Math problems are a problem for job-seekers, employers say

[Peregrine Took]

228. Inner city students use stick men to add and subtract.

I administered aptitude tests for years for the state employment service and, invariably, when i collected the "scratch paper" after the test they were covered with hundreds of stick figures used to do the simple math on the test.

Ironically, only last year when I was crossing a street near a busy bus stop I saw a school paper lying in the gutter - covered with stick figures again- 20 years later they are still using them

After administering these tests to thousands of students - suburban students for union apprenticeships and others for general city student aptitude testing it became quite obvious that 6th grade was the big sticking point - whatever happens in that grade year is critical to their further school education. Reading and math - 6th grade levels even for high school graduates - we saw this all the time.