100% on Iowa. Should DC take a summer math class?

[pettifogger]

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is really gifted in math and loves it.

Would a summer math class like geometry between 7th and 8th be worth it?

There is only one reason why anyone would attempt such an awful thing, and that is purely because of acceleration purposes, which is a very superficial reason that is completely orthogonal to learning math for joy and understanding.

Based on your description, I frankly believe it would even actually risk hurting your child's natural love for math. Additionally, practically speaking, K-12 students in the USA are extremely weak in geometry because of how it is taught in school, and trying to do it all in a summer would almost surely hurt your kid down the road. Even worse, summer geometry barely passes as math, given that it will be very procedural and rote based, in addition to stress inducing because of the super frequent testing (I believe it happens on a daily basis due to the highly compressed schedule). Instead, you want your kid to slow down and cover math slowly and deeply., with the goal of mastering a few select interesting topics, as well as increasing problem solving skills along the way. Discrete math such as combinatorics or number theory (AoPS offers both as others mentioned), are not only inherently beautiful, but they can also be used to introduce rigorous reasoning and formulating proofs. If you don't want an actual class, attend a math circle if you can find one (although there may not be anything in the summer), short of that try to introduce your kid to some of the math contest questions where they can learn from doing interesting problems as found in Mathcounts (although in my view that isn't as efficient as learning some of the subject material first). Brilliant.org also has a lot of wonderful and interesting material at their level, but does not have full blown classes like AoPS.

Although this post is thoughtful, I disagree with the point of view. You can study mathematics slow and deep, but also fast and shallow if it fits your student’s goal. If the goal is to learn the tools for understanding science (physics, chemistry, biology) it can be argued that a shallow understanding of calculus is more useful than a deep exploration of number theory. I’d argue that the usefulness of geometry in science is far less than algebra, so skipping through it over a summer class would be ok.

Personally I am somewhat doubtful on how important contest math is for mathematical education. The skill of working on a problem under one hour time constraint, is almost never needed in a real job, and arguably working in a team, and good communication is a better skill to develop.

My main point is that trying to learn all of geometry by forcing it into 6 weeks is horrible idea. The student will have an extremely shallow understanding of geometry and how to use it effectively to solve problems. But much worse, they will not even get a chance to learn math, as it it will be inappropriately presented as a bunch of steps to memorize and then immediately regurgitate on quizzes/tests, all without thinking or reflection, not to mention problem solving or learning how to put together a proof... Why would anyone want their child to go through an experience like that? It is obvious that it could backfire and kill their love or motivation to do math. Literally almost any other approach to doing math is better than this.

If they don't do proofs in regular full-year Geometry, then what's the harm in taking summer Geometry without proofs? Tbh, Geometry doesn't really make sense until you've gone through calculus anyway.

Geometry basics can (and should) be learned starting in elementary school. Ideally it should be integrated into all aspects of math, which is how many other countries teach it. However, a full year of proof based Euclidean geometry would a next to impossible to understand or retain in a summer, and is what is normally covered in a summer course (I'm assuming OP meant the 6-week FCPS summer class, but they could be referring to another program as well). It would be fine to learn some geometry in the summer, whether by finding a more appropriate class that focuses on understanding, or perhaps by buying a good geometry book and work together with their child to learn a portion of it.

Regarding proofs, they are covered in both the summer class and the regular year geometry class, but they are done very badly. Instead of encouraging expression and creativity as well as logical connectedness, the way proofs are done in geometry class is via a focus on a constrictive 2 column approach, which is never then seen outside of the K-12 geometry class. Students typically walk out of a geometry class confused about what the nature of a proof really means, which is sad.

I think geometry is a beautiful subject for kids to learn and it would be wise to find a good quality approach to learning it for their kid. I don't believe summer school geometry as offered by fcps would be it.

[Anonymous]

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is really gifted in math and loves it.

Would a summer math class like geometry between 7th and 8th be worth it?

There is only one reason why anyone would attempt such an awful thing, and that is purely because of acceleration purposes, which is a very superficial reason that is completely orthogonal to learning math for joy and understanding.

Based on your description, I frankly believe it would even actually risk hurting your child's natural love for math. Additionally, practically speaking, K-12 students in the USA are extremely weak in geometry because of how it is taught in school, and trying to do it all in a summer would almost surely hurt your kid down the road. Even worse, summer geometry barely passes as math, given that it will be very procedural and rote based, in addition to stress inducing because of the super frequent testing (I believe it happens on a daily basis due to the highly compressed schedule). Instead, you want your kid to slow down and cover math slowly and deeply., with the goal of mastering a few select interesting topics, as well as increasing problem solving skills along the way. Discrete math such as combinatorics or number theory (AoPS offers both as others mentioned), are not only inherently beautiful, but they can also be used to introduce rigorous reasoning and formulating proofs. If you don't want an actual class, attend a math circle if you can find one (although there may not be anything in the summer), short of that try to introduce your kid to some of the math contest questions where they can learn from doing interesting problems as found in Mathcounts (although in my view that isn't as efficient as learning some of the subject material first). Brilliant.org also has a lot of wonderful and interesting material at their level, but does not have full blown classes like AoPS.

Although this post is thoughtful, I disagree with the point of view. You can study mathematics slow and deep, but also fast and shallow if it fits your student’s goal. If the goal is to learn the tools for understanding science (physics, chemistry, biology) it can be argued that a shallow understanding of calculus is more useful than a deep exploration of number theory. I’d argue that the usefulness of geometry in science is far less than algebra, so skipping through it over a summer class would be ok.

Personally I am somewhat doubtful on how important contest math is for mathematical education. The skill of working on a problem under one hour time constraint, is almost never needed in a real job, and arguably working in a team, and good communication is a better skill to develop.

My main point is that trying to learn all of geometry by forcing it into 6 weeks is horrible idea. The student will have an extremely shallow understanding of geometry and how to use it effectively to solve problems. But much worse, they will not even get a chance to learn math, as it it will be inappropriately presented as a bunch of steps to memorize and then immediately regurgitate on quizzes/tests, all without thinking or reflection, not to mention problem solving or learning how to put together a proof... Why would anyone want their child to go through an experience like that? It is obvious that it could backfire and kill their love or motivation to do math. Literally almost any other approach to doing math is better than this.

If they don't do proofs in regular full-year Geometry, then what's the harm in taking summer Geometry without proofs? Tbh, Geometry doesn't really make sense until you've gone through calculus anyway.

Geometry basics can (and should) be learned starting in elementary school. Ideally it should be integrated into all aspects of math, which is how many other countries teach it. However, a full year of proof based Euclidean geometry would a next to impossible to understand or retain in a summer, and is what is normally covered in a summer course (I'm assuming OP meant the 6-week FCPS summer class, but they could be referring to another program as well). It would be fine to learn some geometry in the summer, whether by finding a more appropriate class that focuses on understanding, or perhaps by buying a good geometry book and work together with their child to learn a portion of it.

Regarding proofs, they are covered in both the summer class and the regular year geometry class, but they are done very badly. Instead of encouraging expression and creativity as well as logical connectedness, the way proofs are done in geometry class is via a focus on a constrictive 2 column approach, which is never then seen outside of the K-12 geometry class. Students typically walk out of a geometry class confused about what the nature of a proof really means, which is sad.

I think geometry is a beautiful subject for kids to learn and it would be wise to find a good quality approach to learning it for their kid. I don't believe summer school geometry as offered by fcps would be it.

Some points of view are too math centric. As in real life the answer is almost always “it depends”. Between knowing how to write proofs, a scientific report, or a good essay, I’d rate the last two as more important. It also depends on the student goals, focusing in middle and high school exclusively on math would limit the options quite drastically. There’s never enough time to do well in everything so a student needs to choose an area of focus based on how useful a skill is (e.g. reading comprehension and writing is needed in every job), interest, aptitude, constraints etc.

If a student wants to learn more science, it’s better to take the physics, chemistry, biology sequence than the reverse that is usually taught in high school, but you can’t do it unless you finish algebra 2 early, as it is often a requirement for physics. In my view, class prerequisites is what drives the acceleration in math along with the desire to stand out among the student population for college admission purposes. Doing a six week geometry class that covers a bare minimum is fine if it fits with the student planning. I wouldn’t call a crash course in geometry a horrible infliction on your child, that’s a bit dramatic. This argument is only considering a stem interest, there is a whole other world of humanities, social sciences etc, where different skills are needed.

Doing contest math for developing problem solving, sure, but the same can be said about a solid science class, and even more so about an engineering extracurricular activity like coding or robotics.

To the OP question, it is fine to take a six week geometry class over the summer, but make sure you have a good reason for it. It’s probably better than taking summer algebra since it is less connected with the follow up math classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

[pettifogger]

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is really gifted in math and loves it.

Would a summer math class like geometry between 7th and 8th be worth it?

There is only one reason why anyone would attempt such an awful thing, and that is purely because of acceleration purposes, which is a very superficial reason that is completely orthogonal to learning math for joy and understanding.

Based on your description, I frankly believe it would even actually risk hurting your child's natural love for math. Additionally, practically speaking, K-12 students in the USA are extremely weak in geometry because of how it is taught in school, and trying to do it all in a summer would almost surely hurt your kid down the road. Even worse, summer geometry barely passes as math, given that it will be very procedural and rote based, in addition to stress inducing because of the super frequent testing (I believe it happens on a daily basis due to the highly compressed schedule). Instead, you want your kid to slow down and cover math slowly and deeply., with the goal of mastering a few select interesting topics, as well as increasing problem solving skills along the way. Discrete math such as combinatorics or number theory (AoPS offers both as others mentioned), are not only inherently beautiful, but they can also be used to introduce rigorous reasoning and formulating proofs. If you don't want an actual class, attend a math circle if you can find one (although there may not be anything in the summer), short of that try to introduce your kid to some of the math contest questions where they can learn from doing interesting problems as found in Mathcounts (although in my view that isn't as efficient as learning some of the subject material first). Brilliant.org also has a lot of wonderful and interesting material at their level, but does not have full blown classes like AoPS.

Although this post is thoughtful, I disagree with the point of view. You can study mathematics slow and deep, but also fast and shallow if it fits your student’s goal. If the goal is to learn the tools for understanding science (physics, chemistry, biology) it can be argued that a shallow understanding of calculus is more useful than a deep exploration of number theory. I’d argue that the usefulness of geometry in science is far less than algebra, so skipping through it over a summer class would be ok.

Personally I am somewhat doubtful on how important contest math is for mathematical education. The skill of working on a problem under one hour time constraint, is almost never needed in a real job, and arguably working in a team, and good communication is a better skill to develop.

My main point is that trying to learn all of geometry by forcing it into 6 weeks is horrible idea. The student will have an extremely shallow understanding of geometry and how to use it effectively to solve problems. But much worse, they will not even get a chance to learn math, as it it will be inappropriately presented as a bunch of steps to memorize and then immediately regurgitate on quizzes/tests, all without thinking or reflection, not to mention problem solving or learning how to put together a proof... Why would anyone want their child to go through an experience like that? It is obvious that it could backfire and kill their love or motivation to do math. Literally almost any other approach to doing math is better than this.

If they don't do proofs in regular full-year Geometry, then what's the harm in taking summer Geometry without proofs? Tbh, Geometry doesn't really make sense until you've gone through calculus anyway.

Geometry basics can (and should) be learned starting in elementary school. Ideally it should be integrated into all aspects of math, which is how many other countries teach it. However, a full year of proof based Euclidean geometry would a next to impossible to understand or retain in a summer, and is what is normally covered in a summer course (I'm assuming OP meant the 6-week FCPS summer class, but they could be referring to another program as well). It would be fine to learn some geometry in the summer, whether by finding a more appropriate class that focuses on understanding, or perhaps by buying a good geometry book and work together with their child to learn a portion of it.

Regarding proofs, they are covered in both the summer class and the regular year geometry class, but they are done very badly. Instead of encouraging expression and creativity as well as logical connectedness, the way proofs are done in geometry class is via a focus on a constrictive 2 column approach, which is never then seen outside of the K-12 geometry class. Students typically walk out of a geometry class confused about what the nature of a proof really means, which is sad.

I think geometry is a beautiful subject for kids to learn and it would be wise to find a good quality approach to learning it for their kid. I don't believe summer school geometry as offered by fcps would be it.

Some points of view are too math centric. As in real life the answer is almost always “it depends”. Between knowing how to write proofs, a scientific report, or a good essay, I’d rate the last two as more important. It also depends on the student goals, focusing in middle and high school exclusively on math would limit the options quite drastically. There’s never enough time to do well in everything so a student needs to choose an area of focus based on how useful a skill is (e.g. reading comprehension and writing is needed in every job), interest, aptitude, constraints etc.

If a student wants to learn more science, it’s better to take the physics, chemistry, biology sequence than the reverse that is usually taught in high school, but you can’t do it unless you finish algebra 2 early, as it is often a requirement for physics. In my view, class prerequisites is what drives the acceleration in math along with the desire to stand out among the student population for college admission purposes. Doing a six week geometry class that covers a bare minimum is fine if it fits with the student planning. I wouldn’t call a crash course in geometry a horrible infliction on your child, that’s a bit dramatic. This argument is only considering a stem interest, there is a whole other world of humanities, social sciences etc, where different skills are needed.

Doing contest math for developing problem solving, sure, but the same can be said about a solid science class, and even more so about an engineering extracurricular activity like coding or robotics.

To the OP question, it is fine to take a six week geometry class over the summer, but make sure you have a good reason for it. It’s probably better than taking summer algebra since it is less connected with the follow up math classes.

It's hard to give more advice until we hear back from OP about what ideas/reasons they have for suggesting the course, but I'm operating under what they stated regarding their child being gifted and loving math, and presumably having a main goal of developing their math interest and abilities. With this in mind, I would strongly recommend not taking a full geometry summer course. If their main goal is different, i.e inclined toward prepping for science, etc. then it's a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

And I’ll add 99% includes kids who got none wrong and kids who got some wrong. There is no 100% on the report, even the report of a kid who missed none.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

And I’ll add 99% includes kids who got none wrong and kids who got some wrong. There is no 100% on the report, even the report of a kid who missed none.

It’s possible the op refers to 100% raw score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

And I’ll add 99% includes kids who got none wrong and kids who got some wrong. There is no 100% on the report, even the report of a kid who missed none.

Did you personally see the op’s report? If not, give her the benefit of the doubt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

And I’ll add 99% includes kids who got none wrong and kids who got some wrong. There is no 100% on the report, even the report of a kid who missed none.

Did you personally see the op’s report? If not, give her the benefit of the doubt.

It may well be that OP asked for the detailed score report. I will just add my 2 cents that it is super lame to be requesting the full score report when your kid scored in the 99th percentile. Like, do you really need to know more than the fact that the kid scored in the 99th percentile? I can see if the score was close to the cut off ad you wanted to know where the weaknesses were or thought it may help to further the decisionmaking process on whether to do Algebra in 7th, but this seems silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is really gifted in math and loves it.

Would a summer math class like geometry between 7th and 8th be worth it?

There is only one reason why anyone would attempt such an awful thing, and that is purely because of acceleration purposes, which is a very superficial reason that is completely orthogonal to learning math for joy and understanding.

Based on your description, I frankly believe it would even actually risk hurting your child's natural love for math. Additionally, practically speaking, K-12 students in the USA are extremely weak in geometry because of how it is taught in school, and trying to do it all in a summer would almost surely hurt your kid down the road. Even worse, summer geometry barely passes as math, given that it will be very procedural and rote based, in addition to stress inducing because of the super frequent testing (I believe it happens on a daily basis due to the highly compressed schedule). Instead, you want your kid to slow down and cover math slowly and deeply., with the goal of mastering a few select interesting topics, as well as increasing problem solving skills along the way. Discrete math such as combinatorics or number theory (AoPS offers both as others mentioned), are not only inherently beautiful, but they can also be used to introduce rigorous reasoning and formulating proofs. If you don't want an actual class, attend a math circle if you can find one (although there may not be anything in the summer), short of that try to introduce your kid to some of the math contest questions where they can learn from doing interesting problems as found in Mathcounts (although in my view that isn't as efficient as learning some of the subject material first). Brilliant.org also has a lot of wonderful and interesting material at their level, but does not have full blown classes like AoPS.

Although this post is thoughtful, I disagree with the point of view. You can study mathematics slow and deep, but also fast and shallow if it fits your student’s goal. If the goal is to learn the tools for understanding science (physics, chemistry, biology) it can be argued that a shallow understanding of calculus is more useful than a deep exploration of number theory. I’d argue that the usefulness of geometry in science is far less than algebra, so skipping through it over a summer class would be ok.

Personally I am somewhat doubtful on how important contest math is for mathematical education. The skill of working on a problem under one hour time constraint, is almost never needed in a real job, and arguably working in a team, and good communication is a better skill to develop.

My main point is that trying to learn all of geometry by forcing it into 6 weeks is horrible idea. The student will have an extremely shallow understanding of geometry and how to use it effectively to solve problems. But much worse, they will not even get a chance to learn math, as it it will be inappropriately presented as a bunch of steps to memorize and then immediately regurgitate on quizzes/tests, all without thinking or reflection, not to mention problem solving or learning how to put together a proof... Why would anyone want their child to go through an experience like that? It is obvious that it could backfire and kill their love or motivation to do math. Literally almost any other approach to doing math is better than this.

If they don't do proofs in regular full-year Geometry, then what's the harm in taking summer Geometry without proofs? Tbh, Geometry doesn't really make sense until you've gone through calculus anyway.

They do proofs in Geometry H. My 8th grader does prood after proof after proof.

[Anonymous]

It may well be that OP asked for the detailed score report. I will just add my 2 cents that it is super lame to be requesting the full score report when your kid scored in the 99th percentile. Like, do you really need to know more than the fact that the kid scored in the 99th percentile? I can see if the score was close to the cut off ad you wanted to know where the weaknesses were or thought it may help to further the decisionmaking process on whether to do Algebra in 7th, but this seems silly.

Now I feel bad, my DC got 99 percentile and I requested the full report a few days ago... I haven't heard anything back though, maybe no reminder email... Why not give parents the full reports along with the percentile? why not post the results online so it takes less time and kills less trees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

And I’ll add 99% includes kids who got none wrong and kids who got some wrong. There is no 100% on the report, even the report of a kid who missed none.

Did you personally see the op’s report? If not, give her the benefit of the doubt.

It may well be that OP asked for the detailed score report. I will just add my 2 cents that it is super lame to be requesting the full score report when your kid scored in the 99th percentile. Like, do you really need to know more than the fact that the kid scored in the 99th percentile? I can see if the score was close to the cut off ad you wanted to know where the weaknesses were or thought it may help to further the decisionmaking process on whether to do Algebra in 7th, but this seems silly.

Some arents want to know the full picture on how their child does in school. It’s simply between parent and teacher. Some might think it’s lame that you even care about another student’s score sheet and what format they want to receive.

[Anonymous]

I would do number theory over combinatorics. I think counting is taught in school? At least it was in my school. Number theory is not until college level, but it is quite interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

And I’ll add 99% includes kids who got none wrong and kids who got some wrong. There is no 100% on the report, even the report of a kid who missed none.

Did you personally see the op’s report? If not, give her the benefit of the doubt.

It may well be that OP asked for the detailed score report. I will just add my 2 cents that it is super lame to be requesting the full score report when your kid scored in the 99th percentile. Like, do you really need to know more than the fact that the kid scored in the 99th percentile? I can see if the score was close to the cut off ad you wanted to know where the weaknesses were or thought it may help to further the decisionmaking process on whether to do Algebra in 7th, but this seems silly.

Some arents want to know the full picture on how their child does in school. It’s simply between parent and teacher. Some might think it’s lame that you even care about another student’s score sheet and what format they want to receive.

How does knowing your child missed zero or three change or add to the full picture on how your child does in school? It has nothing to do with anything.

—new poster

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say 100% percentile. Maybe she meant her child answered every problem correct. I thought one can request to see the detailed score report from their school.

Yep, people are too quick to jump and correct a poster even when they don’t bother to read the post carefully.

The results give a percentile only. Not number correct or incorrect.

And I’ll add 99% includes kids who got none wrong and kids who got some wrong. There is no 100% on the report, even the report of a kid who missed none.

Did you personally see the op’s report? If not, give her the benefit of the doubt.

It may well be that OP asked for the detailed score report. I will just add my 2 cents that it is super lame to be requesting the full score report when your kid scored in the 99th percentile. Like, do you really need to know more than the fact that the kid scored in the 99th percentile? I can see if the score was close to the cut off ad you wanted to know where the weaknesses were or thought it may help to further the decisionmaking process on whether to do Algebra in 7th, but this seems silly.

Some arents want to know the full picture on how their child does in school. It’s simply between parent and teacher. Some might think it’s lame that you even care about another student’s score sheet and what format they want to receive.

How does knowing your child missed zero or three change or add to the full picture on how your child does in school? It has nothing to do with anything.

—new poster

They could tell you in what area your kid missed questions. That can help you figure out what area you might want to shore up over the summer so that your kid goes into the year with a more complete skill set. I have not seen the report but I know other test results break down specific sections of knowledge and what your kid got right and wrong. If it is one random wrong in 3 or 4 sections then it was made an error due to speed or a mistake. If it is 3-4 wrong in a specific sub section, then you are have an area you need to shore up.

A 91rst percentile means that the kid scored in the top 9% across the country but that could mean a good number of questions wrong.

I happen to be the parent who likes to see the raw data because it gives me a bit more information and I like to have a more complete picture.