home. And lest we forget: the often incompetent, inept non-support of administrators.
Our schools are rife with problems, not all of them academic in nature, but rather rooted in social and cultural insufficiencies. We've historically been an anti-intellectual society. Now our education system must rise above that attitude if we are first to succeed in producing teachers who will creatively attack the problems in the classroom and in the towns and cities in which they teach; and second, develop students through rigorous academic programs that require higher minimal standards and discipline of the mind.
How long will it take colleges to reorganize to prepare teachers for the 21st Century? Perhaps teacher professional development should require a Masters degree by the end of the third year of teaching.
How long will it take state and the federal governments to understand higher taxes are necessary, not to bailout businesses or industry, or to develop arms, but to offer our children their just due: a future.

Veidre Thomas of IN 4:38PM May 30, 2009

I am afraid I didn't pass the math test for the second time. I am an ESE teacher in Florida and unlike the Mass. regulations, I don't have 5 years to pass the test. I need the test to teach in the state of Florida. I have put my family in a bad position. I have been preparing and preparing. I am almost done with my reading endorsement and have passed all other requirements to be a teacher and it comes down to this one test. If I don't pass it now, that's it. My contract will not be renewed and there are no other alternatives. I've made so many sacrifices. I have put in many study hours aside from teaching and will have nothing to show for it. I am at a loss and need advice.
Jenifer

Jenifer Herziog of FL 12:13PM May 30, 2009

By thw way, I do realize that I made various grammactical and spelling mistakes. It just proves my point that all of us inspiring teachers need this kind of testing

Martin Williams of PA 9:53AM May 29, 2009

I just went back to school to become a teacher after working in the hotel industry for the past decade. Ironically, the first chapter that we read in my Education 201 class argues that teachering is a professional job along the same lines as doctors, accountants, etc. For far too long teaching has been a job that just got into because it was easier than pursuing their actual career. These test are a valid way to evaluate a teachers knowledge of subjects and concepts.
I think it's a great idea to require these types of testing for all teacheers! Elementary teachers teach ALL subjects. Therefore, they need to be profecient in ALL subjects including a good understanding of probabilty and statistics. These higher math concepts are now being introduced in elementary schools. How are these teachers able to properly introduce them if they themselves are proficient in the concepts? These elementary school teachers were expected to know trigonometry, calculus or any of the truly higher maths.
Furthermore, we expect our students to be be proficient enough to score well of state test mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. In some states students are required to pass standardized test before they can proceed to the next grade level or graduate. In most cases a poor score overides good graade. Why is it unreasonable to expect teachers, who mold the minds of our children, to be proficient in what they teach?

Martin Williams of PA 9:37AM May 29, 2009