Teachers Unfeatured

Everyone has failed a test. There’s always been one test that no one understands and most people get a horrible grade on. For the eighth grade students at Treasure Mountain, that test was the Unit Five Honors math test. But, tests and school aren't only supposed to be about the grades, they’re about understanding the material and learning. The only problem is, some teachers don’t care about that.

The average grade in a teacher’s math class was an eight out of twenty-six. That’s a thirty percent, and a very low F. If grades are this low, teachers are required to re-teach the material, but that is obviously not happening. I think it’s safe to say that it’s clear to see that kids are having a hard time understanding these concepts.

One thing that’s hopeful for those who got a disappointing grade on the test is that the Honors teachers are giving “points-back” quizzes, but they’re not reteaching the material. How are kids expected to get these points back if they are still struggling with the material and concepts? There has been no reteaching, no going over the test, no anything and the students are just expected to somehow acquire this knowledge on their own. The class has also already moved on to a different unit. Not only has the class moved on, but the new unit consists of concepts that were a part of the last unit. How are students supposed to learn new material when they don’t even understand the previous concepts that are being built off of?

Since the teachers aren’t re-teaching the material and are just moving on, a lot of kids are getting tutors. But, students aren’t getting tutors because they have trouble focusing or paying attention to the lesson, they’re having to get tutors because the teachers aren’t explaining the concepts further.

Mary Hurner, a student in honors math who took the Unit Five honors math test was asked why she thought most people didn’t do very well on the test and why it was so hard.

“The problems on the homework and the practice test were completely different from the questions on the test. On the test there were questions we have never seen or practiced. After asking about the different material my teacher just said that since we’re honors kids we should be able to figure it out.”

Another honors student, Zoe Hopper, was asked the same question as to why she thought the math test was so hard.

“I didn’t understand the questions at all. They were worded weirdly and I didn’t know what the question was asking.”

Based on these students’ responses the main problem with the test were the questions. Most of the students understand the concepts on their homework, but the material on the test went deeper than we studied. The types of questions on the test should’ve been explained and practiced before the students were tested.

Mia Rapella, Cameron Burke