Honors Math classes being poorly taught (Churchill)

[Anonymous]

I am wondering if anyone else has noticed that these math classes are poorly taught.
Friend of mine said get honors Geo at CJMS or Hoover, but do not take it at Churchill. Same is said about Algebra II.
They said that the curriculum and handouts stink (poorly written), and to compound the problem, the instruction is lackluster.
I have heard that the kids aren't learning as much as they would with the regular classwork, with more straight forward handouts and better teachers.
I wonder if it is a waste to put DS through this, maybe better to do regular Geo and Alg II and learn something?

[Anonymous]

I would stick with Honors. In some high schools there will be honors and regular students mixed in the same class. don't know if this is the case at Churchill.

Advanced kids took geometry in MS. Everyone else is on track. Might as well get the gpa boost for the honors class. You'll have to wait for AP level to get anything truly advanced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would stick with Honors. In some high schools there will be honors and regular students mixed in the same class. don't know if this is the case at Churchill.

Advanced kids took geometry in MS. Everyone else is on track. Might as well get the gpa boost for the honors class. You'll have to wait for AP level to get anything truly advanced.

I am not saying that honors was not "advanced" enough, but rather it appears to be a cluster because is is poorly rolled out.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps with a new Principal there will be a focus on solving the math problems at Churchill. BTW math is not the only department with problem teachers who coast by year after year. Science and Social Studies also have their issues just not in the numbers of bad teachers like math.

After orientation my 9th grader said his math teacher is not collecting or grading the summer math packet like the other teachers are so as a department, they do not have uniform policies or work expectations which adds to the problem. Honors vs regular isn't going to be a solution for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if anyone else has noticed that these math classes are poorly taught.
Friend of mine said get honors Geo at CJMS or Hoover, but do not take it at Churchill. Same is said about Algebra II.
They said that the curriculum and handouts stink (poorly written), and to compound the problem, the instruction is lackluster.
I have heard that the kids aren't learning as much as they would with the regular classwork, with more straight forward handouts and better teachers.
I wonder if it is a waste to put DS through this, maybe better to do regular Geo and Alg II and learn something?

Churchill parent here. I totally could have written this. Honors geometry was a mess. The teacher didn’t teach. Also honors Algebra 2 curriculum was a mess as well. Teachers also didn’t know the material.

We had to get a Math tutor to fill in the gaps. The math tutor was an MCPS math teacher from another high school. He was really surprised at how honors algebra 2 was being taught (or not taught) at Churchill. He had to teach my daughter what Churchill for some reason hadn’t. He also taught her math concepts that my daughter had asked for clarification on from her teacher could not teach her, but would not admit he didn’t know how to do it.

We decided to have her drop to regular precalc. We felt that she hadn’t mastered the honors algebra 2 material enough and she’d would probably also need a weekly tutor, which we did not want to pay for. My daughter is basically a straight A student and struggled. If you take the class, be prepared to get a tutor and put in a lot of extra time (if you want an A). We were lucky she got a B. It’s not because the kids aren’t smart or willing to work hard, it’s because the math concepts aren’t being taught and the math teachers don’t fully understand the material.

[Anonymous]

+1 We have had very poor math instruction so far at Churchill. Dd is convinced the teacher didn’t really understand the concepts she was teaching.

I doubt if going down to regular (non honors) class would help—unless you know something specific about which teachers are covering that class this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 We have had very poor math instruction so far at Churchill. Dd is convinced the teacher didn’t really understand the concepts she was teaching.

I doubt if going down to regular (non honors) class would help—unless you know something specific about which teachers are covering that class this year.

+2 Math teaching as a whole at Churchill is pretty poor. My DC has needed tutors the last 3 years. The teachers are the problem and the head of the department is useless.

[Anonymous]

This is horrifying. So glad we chose private over Churchill. And academics wasn't even the reason. Also love that DS has actual text books for all his subjects.

[Anonymous]

I know! The W's continue to slide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 We have had very poor math instruction so far at Churchill. Dd is convinced the teacher didn’t really understand the concepts she was teaching.

I doubt if going down to regular (non honors) class would help—unless you know something specific about which teachers are covering that class this year.

Regular precalc moves much slower than honors precalc so it should be easier and if tutors are needed it shouldn’t be as urgent since they spend more time covering each concept. We have been told that this is a relatively easy class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is horrifying. So glad we chose private over Churchill. And academics wasn't even the reason. Also love that DS has actual text books for all his subjects.

Our DD went to private and had a terrible teacher for her advanced math classes. It really irritated us that everyone KNEW that she was a bad teacher but she was still teaching there so I said something. I explained how we send our kids to private school so that they have good teachers. This woman wouldn’t even answer questions and made really bright students feel dumb.
They finally relieved her of her duties this year.
If they keep the bad math teachers on in the public school then that is a key difference between private and public school.

Still makes me mad that she was my DD’s teacher for two years of high school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering if anyone else has noticed that these math classes are poorly taught.
Friend of mine said get honors Geo at CJMS or Hoover, but do not take it at Churchill. Same is said about Algebra II.
They said that the curriculum and handouts stink (poorly written), and to compound the problem, the instruction is lackluster.
I have heard that the kids aren't learning as much as they would with the regular classwork, with more straight forward handouts and better teachers.
I wonder if it is a waste to put DS through this, maybe better to do regular Geo and Alg II and learn something?

Churchill parent here. I totally could have written this. Honors geometry was a mess. The teacher didn’t teach. Also honors Algebra 2 curriculum was a mess as well. Teachers also didn’t know the material.

We had to get a Math tutor to fill in the gaps. The math tutor was an MCPS math teacher from another high school. He was really surprised at how honors algebra 2 was being taught (or not taught) at Churchill. He had to teach my daughter what Churchill for some reason hadn’t. He also taught her math concepts that my daughter had asked for clarification on from her teacher could not teach her, but would not admit he didn’t know how to do it.

We decided to have her drop to regular precalc. We felt that she hadn’t mastered the honors algebra 2 material enough and she’d would probably also need a weekly tutor, which we did not want to pay for. My daughter is basically a straight A student and struggled. If you take the class, be prepared to get a tutor and put in a lot of extra time (if you want an A). We were lucky she got a B. It’s not because the kids aren’t smart or willing to work hard, it’s because the math concepts aren’t being taught and the math teachers don’t fully understand the material.

Wow, I also could have written this also. I have spent a small fortunate hiring math tutors (also other MCPS teachers) for my kids to get through math at Churchill. They have teachers who are given classes to teach that they have no background to teach. i.e. AP Calculus etc. We also took our kids off of the honors math track and are glad we did. Mostly the same mediocre teachers, but at least the pace was slowed down. I just checked the website and all of the bad apples are still there (also in other departments). Hoping the new principal will do some house cleaning, but guessing it may take some time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is horrifying. So glad we chose private over Churchill. And academics wasn't even the reason. Also love that DS has actual text books for all his subjects.

Why are you on this forum? Do you have a child in "MD Public Schools"?

[Anonymous]

If they at least had textbooks, the tutors could work much more efficiently with the kids. This ridiculous worksheets are SHAMEFUL.

[Anonymous]

You know, we had a bad experience with Algebra I at CJ. I sensed that my DD did not grasp the basics, so after she completed Geometry, I had her re-do Algebra I over the summer with an Algebra teacher (advice given on DCUM). It was a great decision. It cost us around $2500, but it was well worth it. We will continue with that tutor throughout Algebra II. I will have my other DD tutored in Algebra I the entire summer before taking it.
BTW, the Algebra I teacher at CJ, who was not very good, said not to take Hon Geo at Churchill, implying it is a cluster.
My sense is that Math teaching jobs in MCPS pay the most, and teachers seek that position, even if they themselves aren't the best qualified.