Teachers in every state are having to "teach the test" in order that the school, the district and the administration look good. The goal is to make sure that the students do well on the state tests and eventually graduate. Math teachers have it the worst. They are forced to leave things out at all levels and another problem, at least in Texas, is the shortage of educators. There are people teaching today who are just not trained very well. My world got rocked when after several years of teaching Chemistry, I was made a TAKS and then Star (our current and previous test)test reviewer. They called it Taks Science Review. I couldn't escape so I eventually retired. Someone else did Taks Math and so on for each part of the test. I figure that is happening everywhere. Add to that that cash registers do the work for you and you have some poorly trained folks out there. Solution? Maybe we all need to start carrying our finds or collections with us and pay in EXACT change. But of course you know what the goal is? Carry that plastic with you and just swipe it. It's so much kinder to those McDonald's cashiers.
