Math for Elementary Teachers

Math for Elementary Teachers Santana Gemini College of DuPage Composition I Elizabeth Anderson December ! "#$

Math for Elementary Teachers

The College of Dupage is a %ery &ell 'no&n school &ith a reputation for great teachers and e(cellent programs) So! as a ne& student to the college I figured e%erything &ould &or' out fine! yet I &as faced &ith multiple obstacles that need to be fi(ed) After signing up and getting into the class! math for elementary teachers! e%ery student in it has to ta'e a proficiency e(am) If you do not pass this e(am you are forced to drop the class or ta'e an automatic fail) *y the time e%eryone has ta'en the test! it is too late to get your money bac' if you &ere to fail the proficiency e(am) Another test! yes! the proficiency e(am) My class &as told about this e(am on the first day and &e all thought it &ould be breeze to ta'e+ &e e%en got three chances at it) It &asn,t until only three students out of thirty fi%e passed the first time ta'ing the test) This may seem li'e a simple no calculator test on &ord problems! percents! decimals! and so on! but one thing &e don,t realize is that a calculator has been in our hands since &e entered the si(th grade) I am in college no& and I had to re teach myself ho& to con%ert form percent to fraction! to fraction to decimals) I had to re teach myself ho& to figure out a &ord problem &ithout a calculator) The point of ta'ing the placement tests before &e register for classes is so &e can be placed in the right class of our le%el) I earned a score that allo&ed me to ta'e math for elementary teachers according to the College of Dupage re-uirements and regulations) .o& that I am in a math class that I am supposedly legible to ta'e and ha%e earned a spot in! &hy do I ha%e to ta'e another test that is basically an entrance e(am/ This proficiency test should ha%e been gi%en to us to ta'e before &e signed up and paid for the class)

Math for Elementary Teachers .o& that all the students in the class ha%e paid for this and created a schedule &ith it! if &e don,t pass &e ha%e to drop the class or ta'e a failed grade) This lea%es students &ith not enough credits to fulfill being a full time student! and lea%es many financial aid students in a bind because they need the credits to meet the financial aid re-uirements) The process to ta'e the proficiency test is long) Since there are three tries it too' my class past the midterm date to find out if some students &ere still in the class) 0n the C0D &ebsite it states that e%ery student has until se%en percent of the course is ta'en to get a full refund of their money) Se%en percent of the class is only about a &ee' of

school) That is not enough time to study and ta'e the test and find out if you need to drop or not) *y the midterm! &hen more than half the class still doesn,t 'no& if they stay in the class! none of them &ill recei%e any money bac' if they ha%e to drop the course) There needs to be a serious e(amination of ho& this course is run) 1ith nine students out of thirty fi%e left in my class! the rest are out about three hundred dollars! four less credits! and ha%e &asted more than half a semester attending a class that they can not e%en earn credit for)