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I teach French. I've never needed knowledge of math beyond elementary school basic addition and subtraction.
When I was applying for graduate schools and took the GRE, I found it ridiculous that I was required to take a math portion when I was applying for a French graduate program. None of my coursework required anything to do with math.
I think having math in teaching tests is just a way to weed out certain people.
Of course there are schools in NYC, as well as around the country that have immersion FL learning. In my school district we have Spanish immersion starting in first grade where all classes are taught in Spanish until fourth grade. As I mentioned to the OP earlier though, they only hire native language speakers. I would guess that's what most immersion schools look for with their teachers.
We have several foreign language immersion schools (magnet schools) in my area that start at the four year old kindergarten level. At the time that my children attended the French Immersion School, the school took great pride in that they hired native born French speakers from all over the world. They felt that it broadened the children's view of the world as well as introduced them to accents, slang and colloquial statements from all over. When my children attended they had teachers who were born and raised in France, Belgium, Quebec, French West Indies (maybe it was another Caribbean island) and from several countries in Africa. They also had some teachers who were born and raised in American and French was their second language.
I am not sure about the current staff but I do know that they continue to seek world wide diversity in their staff.
All subjects, including math, are taught in the foreign language through 5th grade (they add an hour of English reading & language arts per day, starting in second grade).
We have several foreign language immersion schools (magnet schools) in my area that start at the four year old kindergarten level. At the time that my children attended the French Immersion School, the school took great pride in that they hired native born French speakers from all over the world. They felt that it broadened the children's view of the world as well as introduced them to accents, slang and colloquial statements from all over. When my children attended they had teachers who were born and raised in France, Belgium, Quebec, French West Indies (maybe it was another Caribbean island) and from several countries in Africa. They also had some teachers who were born and raised in American and French was their second language.
I am not sure about the current staff but I do know that they continue to seek world wide diversity in their staff.
All subjects, including math, are taught in the foreign language through 5th grade (they add an hour of English reading & language arts per day, starting in second grade).
Yes, the staff at our public schools in the immersion classes are from many different countries that speak Spanish. It's pretty cool.
The math test we had to take (Praxis) was at about a 5th grade level. I know this, because it was full of the concepts I was teaching my 5th grade students at the time. One guy we worked with took and failed the math portion 10 times over several years. He ran out of time to pass and had to be considered a long-term sub until he could pass it and get state certified. It was about his 11th try before he passed. I'm sure that was a very pricey endeavor.
It is tragic because this is what our education system is producing.
This is the result of all that Math reform..no memorization, no rote learning, little to no homework and multiple choice answers for Math tests.
Agree, agree, agree.... and I wasn't even a math teacher, but I saw the impact it had on the way students grasped science. Brains need routine prep exercises for optimal performance as much as any other part of the body.
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The math test we had to take (Praxis) was at about a 5th grade level. I know this, because it was full of the concepts I was teaching my 5th grade students at the time. One guy we worked with took and failed the math portion 10 times over several years. He ran out of time to pass and had to be considered a long-term sub until he could pass it and get state certified. It was about his 11th try before he passed. I'm sure that was a very pricey endeavor.
But isn't that shocking because it's so rare? My daughter is in her late twenties and passed several Praxis (or it's equivalent) tests for certs in different states and didn't even study. I'm not saying that math standards have gone down hill, but I wonder if the rate of people that have to re-take the general Praxis has increased.
But isn't that shocking because it's so rare? My daughter is in her late twenties and passed several Praxis (or it's equivalent) tests for certs in different states and didn't even study. I'm not saying that math standards have gone down hill, but I wonder if the rate of people that have to re-take the general Praxis has increased.
It may be rarer now simply because the test must be passed prior to receiving certification. I suspect those that flunk it more than once or twice now give up and end up choosing a different profession. When the testing first came out, unless it was a state with a grandfathering clause, there were people who had decades invested in the profession that suddenly were looking at the loss of a career, so they probably felt they had no choice but to keep retaking it. Cruel as it sounds, the intent of the teacher testing legislation in most states was to purge the less intellectually able teachers, and that has probably been at least partially successful. Like I said eariler, the ones that kept flunking when it first came out were not a shock. To be honest, some would have been a shock had they passed.
As much as I have issue with all the standardized testing we are now doing in schools, I absolutely agree with the pre-certification testing. I think it helped stop a frightening intellectual downward trend we had been starting to see in the profession right before they were implemented. And yes, I think it ought to include basic math, reading, and writing skills regardless of the future grade level or content area to be taught. Much as I hate adding this, it ought to also include basic computer skills. There shouldn't be teachers out there incapable of using a simple computer based grade book.
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When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
It may be rarer now simply because the test must be passed prior to receiving certification. I suspect those that flunk it more than once or twice now give up and end up choosing a different profession. When the testing first came out, unless it was a state with a grandfathering clause, there were people who had decades invested in the profession that suddenly were looking at the loss of a career, so they probably felt they had no choice but to keep retaking it. Cruel as it sounds, the intent of the teacher testing legislation in most states was to purge the less intellectually able teachers, and that has probably been at least partially successful. Like I said eariler, the ones that kept flunking when it first came out were not a shock. To be honest, some would have been a shock had they passed.
As much as I have issue with all the standardized testing we are now doing in schools, I absolutely agree with the pre-certification testing. I think it helped stop a frightening intellectual downward trend we had been starting to see in the profession right before they were implemented. And yes, I think it ought to include basic math, reading, and writing skills regardless of the future grade level or content area to be taught. Much as I hate adding this, it ought to also include basic computer skills. There shouldn't be teachers out there incapable of using a simple computer based grade book.
You know what is funny, most people don't realize this weeding out process even exists. If you don't pass the pre-Praxis, you don't take education classes. Very few other degree seeking students have a test they must take before they take their degree's classes.
Teaching is now more rigorous than it ever has been. Even back when I was in college, I was very worried that I would not get an A in my student teaching class. No A, no job. That was not the case when my mother was a pre-service teacher.
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