Maryland could axe advanced math classes in elementary school

[Anonymous]

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/maryland-math-scores-PK4PNILXSNFSTO4BNAKBGWWM2A/

Why is the solution to falling test scores to hurt the kids who perform well?

[Anonymous]

Wow that’s dumb

[Anonymous]

This is the sort of thing that drives middle of the road Dems to vote Republican.

[Anonymous]

That headline and article doesn't seem to match the actual policy? The policy doesn't say there can't be advanced classes (except for grades K-2), it just says that there should be lots of on-ramps and off-ramps to acceleration rather than setting them on different tracks early. In fact it looks like it requires schools to assess all kids entering grades 3-7 for acceleration. Seems better than right now honestly.

[Anonymous]

It’s more than just the pre k to 2nd bit.

“ In third to fifth grades, schools would only be permitted to regroup students for math class on a periodic basis. These children should “never be permanently grouped by ability,””

This sounds like you could not have a class that does more advanced math in 3rd - 5th either. All you could do was groupings “periodically”. That is going to be massively frustrating to the math kids bored out of their minds at the slow pace of normal instruction for 6 years.

[Anonymous]

How many times does detracking need to fail before people realize it’s not a magic bullet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the sort of thing that drives middle of the road Dems to vote Republican.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s more than just the pre k to 2nd bit.

“ In third to fifth grades, schools would only be permitted to regroup students for math class on a periodic basis. These children should “never be permanently grouped by ability,””

This sounds like you could not have a class that does more advanced math in 3rd - 5th either. All you could do was groupings “periodically”. That is going to be massively frustrating to the math kids bored out of their minds at the slow pace of normal instruction for 6 years.

My old district did this. They pretested kids before every unit and split them into groups based on the results. Some kids wee always in the top group, but some kids were better at certain topics and floated into the top group for those. And some topics were new to a grade and there was no top group.

The top group got enrichment rather than acceleration. They went deeper, not faster. It might have been harder to manage logistically, but it made more sense pedagogically.

[Anonymous]

Liberals gonna lib.

[Anonymous]

“This policy extends a deep commitment to instructional equity,” a report detailing the plan states.


So they’re doubling down on DEI. Again. Does that make it tripling down?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like something you should trial instead of mandate statewide.

[Anonymous]

They should consider doubling down on academic excellence instead of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/maryland-math-scores-PK4PNILXSNFSTO4BNAKBGWWM2A/

Why is the solution to falling test scores to hurt the kids who perform well?

The only way to close the gap is from the top down and the gap is all that matters. School isn't about education anymore just optics.

[Anonymous]

Ffs, when are they going to figure out that holding back able kids is NOT the way to close the achievement gap. This is such an incredibly vacuous way to approach the problem and total denial of the fact that current math instruction practice are a failure. they need to burn all the math computer programs and go back to textbooks, homework, repetition and recall, and tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the sort of thing that drives middle of the road Dems to vote Republican.

+1. I’m a fed so the horror of Trump is real, but the utter failure of Dems on K-13 education is also real.