Word: math
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...glance who's who. The half-dozen Yalies sit stiffly in black suits and red ties. "No one told you guys it was business casual?" one interviewer says. Shemmer tries gamely to strike up conversation. "So what do you guys do at Yale for fun?" he asks. "Math club? Chess club?" Another analyst rolls her eyes. "It's the same jokes every year," she complains. Shemmer is unbowed: "Seen any good movies lately?" Murmurs. "Quiet crowd here." Just before the presentation starts he manages to pique their interest with a discussion of video games. When everyone quiets down, Broadview...
...certainly not surprising that 40 percent of eighth graders failed the math test last year. Last year was a just a test of the test. There were no consequences if a student did poorly on the test. Individual scores weren't even reported. Aside from a warm fuzzy feeling of accomplishment, there is no incentive for any eighth grader to do well on this 12-hour practice test...
However, it is interesting to note that only 19 percent of fourth graders failed the math test. Is this because the standards are relatively easier for the fourth grade test? Or is it because they are too young to realize that they won't be held accountable for their scores...
...this same unwillingness to label anyone as fundamentally unfit lies behind it. Intelligent students at the University of Costa Rica can hardly expect to go through college without failing a couple of courses, some of them two or three times in a row. A friend tells me of a math professor who gives no credit if a problem in a test has an incorrect answer. He then goes back to look for errors of procedure in the problems where the answer was right...
Alejandro Jenkins '01 is a math and physics concentrator in Currier House. His column appears on alternate Wednesdays...