Why Math is so weak in private schools?

[Anonymous]

I see that the top students in private schools do have math tutors or go to specialized schools like RSM to enhance their math knowledge.

Why this is the case? With such a high tuition, schools should be providing a very high academic level of math.

Am I missing something related to the subpar quality of math?

[Anonymous]

Private schools in DC are not mainly for purposes of education. They are designed to eliminate misbehaved children, SN children, low SES status (with a few exceptions to make sure it’s “inclusive”), etc. while the parent screams “my child goes to an inclusive private”. They are there to make the parents feel better. A bragging right if you will. Education is secondary.

[Anonymous]

Math is t weak in private schools, it just isn’t as accelerated. Most schools top out at Calc BC, maybe multivar. If you have a kid who needs to go farther, you need public or outside enrichment. But the quality of the classes offered is generally very strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math is t weak in private schools, it just isn’t as accelerated. Most schools top out at Calc BC, maybe multivar. If you have a kid who needs to go farther, you need public or outside enrichment. But the quality of the classes offered is generally very strong.

it depends on which private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private schools in DC are not mainly for purposes of education. They are designed to eliminate misbehaved children, SN children, low SES status (with a few exceptions to make sure it’s “inclusive”), etc. while the parent screams “my child goes to an inclusive private”. They are there to make the parents feel better. A bragging right if you will. Education is secondary.

Why so bitter? I’m guessing your child didn’t get accepted to a private.

[Anonymous]

Really rich people don’t need to be advanced in math. Competent, yes, but they don’t need to take calculus as a 10th grader. They don’t become engineers or god forbid computer scientists. If they run a hedge fund, they hire quant nerds to do the hard work while they ski and deal-make with the other lacrosse bros from Dartmouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math is t weak in private schools, it just isn’t as accelerated. Most schools top out at Calc BC, maybe multivar. If you have a kid who needs to go farther, you need public or outside enrichment. But the quality of the classes offered is generally very strong.

it depends on which private?

The top. I do see in Thomas Jefferson math is great. But not sure about private. I do see most kids in private supplementing it with tutors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math is t weak in private schools, it just isn’t as accelerated. Most schools top out at Calc BC, maybe multivar. If you have a kid who needs to go farther, you need public or outside enrichment. But the quality of the classes offered is generally very strong.

it depends on which private?

The top. I do see in Thomas Jefferson math is great. But not sure about private. I do see most kids in private supplementing it with tutors.

It really depends on the school. Which private are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really rich people don’t need to be advanced in math. Competent, yes, but they don’t need to take calculus as a 10th grader. They don’t become engineers or god forbid computer scientists. If they run a hedge fund, they hire quant nerds to do the hard work while they ski and deal-make with the other lacrosse bros from Dartmouth.

I only need to know Algebra to track my wealth. I have Wealth Managers to do the rest of the math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math is t weak in private schools, it just isn’t as accelerated. Most schools top out at Calc BC, maybe multivar. If you have a kid who needs to go farther, you need public or outside enrichment. But the quality of the classes offered is generally very strong.

it depends on which private?

The top. I do see in Thomas Jefferson math is great. But not sure about private. I do see most kids in private supplementing it with tutors.

It really depends on the school. Which private are you talking about?

Top privates in dc.

[Anonymous]

People think acceleration means superior math knowledge. There is plenty of resesrch that shows acceleration isn’t best practice for most students and leads to gaps. Private schools take math slow and steady so the students understand the concepts and move on ready for the next math class. Don’t compare that with over accelerated and inflated grades from public

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People think acceleration means superior math knowledge. There is plenty of resesrch that shows acceleration isn’t best practice for most students and leads to gaps. Private schools take math slow and steady so the students understand the concepts and move on ready for the next math class. Don’t compare that with over accelerated and inflated grades from public

This is no different than the publics. Publics have more kids and other tracks but the classes are the same. Privates might only be better if they use textbooks and structured teaching. Cheaper to get a tutor and public. We tried to switch to privates but the math track was too slow and our kid was already advanced.

[Anonymous]

I only know GDS. It's true that they are very opposed to acceleration. But we are very happy with the HS math curriculum. My child is in the honors track (highest of 3 levels) and is learning proofs and theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math is t weak in private schools, it just isn’t as accelerated. Most schools top out at Calc BC, maybe multivar. If you have a kid who needs to go farther, you need public or outside enrichment. But the quality of the classes offered is generally very strong.

This is our experience, too. The math instruction was excellent at our private. (Students could go up to multivariable.) The teachers were excellent.

There simply wasn’t a push into higher math. Frankly, the progression seemed quite logical.

[Anonymous]

Math has generally gotten weaker in the US over the last number of decades. This over time leads to smaller pool of teachers that are actually strong enough in math to allow deeper knowledge and love of the subject. Parents are largely in the same boat, so they don’t demand deeper math knowledge from the school. There is the argument that accelerated doesn’t mean they have better math knowledge, but for kids actually strong in math that isn’t true at all. Parents like that argument because it makes them feel that their kid is getting something as good, but in reality they just don’t know what they are missing. And don’t forget that most parents of kids in most expensive privates have strong preconceptions of quality of education in publics. We supplement at one of these schools to keep kids ahead of what school offers in math. Also I think it’s important for them to see teacher that are actually strong at math.