lazyeightbooks

First let me say that the no child left behind act is not working. Standardized testing does not work. There are plenty of references that prove this. The schools are teaching how to take tests rather than teaching the actual material on the exam. This is one of the reasons why I will not teach high school. Secondly, when I was in high school, there were no standardized testing. The only "big" test we had to take was the final exit exam, where the exam consisted a little bit of everything (Science, Math, English, Writing, etc). Students had two chances to pass that exam, if a student didn't pass they didn't graduate and had to attend summer school to catch up. Thirdly, what happened to the curriculum of having to take 4 years of science and math. Now days most high schools only require students to take 2 years of math and science. At my high school we had to take 4 years of math and 4 years science. Most students ended up taking calculus. I myself took calculus in 10th grade because I took math classes in the summer. The teachers I had in high school were good, most had either PhD or Master's in math. This brings me to another point. Teaching certification doesn't always work. Some of the best teachers out there are not certified and they enjoy teaching. Some of the blame should also go toward the teachers. I find that many of the high school teachers are very lazy and do not really enjoy teaching. Sorry to say that but I have seen it. Many math teachers do not even give or collect homework. How can this be possible ? How are the students suppose to learn.