My biggest concerns about the math test relate to the fact that much of what is assessed is math that – and I think I’m safe saying this – most of us will never use again (how many of you have needed to calculate the cosine of an angle recently? how many of you have needed to determine the formula of a circle on a standard coordinate plane?).
…
It just bothers me a great deal that we’re herding many, many students through math classes that are largely irrelevant to their future life success (most high school students don’t get much probability and statistics, for example, even though that’s what I think they’ll need most often beyond foundational numeracy).
Analogy: How many touchdowns did Herschel Walker score in the NFL for his 3,500 situps and 1,000 pushups a day workout routine?
2 Responses to Taking the ACT a quarter century after high school – Scott McLeod