It sounds like you just prepared them for the entire year to pass a state exam (You just taught to the test)..if they were to go to college and take an exam like that....or take a pre-calculus class in college; about half would most likely fail....its one thing to brag that students COMPREHEND & RETAIN material but, another when they just have been taught ONLY how to pass a regents exam. As for the foreign exchange student who recieved a 100; you are not aware of the education culture system in Asia...I am; I lived in Japan...they go to school 6 days a week from around 7 AM to 7 PM! They run circles around U.S. students when it comes to math and sciences! That Alg. 2/Trig course for that student was proably easy! The student most likely studied that material at a young age! Also for the statment you made : "I am very proud of them, especially the ones that got a 70 when they can't even multiply single digit numbers without a calculator." What a joke...I would not want anyone working for me that could not calculate simple functions without using a calculator.
