The storm is coming
It’s big, and it’s on its way. I can see it on the horizon. It’s moving very slowly, and although I can’t be 100% certain it will arrive, I’m very confident it will. It’s following a predictable path. Sure, it could veer off and not have the impact I think it will, but don’t bet on that. It’s a monster of a storm and will be arriving at schools around late October 2021. Right now, there’s very little you can do to lessen its impact.
In about five months the outer layers of the storm will appear. Math exams will be handed out to high school students in classrooms across the country. Paper tests. Students will be seated at desks, in classrooms, with a teacher in the same room, monitoring them. The only other items on their desks will be pencils and maybe a graphing calculator. These tests will consist of instructions such as “solve for x”, “determine the Limit”, or “find the x-intercepts”. Simple, clear instructions. And so it will begin.
The impact of the storm will be most severe in mid-to-late October when report cards are posted, and the poor Math grades are out for all (i.e. parents) to see. Students who received high Math grades during the 2020-21 school year will have to explain to parents their incredibly poor grades during the first quarter that just ended. Parent-teacher-student conferences will be arranged. The eye of the storm.
I have no idea how students will try to explain it, but the true reason for the drop in Math grades is simple: right now students are cheating on take-home Math tests. Blatantly cheating and not learning a thing. Apps like Microsoft Math, services like Chegg, websites like Mathway, group texts with classmates, tutors hired with good intentions, other individuals hired to do the Math for students. If you’re a parent and don’t fully comprehend the extent of the cheating, read this: (https://hechingerreport.org/another-problem-with-shifting-education-online-cheating/). Now, download the free Microsoft Math app for your phone and draw in “x^2 + 5x +4 = 0” with your finger and watch the app not only solve the problem but also graph it and list step-by-step instructions. It works for Calculus, too.
Of course, the seeds of this storm are being sown right now, driven by a combination of a lack of supervision and interest on the part of parents, laziness and frustration on the part of students, and inability to properly administer tests on the part of teachers. Parents love seeing high Math grades. Students love getting the answers with very little work and no studying. And teachers can do very little to stop it.
But next year, pencil in one hand, sheet of paper with 20 equations to solve in 45 minutes. Teacher watching. No phone, computer, or internet. The storm will rage.