Excellent summary about what is so wrong about the MCPS math curriculum

[Anonymous]

Too bad mcps won't post the resumes of the teachers who were plucked from obscurity (random schools) and got sweet gigs (hired by their pals) to write the curriculum. I think most people wound be shocked by the lack of expertise or basic tenure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I hate about mcps math- it's appallingly slow. My second grader is bored and seems to be doing the same easy worksheet over and over. Teacher says some kids are way behind so she can't move quicker.

Yes! My daughter was adding/subtracting in the thousands in 1st (she was put in 2nd grade math.) My daughter is currently in 1st and she is doing adding/subtracting up to 6 this week. 6!!!!! She learned that in fours preschool. They also haven't taught them anything about money. No learning to tell time. My daughter knows them both but they haven't been in the curriculum. She also has no spelling words. I was told at conferences they don't expect kids in 1st to spell. Just learn how to write phonetically. The have a small set of word wall words they need to know by the end of the year. My daughter already knowing how to spell them. So now what? Nothing. Bored to tears. No enrichment. Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I hate about mcps math- it's appallingly slow. My second grader is bored and seems to be doing the same easy worksheet over and over. Teacher says some kids are way behind so she can't move quicker.

Yes! My daughter was adding/subtracting in the thousands in 1st (she was put in 2nd grade math.) My daughter is currently in 1st and she is doing adding/subtracting up to 6 this week. 6!!!!! She learned that in fours preschool. They also haven't taught them anything about money. No learning to tell time. My daughter knows them both but they haven't been in the curriculum. She also has no spelling words. I was told at conferences they don't expect kids in 1st to spell. Just learn how to write phonetically. The have a small set of word wall words they need to know by the end of the year. My daughter already knowing how to spell them. So now what? Nothing. Bored to tears. No enrichment. Sad.

And where did your DD learn to add/subtract up to 6? At home? Did you teach her? If you did, then it's your fault she's bored at school. You are basically teaching your child math, and then expecting the teacher to keep up with *you*. No, that's not how public school works. You should just home school.

As for spelling, my DC had spelling tests in 1st grade in MCPS. Also has them in 2nd.

FWIW, I have one DC in compacted math, and though DC has asked us to teach DC more advanced math, we've held back a bit because there's no need to push DC more and more even if DC wants to. DC might learn "higher level math", but at this age, DC probably wouldn't retain or have a good understanding of the more advanced concepts even if I teach it to DC. DC would just learn it by rote, which I don't want DC to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in the minority. Love 2.0 math. I have one advanced and one on grade level 2.0 math student. I also have a pre-2.0 student who struggled for years with the old curriculum. Supplement at home if it feels too slow (my son would attempt his older sisters homework for challenge). I really believe my kids have developed a deep understanding of math thanks to the strategies and repetition. They can solve difficult problems in their heads and explain how they got the answer. Most importantly, they can apply their skills to novel problems. I'm not a mathematician or a teacher so maybe I'm missing something, but it works well for us.

I have a long list of MCPS complaints but math instruction isn't one of them.

I agree with you. My DD has about 3 or 4 worksheets per night with one or two being a "challenge" for extra points. We require her to do the challenge since the general worksheets can be done very quickly. Once in a while my DH, who has engineering degrees from MIT and Standford, complains that the work is too repetive because DD has to solve a problem in multiple ways. That said, he admits it is more challenging then what he was doing in 3rd grade.

I like it and as someone who attended math night at our mcps school, I learned that the reason they teach kids to solve problems in multiple ways is to allow them to eventually chose the strategy that works for them. I was horrible math student and I believe these strategies might have made all the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in the minority. Love 2.0 math. I have one advanced and one on grade level 2.0 math student. I also have a pre-2.0 student who struggled for years with the old curriculum. Supplement at home if it feels too slow (my son would attempt his older sisters homework for challenge). I really believe my kids have developed a deep understanding of math thanks to the strategies and repetition. They can solve difficult problems in their heads and explain how they got the answer. Most importantly, they can apply their skills to novel problems. I'm not a mathematician or a teacher so maybe I'm missing something, but it works well for us.

I have a long list of MCPS complaints but math instruction isn't one of them.

I agree with you. My DD has about 3 or 4 worksheets per night with one or two being a "challenge" for extra points. We require her to do the challenge since the general worksheets can be done very quickly. Once in a while my DH, who has engineering degrees from MIT and Standford, complains that the work is too repetive because DD has to solve a problem in multiple ways. That said, he admits it is more challenging then what he was doing in 3rd grade.

I like it and as someone who attended math night at our mcps school, I learned that the reason they teach kids to solve problems in multiple ways is to allow them to eventually chose the strategy that works for them. I was horrible math student and I believe these strategies might have made all the difference.

If a child is truly struggling with a concept, it would make sense to teach that student a different method which maybe would clear things up. But what they are doing is requiring every student to demonstrate proficiency in every model and this doesn't leave the time for simple practice calculating and becoming fluent with an algorithm. This is actually a misinterpretation of the standards and just an if some is good more must be better mindset. It's a waist of time and energy and anyone who understood the first method won't understand any better learning three more.

[Anonymous]

I could have wrote the previous post myself. Exactly how I feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in the minority. Love 2.0 math. I have one advanced and one on grade level 2.0 math student. I also have a pre-2.0 student who struggled for years with the old curriculum. Supplement at home if it feels too slow (my son would attempt his older sisters homework for challenge). I really believe my kids have developed a deep understanding of math thanks to the strategies and repetition. They can solve difficult problems in their heads and explain how they got the answer. Most importantly, they can apply their skills to novel problems. I'm not a mathematician or a teacher so maybe I'm missing something, but it works well for us.

I have a long list of MCPS complaints but math instruction isn't one of them.

I agree with you. My DD has about 3 or 4 worksheets per night with one or two being a "challenge" for extra points. We require her to do the challenge since the general worksheets can be done very quickly. Once in a while my DH, who has engineering degrees from MIT and Standford, complains that the work is too repetive because DD has to solve a problem in multiple ways. That said, he admits it is more challenging then what he was doing in 3rd grade.

I like it and as someone who attended math night at our mcps school, I learned that the reason they teach kids to solve problems in multiple ways is to allow them to eventually chose the strategy that works for them. I was horrible math student and I believe these strategies might have made all the difference.

If a child is truly struggling with a concept, it would make sense to teach that student a different method which maybe would clear things up. But what they are doing is requiring every student to demonstrate proficiency in every model and this doesn't leave the time for simple practice calculating and becoming fluent with an algorithm. This is actually a misinterpretation of the standards and just an if some is good more must be better mindset. It's a waist of time and energy and anyone who understood the first method won't understand any better learning three more.

This is exactly what every teacher I know has said (I have lots of friends and family who teach---including a relative who has taught math for 30 years).

Additional strategies should be used on the kids who struggle with math. Kids should be grouped by ability and they should switch classrooms and taught by an actual teacher for the math block (instead of having the poor teacher race through multiple math groups in her classroom...which is truly a disservice to ALL students).

[Anonymous]

The group work is another huge problem. It may sound good but what I saw on open house day when DS was in fourth was a joke. Being able to either justify a solution to table-mates or accept someone else's argument as superior are both fairly sophisticated skills. Instead I was just seeing kids un-teaching each other and talking past one another. Then someone says I did it on the calculator. Only the answer is wrong, but who can argue with the guy holding the box? When the teach drew discussion back to the front of the class no table had the answer. Unfortunately (since it's not at all in vogue) learning math is a fairly solitary endeavor and it requires a pencil in hand and some time to think. The free for all I observed that day and have seen since just doesn't work.

[Anonymous]

That should be teacher not teach

I'll add the problem wasn't difficult and I'd guess that if it had been assigned as quiet individual work a significant number of students would have gotten it correct. There was just something about the group dynamic that drowned those students out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in the minority. Love 2.0 math. I have one advanced and one on grade level 2.0 math student. I also have a pre-2.0 student who struggled for years with the old curriculum. Supplement at home if it feels too slow (my son would attempt his older sisters homework for challenge). I really believe my kids have developed a deep understanding of math thanks to the strategies and repetition. They can solve difficult problems in their heads and explain how they got the answer. Most importantly, they can apply their skills to novel problems. I'm not a mathematician or a teacher so maybe I'm missing something, but it works well for us.

I have a long list of MCPS complaints but math instruction isn't one of them.

I agree with you. My DD has about 3 or 4 worksheets per night with one or two being a "challenge" for extra points. We require her to do the challenge since the general worksheets can be done very quickly. Once in a while my DH, who has engineering degrees from MIT and Standford, complains that the work is too repetive because DD has to solve a problem in multiple ways. That said, he admits it is more challenging then what he was doing in 3rd grade.

I like it and as someone who attended math night at our mcps school, I learned that the reason they teach kids to solve problems in multiple ways is to allow them to eventually chose the strategy that works for them. I was horrible math student and I believe these strategies might have made all the difference.

My child's MCPS elementary school had a math night too, and I found it very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Yes! My daughter was adding/subtracting in the thousands in 1st (she was put in 2nd grade math.) My daughter is currently in 1st and she is doing adding/subtracting up to 6 this week. 6!!!!! She learned that in fours preschool. They also haven't taught them anything about money. No learning to tell time. My daughter knows them both but they haven't been in the curriculum. She also has no spelling words. I was told at conferences they don't expect kids in 1st to spell. Just learn how to write phonetically. The have a small set of word wall words they need to know by the end of the year. My daughter already knowing how to spell them. So now what? Nothing. Bored to tears. No enrichment. Sad.

It's the end of the second marking period. This is what your first-grader was supposed to be doing in math in the second marking period:

Place value and representation: decomposing and composing 2-digit numbers
Meaning of equal sign
Problem-solving strategies: 1- and 2-digit addition and subtraction
Adding three numbers: sums to 20

If your first-grader's class was not doing these things, you need to talk to the principal.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/parentguides/english/ParentGuideGrade1.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I hate about mcps math- it's appallingly slow. My second grader is bored and seems to be doing the same easy worksheet over and over. Teacher says some kids are way behind so she can't move quicker.

They differentiate in our kid's class - second grade. I visited once when they were doing math and there were three groups - one obviously higher than the others in what the kids were doing.

Same with ours. However this might be a new thing.

I wrote that post you both quoted. So I asked my second grader last night about groups. Said there are groups but they all get the same worksheets. It sounds more like group work rather than group differentiation. It's ok, she's excited about the money unit now.

[Anonymous]

Supposedly they differentiate in the classroom but my son says everyone gets the same worksheets.

Sounds like most of us are in agreement with what is wrong:
1. lack of differentiation. I hear at some schools they move kids up for math. Others not so much
2. forcing strategies on the kids when they don't need them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too bad mcps won't post the resumes of the teachers who were plucked from obscurity (random schools) and got sweet gigs (hired by their pals) to write the curriculum. I think most people wound be shocked by the lack of expertise or basic tenure.

Don't know where your insight comes from, I have no knowledge of who's in the curriculum office. And I doubt the ES parents are noticing anything. But someone's complete incompetence is apparent when looking that MS and HS rollouts. Some of the errors and just choice of content in the giant packets (which are the only textbook for the classes) are appalling. This is definitely where 2.0 goes off the rails. Yet the whole promise of reform was students with better foundational knowledge would be better prepared for later work. Only now they're tweaking those classes to near worthlessness. My DS was in the rollout year for Alg I, Geometry and now Alg II and where is the real learning going on? In physics class this year. Finally a reality check. The emphasis of the previous math courses has been no preparation for actual applications. And this is not just my DS, who is a straight A math student FWIW, at back to school night there was a long line of grave parents circling the physics instructor.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like most of us are in agreement with what is wrong:
1. lack of differentiation. I hear at some schools they move kids up for math. Others not so much
2. forcing strategies on the kids when they don't need them.

Yes but the article touched on a very important point that is actually the bigger problem. The new math curriculum does not teach students the underlaying foundation of math or develop math centric skills to be able to execute advanced math. By thinking that math can be broken up into these small segments that are presented in no logical order, the creators failed to understand that math is a system not an anthology independent concepts. Each math concept is not like a work of fiction that can be read separately and in various order. By thinking that math is an exercise that is better understood through verbalization and language skills because this is how the MCPS staff think, they have failed to deliver a curriculum that builds math skills rather than language skills.

I actually think that the fight to bring back acceleration is not the right fight. Accelerating through a bad curriculum that doesn't teach math doesn't solve the problem. The fight needs to be about taking math curriculum development out of the hands of MCPS staff. MCPS can look to the private who adopt other published and research reviewed math curriculums. Once the curriculum is fixed, then parents should fight for students to receive the appropriate level of education for their abilities which means grouping and acceleration.

The problem is that there are no checks and balances within MCPS. MCPS central office staff pulled staff that they liked into the curriculum office. These individuals are in no way qualified to create a curriculum!! They can not hold themselves accountable and never will. They will only rationalize, avoid, and ignore the problem that they created because they are the ones at fault.