Results tagged “education” from Debi's Journal

Examination:  110  CSET Mathematics Subtest I
Status:  Pass

There were maybe 25 other people sharing the same testing room, taking a variety of subject tests like English Literature, Nutrition and Fitness, General Science, and in my case, Algebra and Numerical Analysis. I noticed there was another Algebra test on the desk to my right, but that person never showed up for the exam. There were several pre-test conversations happening around me while the test proctor checked IDs and collected admission tickets. "Oh, it took me five tries to pass the XYZ subtest." Lawdy, at $70 a pop I was determined to make sure I passed on the first try. And here's one comment I overheard when I took the RICA last year: "I just started my credentialing program and I wanted to see what the test was like." That test costs $130 a pop. I wish I had that much cash and six hours of my life to blow just to take a practice test.

Why do I keep torturing myself? Even though I have a mathematics degree and swore during college that I would never go into teaching, a few years ago I made the choice to get a multiple subject (elementary) teaching credential. I took all three of the Multiple-Subject CSET subtests (required for the credential) a couple of years ago. I saved math for last because I knew I would breeze right through it. Stupid waste of time in my humble opinion, especially since this trio of tests has caused a lot of good elementary teachers to lose their jobs. I don't feel that the CSET is a good indicator of a qualified teacher; it just shows who is good at memorizing useless information in a short period of time. The PE section? Why should I have to know the terminology for the different types of rotational body movements? Visual Arts? Why should I care about the meaning of the lighting differences in the "Paul Revere's Ride" painting? How does this show I will be a qualified teacher? I didn't remember the difference between a half and whole rest in music even though I took Beginning Band in high school my junior year (I played bass guitar if you must know), and I missed that question on the test! I'll probably be a high-strung, neurotic teacher with lousy classroom management, but I test well and I passed this triple-threat test in one shot when thousands of other fantastic teachers have taken one or more of the subtests over... and over... and over in an effort to keep their jobs. I'm all for high standards, but not ridiculously high.

But let's move on to this year. I've been second-guessing my decision to go into elementary education, especially after student-teaching a 5th grade class and really enjoying teaching the math lessons. So, I took the CSET Mathematics Subtest I (Algebra and Number Theory) this past Saturday. Here's a PDF file describing what you need to know for the test. A passing score on this and the Geometry subtests are required to teach math at the middle school level for those with a multiple-subject credential. What I don't understand is why anyone would have to pass a test on college-level mathematics concepts to teach middle school math. I browsed through Mel's 8th grade Algebra textbook. Easy stuff. Nothing there really gets any more complicated than the quadratic formula. Yet on the Algebra CSET, I had to had in-depth knowledge of Rings, Fields, vectors, matrices (well, matrices are relatively easy), mathematical induction, the Euclidean Algorithm, yadda yadda yadda. No wonder there's a shortage of qualified math teachers! I didn't learn about abelian groups, rings, and fields or even matrices until my 3rd year of university! Okay, maybe I learned about matrices my freshman year but still... Am I just out of touch and they're teaching this in high school nowadays?!? Again, I'm all for high standards, but not ridiculously high.

Unlike the multiple-subject tests, the Algebra test really kicked my ass. I'll be notified if I passed or not on October 14. I think it could go either way.