thoughts on HRCs free college tuition/loan plan

[BmorePat87]

(08-10-2016, 11:19 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: My mother used to teach math for those who were here working on their degrees in elementary education. You would think, given the level of the math, that this would be unnecessary. I used to think that way. And then I helped her grade exams. Let me just tell you that the level of understanding some of these students have of elementary math is concerning. Beyond that, the goal of my mother's class was not just so they would know the math on the surface level, but to know the "why?" behind it. For example, one question on an exam was (paraphrasing here):

List four unique properties of the integer 0. Explain why 0 behaves in that way for each.

It's one thing to know elementary math, it is another to know it on a level for the purposes of teaching. The same could be said for any of the subjects.

We have hordes of parents and politicians who cannot solve elementary level math fighting against new standards that require teachers to teach students the why of it in addition to the how.