23 Baltimore City Schools Have Zero Students Proficient in Math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a feeling this is wrong

You have to be good at mathematics on the fly if you are remotely good at being a drug dealer and you can’t tell me that zero kids are dealing

At least 1 or 2 kids are in these schools

I was a good student in mathematics but did not have the horsepower mentally to calculate the count and de-ups on the fly

You could be skilled at "pharmaceutical arithmetic" and still fail the exam if you just skip through the exam because you know your performance on it doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a feeling this is wrong

You have to be good at mathematics on the fly if you are remotely good at being a drug dealer and you can’t tell me that zero kids are dealing

At least 1 or 2 kids are in these schools

I was a good student in mathematics but did not have the horsepower mentally to calculate the count and de-ups on the fly

You could be skilled at "pharmaceutical arithmetic" and still fail the exam if you just skip through the exam because you know your performance on it doesn't matter.

Most of the students in my testing groups just click through the test. It’s just another test to them. They are over tested from the day they start school. I can’t say I blame them for not telling it seriously.

[Anonymous]

The overall pass rate on the math test for Baltimore City Schools in 7%.

So the fact that there are 23 schools with 0 students who passed is hardly surprising, right? I mean, especially in schools where students already were behind before.

The question I ask is this: is the math curriculum BCPS is using an appropriate one for providing rapid remediation in math? I am a teacher and I know how to teach elementary math, but the curriculum my school district provides is meant for students who are working on grade level. If students lack foundational math skills we are supposed to provide small group remediation and to tailor the lessons so they can be successful despite not knowing basic math. But those types of adaptations don't actually improve their skills. They just allow us to pass the student on to the next grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The overall pass rate on the math test for Baltimore City Schools in 7%.

So the fact that there are 23 schools with 0 students who passed is hardly surprising, right? I mean, especially in schools where students already were behind before.

The question I ask is this: is the math curriculum BCPS is using an appropriate one for providing rapid remediation in math? I am a teacher and I know how to teach elementary math, but the curriculum my school district provides is meant for students who are working on grade level. If students lack foundational math skills we are supposed to provide small group remediation and to tailor the lessons so they can be successful despite not knowing basic math. But those types of adaptations don't actually improve their skills. They just allow us to pass the student on to the next grade level.

Ding, ding, ding. That's Baltimore City (and many other districts) in a nutshell. They care about the APPEARANCE of how students are doing in school, not the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:zero might not be an indication of failure and might be an indication of protest. Just saying.

What would they be protesting? Baltimore receives the 4th highest funding in the entire country for their schools, each student on average has $20,000 spent vs less than $10,000 per student elsewhere.

The families are not held down by anyone at all either, in fact they are pampered with money/food/clothes/education that they didn't earn but are siphoned away from hardworking taxpayers.

It's the same reason why illegals flood the country, they get handed "free stuff" that they didn't earn and get treated to a vacation more or less on the taxpayer's dime.

If it wasn't for the handouts then either Baltimore would become a clone of one of Africa's worst cities with gangs going into the suburbs to rob people, or they would all starve as they are not producing anything on their own.

The education is meant to correct the latter but you can throw the 4th highest amount of money at them for public school and it does nothing so what's the solution to that?

Holy balls. Are we on Stormfront?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MD overall isn't great. Isn't Moco at 31%, PG 10%?? Math proficiency

^ this is my post. But adding, isn't this an indictment? That something major needs to change? The state board of education should hire a consultant to study MD publics versus much better performing ones in other states or something with similar demographics and socioeconomics, and try to figure out what the problem is. Is it something happening with administration, or differences in parenting, lead exposure, school closures, violence, what is it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD overall isn't great. Isn't Moco at 31%, PG 10%?? Math proficiency

^ this is my post. But adding, isn't this an indictment? That something major needs to change? The state board of education should hire a consultant to study MD publics versus much better performing ones in other states or something with similar demographics and socioeconomics, and try to figure out what the problem is. Is it something happening with administration, or differences in parenting, lead exposure, school closures, violence, what is it.

As a MD teacher in elementary school I can give you my perspective. This would be for grades 3-5. These grads have yearly Maryland state required tests in reading, writing and math.

The state tests are required by the state, because they are required by the federal government in order to get federal funding.

There is a TON of verbiage in these tests and I don't udnerstand why.

It seems like the goal is inly to ask very complicated questions so you can identify the top performers.

Here's a practice test example for third grade.

It has a bar graph with the number of cars of each color that passed by a certain location. The bar graph scale is marked by 2s. There were 15 silver cars, so the graph ends between 14 and 16. Black is between 8 and 10, white is between 2 and 4.

The question asks:

How many more silver cars passed by the school than black cars and white cars combined?

Select one answer.

A. 3

B. 4

C. 6

D. 7

It's a multi-step problem. First you have to be able to read the graph at all and understand how to read a bar graph. That's a good basic third grade skill. No problem at all and most third graders should be able to do that.

But reading a bar that lands between two numbers is a little bit tricky. And to have to do it three times, accurately, is a lot for many third graders. Still, they should be able to do it.

But now, you need to understand the word problem as well. You need to find the silver number (15) and understand that "how many more" means you are looking for a difference. And that you need to add up the number of white AND
black cars, then subtract that from 15. So 15-12 = 3

The kids get tired taking this test. Some of them don't read well or speak English. Yes, they can have the test read out loud to them, but that gets tiring, and it is hard for them to go back and reread just to find the information they need.

This is just one example. The test is not a straightforward measure of basic math skills.

In addition - let's say many students in third grade fail this test question. Teachers are told to examine the data and provide reteaching opportunities on solving multistep problems. However, it is very likely that students actually are missing foundational skills - they don't know how to read a bar graph properly. However we are told we should not directly address below grade level skills except in small group mini lessons or extra sessions. We need to stick with the grade level curriculum to "expose" the students to higher order thinking skills.

The kids just fall further and further behind.

[Anonymous]

Heres another example of what I think it a tricky third grade math question:

What is the result when an even number is multiplied by 5?

Select from the lists of choices to complete the statement.

The result will always be an _________ number, and the digit in the ones place will always be __________.

If a third grader knows the answer is (even) and (0) I think that shows great math understanding, but if a student fails to say the correct answer, I don't think that means the student has failed third grade math.

I think third graders should be required to add and subtract proficiently, and know some basic times tables and fractions. Identify odd and even numbers. Measure accurately using a ruler.

We don't need to test them on all this math theory requiring a lot of words.

[Anonymous]

Here's another question I think is pretty tricky for a kid in third grade.

I mean, I get that you are supposed to look at the number lines and find the point that is at the same spot on both. But if a kid didn't understand that, would you say he just doesn't "get" fractions at all, at a basic third grade level?

[Anonymous]

Last one, now that I have learned to post pictures. These are all from the MD state released items/practice test 3rd grade Math test:



I think it is tricky, for a third grader. Yes, of course, I think it would be wonderful for all third graders to be able to answer a question like this that shows they are truly able to understand the application of math. Instead of just asking a simple question: "What is the area of this rectangle?"

But - the fact that many students aren't able to answer questions like this doesn't mean they are learning nothing in math. Just that these questions are pretty tricky for them to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last one, now that I have learned to post pictures. These are all from the MD state released items/practice test 3rd grade Math test:



I think it is tricky, for a third grader. Yes, of course, I think it would be wonderful for all third graders to be able to answer a question like this that shows they are truly able to understand the application of math. Instead of just asking a simple question: "What is the area of this rectangle?"

But - the fact that many students aren't able to answer questions like this doesn't mean they are learning nothing in math. Just that these questions are pretty tricky for them to understand.

These sort of questions have become more common, asking kids to give the matching equation that demonstrates problem solving ability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s your issue with #2? They honestly need so much more to make that job worth it.

They need to be paid all that money to do a good job teaching.

Which teacher is doing a good job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why we should never have had over a year of remote learning.

Sorry, no. It’s 2023. At some point you’re going to have to stop desperately clinging to this stupid, tired old trope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s your issue with #2? They honestly need so much more to make that job worth it.

Ugh, not if their students are not performing at grade level, THAT IS THEIR JOB! We need to stop putting teachers up on this pedestal where everyone else is to blame when they are not doing their job. Accountability, I have it at my job and you can bet if I was not meeting the required goals, my a .. would be fired.

Good luck with this ridiculous attitude. There is already a teacher shortage, the rate of people coming through the pipeline to become new teachers continues to drop and of those, most aren’t taking jobs in schools like DC.

I mean, if you and thousands of parents want to quit your high paying jobs and go teach in DC, then maybe, but we all know you won’t do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s your issue with #2? They honestly need so much more to make that job worth it.

Ugh, not if their students are not performing at grade level, THAT IS THEIR JOB! We need to stop putting teachers up on this pedestal where everyone else is to blame when they are not doing their job. Accountability, I have it at my job and you can bet if I was not meeting the required goals, my a .. would be fired.

Good luck with this ridiculous attitude. There is already a teacher shortage, the rate of people coming through the pipeline to become new teachers continues to drop and of those, most aren’t taking jobs in schools like DC.

I mean, if you and thousands of parents want to quit your high paying jobs and go teach in DC, then maybe, but we all know you won’t do that.

*Baltimore schools, obviously