Ontario Elementary Teachers Need Remedial Math

A story from 2016 on how in-service elementary-school teachers in Ontario are only about 50% likely to know K-6 math skills such as fractions or percentage calculations. In response, supplementary remedial courses are delivered for these instructors:

Teachers’ math phobia, which faculties of education across North America view as a “huge problem,” are seen as one factor in Ontario’s falling student math scores, especially in grade school, where most teachers have a liberal-arts background and have not studied math since high school...

Some professors say student teachers are often in tears when they try to recall their grade-school math, and tell them they’re grateful for the emergency crash courses.

“I’ve got some mathematically brilliant teacher candidates, but I’m also working with some who don’t know how to multiply or divide,” noted professor Mary Reid of U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). “They have no idea what a ‘remainder’ is. They think a remainder of 3 is the same as decimal 3.”

 
The Star