On meeting standards

From the Washington Post, Algebra = X in One School, Y in Another, which recounts a Maryland state algebra test which had students asking: Where's the algebra?

University of Maryland mathematics associate professor Jerome Dancis called the test "pretend algebra." Montgomery County parent John Hoven, an economist, said most of the problems were what students in Singapore get in the fifth grade. Even one of the people responsible for the test, Maryland State Education Department official Gary Heath, said, "We would be the first to tell you it doesn't have a lot of algebra, nor was it intended to."

Then why call it an "algebra test" if it doesn't have algebra in it?

Pretend algebra, indeed. Explains why much of our educational system is "pretend."