Reply #10: " . . . adults using test scores to reward or punish other adults are doing

[DLnyc]

a disservice to the children they claim to be helping."

Exactly. I teach remedial math at a community college. The students I work with have never actually been taught arithmetic . . . they've been trained to do various tricks well enough to pass the next test -- and then those tricks are promptly forgotten.

Once someone takes the time to explain the concept they are able to grasp it quite readily (and are quite appreciative). Too bad they wasted a half a dozen or more years of math classes making test manufacturers richer and not really learning any math.

*edit to add quotation marks*