In the last 8 years I've prepped these exams, proctored them, corrected them and they were and are bogus.They test skills that are only tangential to real life and learning. The exams are graded by teachers either relieved from teaching duties or paid per session after school. The only quality control usually results in a score being raised. The state sets a numerical standard each year for the magical 4 3 2 1 grades and that score is not rigorous, and neither has been the exam. This year's exam was nomore difficult than past years but the state raised the scoring guideline. Next year the exam is to be more challenging. Bloomie and Klein will have a year to create new explanations for their failure.
I remember learning the Pythagoream Theorem in high school, and wondering what the heck I was going to do with it throughout life. On the other hand, if they teach how to balance a checkbook in math class, that’s a life skill that everybody could use.
Shouldn’t just be in business math, which is what my mother took so many years ago.