Many schools require an exit exam in math for high school students. This case is particularly true in the United States. High school students are often not ready for the exam though their over all mathematics capabilities may not be bad. This is why a recommend the creation of a course for the preparation for the math exit exam.

The first issue that faces this course is the choice of a reference textbook. The syllabus is really scattered on different topics and the teacher would have to choose several textbooks for the course. This would be overwhelming to the students. This is why the teacher has to create his own notes. The notes should cover all the topics required for the math exit exam. The syllabus varies from school to school and the teacher has to check with the particular school at question. A good idea is to create the notes for the general syllabus and make little changes afterwards to fit the school at question.

The first chapter should be about number science i.e. fraction, roots, decimal, percentage, scientific notations and exponents. Students should be made to understand that fractions and percentages are a vital part of our every day lives. They enter in many decisions dealing with time, money, and work. The notes should include laboratory experiments that allow the students to experiment with fractions and percentages. For example the teachers should ask the students to divide an even number by two. Then they can ask them to divide an odd number by two. The students should repeat the experiment but divide by three this time. The students should try to use the calculator to divide one by three. The students should guess why the calculator could never give a precise answer for this calculation. The students should be given a fraction and asked to get the percentage from that. They should learn how fractions and percentages are related. In exponents students should understand what the base is and what the power is. They should use the calculator to raise a number to a certain power and then they should be asked how many times they should divide the result by the base in order to produce a one.

Next the notes should include a chapter on algebra. Students should understand linear equations and how to plot them. They should understand the concept of dependent and independent variables. They should be able to solve linear equations. This chapter should include laboratory experiments that use calculators to teach the linear equations concepts. For example the students should be given a linear equation and asked to experiment with different values of the input and plot their corresponding graphs on the calculator. Then the students should be asked how to make the graph go uphill, how to make it go downhill, how to make in more steep, how to make it less steep, and finally how to make it shift upwards and how to make it shift downwards.

The next chapter should be about geometry and measurements. This chapter should cover unit conversions and scaling, the concepts of objects like area, volume, and parameter and the Pythagorean Theorem. The students should be allowed to use the calculator in solving problems related to this chapter.

The last chapter should be about probability and statistics. It should cover the topic of data analyses using graphs, mean, median and mode. They should be confronted with laboratory experiments that require the plot of graphs.

Each chapter should contain many examples classified into groups. Each group of examples should target a particular problem idea or a particular technique. The students should be given an exam at the end of every chapter. The students who do not perform satisfactorily on the exam should be given extra work that targets their areas of deficiency.

Before the end of the term the class should be given a trial exam. The class should be classified into groups according to the results of the exam, a group that did well, a group that did bad, and a group that has a deficiency in particular areas but did well in the rest. Each group has to be handled with respect to its particular case.

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