[catarific]

I was just re-reading the post, "Made a Mistake in HS Math," and it made me really wonder why on the General Knowledge portion of the Professional Teaching Certification Test that the math portion has to be as difficult as it is, especially for those who are being certified in subjects such as Language Arts, History, a Foreign Language, etc. I realize some basic math should be expected, but these questions, at least to my way of thinking, far exceed just a basic math knowledge. I know many have had to take the math portion more than once. Am I missing something?

[ciounoi]

When I took the Praxis I didn't find the math section to be that difficult. I studied from SAT books, mainly. When you think that's probably a 15 year old level or so, it seems pretty reasonable to me!

[catarific]

I have been out of school for many, many years. Maybe when I was a recent graduate it may have seemed much easier but being away from math for as long as I have - remembering how to find probability, pythagorean theorems, surface area of a cylinder, or trapezoid might have been easier then. When I bought the study material and tried to re-teach myself a lot of the math - it was not so easy - in fact - personally, I found the explanations very confusing. Seriously, I know I could pay a tutor to re-teach me math that I will never use again except to pass a test - it seems senseless in my humble opinion.

[MrsDriver]

you get a highschool kid to help you out. Just kidding. I understand what you are saying about the math part. When you have been out of school for a while it is not so easy. I always tell my students that there are going to be times when you learn something just for the test and then it's gone. I would say to get a tutor for what you need, pass the test, and be happy.