Comments on: Forced March: PTA Meeting Reveals Math Trail of Tears

By: J.

J. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:19:36 +0000

“(And as an aside… can I ask? Where has actual history…you know like Mesopotamia and Egypt and Greece and explorers and stuff…gone in MCPS elementary schools?)”

Not on the test, not on the radar. No Bureaucrat Left Behind.

By: Just Saying No–to Accelerated Math « The “More” Child

Just Saying No–to Accelerated Math « The “More” Child — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:55:41 +0000

[...] result–at least what I’m hearing anecdotally–is kids who are rushed through a compacted curriculum, who are stressed out, and who have decided that …. Down the line, there are reports of a watered down algebra and kids with weaknesses who fall apart [...]

By: More on Accelerated Math from Mathews « The “More” Child

More on Accelerated Math from Mathews « The “More” Child — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:16:05 +0000

[...] he was blindsided by parent concerns regarding math acceleration. This is something I’ve blogged about numerous times and clearly it’s a simmering issue in the county…to the point that MCPS [...]

By: Just Saying No–to Accelerated Math « The “More” Child

Just Saying No–to Accelerated Math « The “More” Child — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:08:01 +0000

[...] 10, 2008 by SwitchedOnMom Last week the Washington Post ran a story on the a topic I’ve blogged on before: the uneasiness many parents are feeling about willy-nilly math acceleration in MCPS. You can [...]

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:01:09 +0000

The math path you linked to looks perfectly fine to me in itself. But it seems that there is outside pressure to put kids on the wrong tracks. Are the classes structured so that you have to be accelerated in all subjects or none? because that seems counter to the philosophy that I’d have deduced from the chart.

My twin daughters are in a middle school where a substantial proportion of kids start high school math in 7th or 8th grade, and a few start in 6th. Typically they test into a particular class; occasionally a student is moved higher or lower during the year, or repeats a year. (There are also lots of kids doing grade-level or remedial math.) It seems to work pretty well (my daughters are in different levels, by the way, currently doing 9th- and 10th-grade-level work). Math placement is independent of what program you’re in otherwise. I really wish that elementary school math worked more that way.

Helen

By: SwitchedOnMom

SwitchedOnMom — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:22:36 +0000

I just want to clarify, if anyone is wondering, that I’m not against math acceleration. There may genuinely be students who are ready and able to handle algebra in 5th, 6th or 7th grade–and that option needs to be there for those kids. What needs examinationIMO, is whether a wholesale across the board push for acceleration is appropriate, and to what end? So far I haven’t seen this discussion taking place in MoCo in any meaningful way.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:37:20 +0000

I’m not in your school system, but relate to so much of this. We are thinking of sending our kids back to public school next year (they currently attend a private gifted school) and you remind me what I’ll be in for. Ugh.

By: SwitchedOnMom

SwitchedOnMom — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:14:36 +0000

Helen, you make a good point. There is a place for a constructivist approach to learning…but there also needs to be an expectation of precision and mastery.

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:45:10 +0000

“She then explained the concept of “rigor” as MCPS sees it. It’s learning that’s “proactive,” “ambiguous,” “complex,” and “emotionally engaging.” Fine. You get no arguments there.”

Well, *I* would have. Our district has a similar definition, and the first time I saw it I sat there with my mouth hanging open. It’s so far off the mark of what I would have thought they meant that it looks as if they were talking about some different word.

It’s not that I have any objection to complex material or anything — but to me, rigor has to do with things like geometric proofs, where you show beyond the shadow of a doubt that what you are saying follows from the premises. In that context, a reference to “ambiguity” is pretty much an insult!

In education, I had always assumed it meant that students were expected to do things thoroughly and correctly, at whatever level was appropriate — that you didn’t let them slide by, doing stuff halfway.

By: N in No. VA

N in No. VA — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:41:57 +0000

Wow, you managed to nail all the difficulties we’re having over in Fairfax with our two kids – one in a GT school (math, what an absolute nightmare for all the reasons stated above!) – and another in our high achieving neighborhood school in kindergarten (getting those notes about handwriting, when he’s yet to have ONE bit of training in it!!) We may be headed back to homeschooling …