Many US Kids confused by equals sign

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Some signs are more equal than others.

 

[RSaylors]

The study explicitly says that children in other countries did not have this problem.

then the question becomes not "do we know an = sign" but "do we know OF algebra" by 6th grade:

the answer is no.

Is this bad or just different? does it show that we don't know how an = sign works or that we don't know how ()s work? Who's to say that the = was not explaining how the addition was out-put to function () where by it should then have 2 added to it? Alternatively of course () is X in our equation and we should solve for it thinking algebraically (keep the sides equal). Functions are not better or worse than thinking about it algebraically, its simply one set of assumptions measured against another.

You see, I could say the Chinese spell better than Americans if my 'right' answer is based entirely on the British spelling of words.

Why does everyone dig on our school system so quickly, instead of thinking about the situation first?

 

[AMCRambler]

"No child gets left behind" strikes again eh?

Thanks to Bush, government subsidies for schools are directly tied to how well the students do. Because of this schools don't want to fail kids and make them repeat grades. Soooo even if the idiots need to repeat a grade because maybe they are a bit dumb and would take longer to learn it, the teachers are told they can't fail the kids and they play with the grades so the kids pass. This just hurts the students and hurts our education system in general.

Thanks to the standardized tests that are used as the metrics for a schools performance, teachers basically spend a huge chunk of their time teaching the kids to pass exactly what's on these standardized tests. So rather than teach them the normal curriculum, they're teaching them tricks to help them pass the test.

It's not the way it's supposed to work but that's what's happening.

 

[Modelworks]

When I was in school calculators were not allowed. My niece had to have one for 5th grade.
I guess they do not know what the equal sign looks like unless you show it as a picture on a key.

 

[Modelworks]

Well I heard on the radio the other day that PG County in Maryland isn't requiring kids to learn multiplication tables or spelling/vocab anymore. Welcome to the new generation of dumbasses.

Some schools have stopped teaching cursive. So I guess signing names is out now too. Print signature here, just seems wrong.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

4+3+2=(42)+2.

Wrong.

4+3+2=(43)+2=432 Duh

 

[PingSpike]

This symbolizes the failure of US math education:

http://www.math.com/tables/general/addtable.htm

LOL...what? Holy shit!

I remember my mom complaining she couldn't even help me with my long division home work since they didn't even do it the same way she did. They change teaching methods so often it kind of cripples the parents.

 

[Platypus]

"No child gets left behind" strikes again eh?

Thanks to Bush, government subsidies for schools are directly tied to how well the students do. Because of this schools don't want to fail kids and make them repeat grades. Soooo even if the idiots need to repeat a grade because maybe they are a bit dumb and would take longer to learn it, the teachers are told they can't fail the kids and they play with the grades so the kids pass. This just hurts the students and hurts our education system in general.

Thanks to the standardized tests that are used as the metrics for a schools performance, teachers basically spend a huge chunk of their time teaching the kids to pass exactly what's on these standardized tests. So rather than teach them the normal curriculum, they're teaching them tricks to help them pass the test.

It's not the way it's supposed to work but that's what's happening.

This is exactly right. My sister is a teacher and she is forced to spend a significant amount of time trying to teach kids to cram exactly what will be on the standardized tests instead of actually teaching the material. There just isn't enough time in the school year to do both because of the way things are. She does everything she can to go around this by meeting with kids after class or on the weekends if they need extra help but unfortunately children are DEFINITELY being left behind here.

This isn't the fault of the teachers but rather the system they are given to work with.

 

[DrPizza]

A county in Maryland not requiring students to memorize the multiplication table??!!

I'm a math teacher. I've done remediation with a lot of students. I can count on one hand the number of students who have been "successful" in math who didn't know their times table and relied on a calculator. But, those 3 or 4 students were simply good at memorizing procedures; understanding wasn't very high. It was pretty easy to trip them up. Not having the times table memorized & relying on a calculator is a very high indicator of lack of success.

 

[PingSpike]

Some schools have stopped teaching cursive. So I guess signing names is out now too. Print signature here, just seems wrong.

We've had this discussion on OT before, but cursive is basically a dead skill. I was taught it and graded on it as a child. And aside from signing my name (which has devolved into a scribble, and an X would be accepted in most instances) I never use it in my adult life. I use the same bastard offspring of cursive and print my mother uses when hand writing anything, albeit mine is much messier. It's a waste of time to teach.

 

[waggy]

Have you seen the methods they're trying to teach elementary kids how to do math? Instead of teaching them how to do it normally (which is apparently too hard), they're teaching them all sorts of tricks. These kids have no concept of what they're actually trying to accomplish. Its no wonder they don't know what an equal sign means.

wich is one of the reasons we chose the school my kids go to. they teach both (well not so much on the new shit).

but man some of the stuff the school sin town do is nuts. I thought they would have figured out that "alternative" education did not work in the 70's 80's when it was huge. i went to on from 3-6th grade. it really really sucked. spelling, math (though i did well in it and loved it) and science were not forced.

 

[SunnyD]

4+3+2=( )+2

Rewritten:
4+3+2=x+2
.....-2....-2
------------
4+3=x
------------
7=x

And FOIL was taught for binomial expansion folks, not for whole numbers (but it works regardless, it's just taking a simple problem and making it more complicated albeit using "simpler" operations).

 

[Gooberlx2]

this study seems a little hard to believe

I agree. It was clear to me what = meant by 3rd grade. And I was just a mediocre math student in public school.

 

[Kev]

There might be a problem with the way the question is presented:
4+3+2=( )+2

The ( ) could be an unfamiliar concept to a kid. They probably haven't had algebra yet, and don't understand the concept of a variable. So when they look at this problem, they're only seeing:

4+3+2=( )

then they solve for:

( )+2

Just throwing that out there.

 

[Kev]

I agree. It was clear to me what = meant by 3rd grade. And I was just a mediocre math student in public school.

But did you know algebra in 3rd grade?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

"No child gets left behind" strikes again eh?

Thanks to Bush, government subsidies for schools are directly tied to how well the students do. Because of this schools don't want to fail kids and make them repeat grades. Soooo even if the idiots need to repeat a grade because maybe they are a bit dumb and would take longer to learn it, the teachers are told they can't fail the kids and they play with the grades so the kids pass. This just hurts the students and hurts our education system in general.

Thanks to the standardized tests that are used as the metrics for a schools performance, teachers basically spend a huge chunk of their time teaching the kids to pass exactly what's on these standardized tests. So rather than teach them the normal curriculum, they're teaching them tricks to help them pass the test.

It's not the way it's supposed to work but that's what's happening.

Pretty much. Let the smart kids have classes of their own, and the dumb ones can all eat glue.

The problem is, if you structure classes based on skill level, you will have people claiming it is racially divided because the glue eating class will have a higher percentage of blacks in it, while the Asians, Indians, and White kids will all be in the smarty pants classes.
When the truth of it is, it has nothing to do with race, but with subsets of society. Asians, and Indians are stricter parents and enforce the need for an education, White parents do so, but not as high a percentage. Sadly, a lot of black parent(s) don't seem to care. When a large portion of black students think the only ay to get ahead in life is through sports, they just don't try hard enough in class. They do just enough to pass (if they don't get help from the coaches/teachers).

These are observations from my years in school, plus now that I have children, I see it now too. My youngest daughter is in the gifted program in our district, and that is because we instilled in her at a young age that education is important, she also wants to be a doctor so she can find a cure for her older sister so she is motivated.

We had her in a pre-school program that was structured like a school, where instead of just dropping her off in room with a bunch of toys, she actually did things like learn to read, write, and do basic math.
The amazing thing was that this pre-school was at a largely black church. The program cost a whole $10 more a week than a standard daycare, but there were 2 black kids in the whole thing.

Back to current observations, in the Gifted school my daughter is in now, it is mostly, Indians, Asians, and white. There are a few black children there, but the racial make up of this school is in no way indicative of the make up of the community.

So basically, if you want students to better in school, you need to teach the parents 1st.

 

[EarthwormJim]

The title of the article and thread should be changed.

It's not that US kids are confused by an equal sign, US kids are not taught Algebra as soon as children in other countries are.

 

[skace]

there might be a problem with the way the question is presented:
4+3+2=( )+2

the ( ) could be an unfamiliar concept to a kid. They probably haven't had algebra yet, and don't understand the concept of a variable. So when they look at this problem, they're only seeing:

4+3+2=( )

then they solve for:

( )+2

just throwing that out there.

( )+2
------
( )

?

 

[Gooberlx2]

But did you know algebra in 3rd grade?

Well...no.

I was still an average public school math student in 6th grade too, and understood the = sign well enough to do the work.

 

[darkewaffle]

What we see.. 4+3+2=( )+2

What they see.. 4+3+2 )+2

 

[AnonymouseUser]

What we see.. 4+3+2=( )+2

What they see.. 4+3+2 )+2

I already mentioned that!

I see the problem =(

So sad.

 

[40sTheme]

I find myself having trouble in college math courses sometimes now because of the way I was taught to do math all of my life. I don't have problems with the equals sign, public school just did not teach me how to LEARN.

But, even though I find the classes tough, I enjoy them a thousandfold more than grade school math courses. I am never bored and constantly learning and trying new things.

 

[ObscureCaucasian]

In college intro CS classes, there were several math majors who couldn't wrap their heads around this:

x = x + 1;

So I guess even math majors can be confused by equal signs

 

[SP33Demon]

A county in Maryland not requiring students to memorize the multiplication table??!!

I'm a math teacher. I've done remediation with a lot of students. I can count on one hand the number of students who have been "successful" in math who didn't know their times table and relied on a calculator. But, those 3 or 4 students were simply good at memorizing procedures; understanding wasn't very high. It was pretty easy to trip them up. Not having the times table memorized & relying on a calculator is a very high indicator of lack of success.

Well, officially it wasn't announced by the county but a local radio station had callers complaining about their kids not being required by the teacher in that school. Keep in mind PG County is the poorest of the poor in Maryland and already has a bad rep of low performing students... kind of sad but there's only so much a teacher can do with a student who only has 1 (or no) parent.

 

[Gothgar]

wow... just wow