Often when you think about issues when it comes to a math class your thought is immediately on the student and perhaps not being able to convey the material to that student but what if the issue has entirely to do with the teacher? Not that the teacher is not knowledgeable but that there aren’t enough teachers for the class. This is the issue facing West Virginia schools right now.
Hiring teachers who can actually teach math is fundamentally important.
Part of the issue with the lack of teachers is finding teachers that can elaborate on how to teach the subject rather than just memorization. It is important to be able to apply the skills and not just recall numbers from memory. While they are looking to fill the position they want to be sure that the students are taught well and the positions are not just filled for the sake of being filled.
If I don’t have quality teachers that are fully certified delivering the curriculum at the highest level, our young people are going to suffer across the board,” Martirano said. “The same thing at the elementary level, where that focus needs to be in terms of numeracy and literacy. I need to make certain elementary teachers are more equipped to teach numeracy as well as they are literacy.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
Key takeaways
- Matt Maccaro writes about the major shortage of math teachers in the state of West Virginia.
- One of the issues related to this recruiting problem is the high standards for performance of the math faculty.
- The school system in the state has very specific outcomes they are seeking with math teaching and curricula.
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