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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A large, and often overlooked, part of mathematics is the ability to speak "the language" of mathematics correctly. If your education taught you only to value a correct answer, you probably did not study much advanced math, where the focus is (rightfully) less on a single, ultimate, final number, and more on the actual proof and application of logical processes to come to a conclusion. Mathematical proofs have a grammar and syntax all their own and the study of more advanced mathematics should rightfully focus on a student's ability to use them to communicate the process of finding solutions correctly, as well as expressing those solutions in the correct form.

If mathematics was only concerned with answers, there would be no need to study it at all, since calculators and computers can find solutions much more quickly and accurately. If you want your child to learn mathematics well, then she will need to pay attention to these small errors and correct them, same as she would fix spelling mistakes in Language Arts. You would not argue that spelling and grammar make no difference in writing, as long as you can understand the conclusion, would you? So why are you promoting that idea for mathematics?[/quote]

Yes. But if the work is correct and all they forgot is x=, why should they be docked? They should not be docked full points and some teachers do this. A kid can get the work correct and the answer correct and can get a bad score. [/quote]

Why should they get credit? If the work is incorrect, it is incorrect. Do you also argue your child should get partial credit on spelling tests based on only forgetting one letter?

Also, your child is not getting a bad score because they forgot to write "x=" one time. They would need to do it multiple times to get a bad score, and if they are REPEATEDLY making this mistake, they deserve a score that reflects it.[/quote]
NP OP's daughter got the right answer, or in your analogy, spelled every letter correctly. She just didn't present it as desired. Should a student be docked half credit if they print the spelling word instead of writing it in cursive? Unclear why the teacher wouldn't just circle her answer, noting it should be "x=" but not dock her, at least the first time. She understands the math. This type of rigid assessment is demoralizing.[/quote]

No. This is not a choice of presentation or analogous to cursive vs script, the child is incorrect and should be judged so by any professional educator worth their license. If the student is solving an equation by isolating a variable, then it is incorrect not to include that variable and equal sign in the solution, as it is an equation and equations, by definition, require a symbol of equality. It's not a matter of presentation or preference, she is turning an equation into an expression by leaving off the variable and the equal sign. The solution is not a single term, [i]it is an equation with an isolated variable[/i]. At best, she is careless and does not deserve credit for her mistake, and at worst, she is demonstrating that she does not understand the principles of equality, vocabulary, and mathematical notation fundamental to algebra.

Arguing that there is no difference between x=23 and 23 shows that you yourself lack a solid foundation in pre-algebraic concepts. These are not interchangeable or matters of preference, one is a mathematical term and one is an equation. The mistake is not inconsequential. Mathematics is not a field where "you know what I meant" is a valid answer deserving of credit. You are arguing that a student deserves credit for making a mistake that demonstrates their fundamental lack of understanding and defending that argument with your own lack of understanding. [/quote]

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