Why iReady is dangerous

[Anonymous]

I agree that one test is enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that one test is enough.

How can one test show progress through the year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the author have a hard time with the dog and cat questions? The two numbers given are 7 and 11 and the picture only shows cats and dogs, so obviously it is a subtraction problem of 11-7=4. I remember getting questions like this growing up.

No, that's a terrible question. Any of the equations are the right answer, the way that math is taught now.

No, only 1 answers the question how many are dogs.

No, the first 3 equations could all lead a child to answer correctly that there are 4. You’re not thinking flexibly if you can only see one way to get to the right answer.

If I asked you “What is 1000-997?” would you really take the time to set up a subtraction problem? No. In your head you’d say, “998,999, 1000. Three.” The mental equation would be 997 + 3 = 1000. You would have used adding up to solve that subtraction problem. Kids who can do this are flexible in their thinking. That’s what we want them to be.

The issue the author has is that the iReady assessment offers no clue into how the child is thinking about a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that one test is enough.

How can one test show progress through the year?

If it’s supposed to be a screener, you don’t need to keep taking it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the author have a hard time with the dog and cat questions? The two numbers given are 7 and 11 and the picture only shows cats and dogs, so obviously it is a subtraction problem of 11-7=4. I remember getting questions like this growing up.

No, that's a terrible question. Any of the equations are the right answer, the way that math is taught now.

No, only 1 answers the question how many are dogs.

No, the first 3 equations could all lead a child to answer correctly that there are 4. You’re not thinking flexibly if you can only see one way to get to the right answer.

If I asked you “What is 1000-997?” would you really take the time to set up a subtraction problem? No. In your head you’d say, “998,999, 1000. Three.” The mental equation would be 997 + 3 = 1000. You would have used adding up to solve that subtraction problem. Kids who can do this are flexible in their thinking. That’s what we want them to be.

The issue the author has is that the iReady assessment offers no clue into how the child is thinking about a problem.

I get what you’re saying but I still don’t think we have changed that “=4” (the idea that “equals” gives the answer to the question: how many are dogs) - though they could have done the math in the other ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the author have a hard time with the dog and cat questions? The two numbers given are 7 and 11 and the picture only shows cats and dogs, so obviously it is a subtraction problem of 11-7=4. I remember getting questions like this growing up.

No, that's a terrible question. Any of the equations are the right answer, the way that math is taught now.

No, only 1 answers the question how many are dogs.

No, the first 3 equations could all lead a child to answer correctly that there are 4. You’re not thinking flexibly if you can only see one way to get to the right answer.

If I asked you “What is 1000-997?” would you really take the time to set up a subtraction problem? No. In your head you’d say, “998,999, 1000. Three.” The mental equation would be 997 + 3 = 1000. You would have used adding up to solve that subtraction problem. Kids who can do this are flexible in their thinking. That’s what we want them to be.

The issue the author has is that the iReady assessment offers no clue into how the child is thinking about a problem.

Counting up isn’t a different concept from a subtraction problem, it’s a strategy for solving a subtraction problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the author have a hard time with the dog and cat questions? The two numbers given are 7 and 11 and the picture only shows cats and dogs, so obviously it is a subtraction problem of 11-7=4. I remember getting questions like this growing up.

No, that's a terrible question. Any of the equations are the right answer, the way that math is taught now.

No, only 1 answers the question how many are dogs.

No, the first 3 equations could all lead a child to answer correctly that there are 4. You’re not thinking flexibly if you can only see one way to get to the right answer.

If I asked you “What is 1000-997?” would you really take the time to set up a subtraction problem? No. In your head you’d say, “998,999, 1000. Three.” The mental equation would be 997 + 3 = 1000. You would have used adding up to solve that subtraction problem. Kids who can do this are flexible in their thinking. That’s what we want them to be.

The issue the author has is that the iReady assessment offers no clue into how the child is thinking about a problem.

Counting up isn’t a different concept from a subtraction problem, it’s a strategy for solving a subtraction problem.

And it’s also a strategy for solving an addition problem. The point is that iReady doesn’t allow for teachers to learn where the kid is struggling. Is it that the kid doesn’t understand what happening in the problem and doesn’t have a strategy for trying to solve it? Or is it that the kid understands it, but doesn’t compute it correctly?

[Anonymous]

Parents these days are ridiculous. All these new ways of teaching math are making parents confused. The problem was not hard and there was only one answer and that same type of problem has been given in schools forever. There was nothing wrong with the problem and if answered wrong indicates the child has difficulty with subtraction or word problems. Why does everyone try to make education so complicated these days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents these days are ridiculous. All these new ways of teaching math are making parents confused. The problem was not hard and there was only one answer and that same type of problem has been given in schools forever. There was nothing wrong with the problem and if answered wrong indicates the child has difficulty with subtraction or word problems. Why does everyone try to make education so complicated these days?

Did you even read the article? Please stop talking about things you know nothing about. Sure, you can solve a subtraction problem, and you went to school. But that does not mean you understand the pedagogy of mathematics. Teaching kids the "trick" or the algorithm is not the answer. Kids have to have an understanding of the concept. I'm sure you think using flashcards is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, that just won't work with many kids.

The issue with the iReady is that the teacher never knows which problems the kid got wrong. All the report says is that the child is low in "Number Sense" or "Operations." Those are HUGE topics and leave the teacher wasting time trying to really get at where the breakdown in problem solving lies. This assessment is a waste of time, and schools that are using the computer interventions that can come with it are doing a huge disservice to children. FCPS can do better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that one test is enough.

How can one test show progress through the year?

If it’s supposed to be a screener, you don’t need to keep taking it.

Progress is also something to be monitored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that one test is enough.

How can one test show progress through the year?

If it’s supposed to be a screener, you don’t need to keep taking it.

Progress is also something to be monitored.

Well, that’s kinda the whole point of the article posted in the first post of this thread. IReady is NOT an accurate indicator of progress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Did you even read the article? Please stop talking about things you know nothing about. Sure, you can solve a subtraction problem, and you went to school. But that does not mean you understand the pedagogy of mathematics. Teaching kids the "trick" or the algorithm is not the answer. Kids have to have an understanding of the concept. I'm sure you think using flashcards is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, that just won't work with many kids.

The issue with the iReady is that the teacher never knows which problems the kid got wrong. All the report says is that the child is low in "Number Sense" or "Operations." Those are HUGE topics and leave the teacher wasting time trying to really get at where the breakdown in problem solving lies. This assessment is a waste of time, and schools that are using the computer interventions that can come with it are doing a huge disservice to children. FCPS can do better.

NP, but as a math person, I strongly disagree with you. There was nothing at all wrong with the problem as written, and only one equation correctly solved the question as asked. Two other equations were part of the same fact family and could be utilized to find the correct answer, but only one equation was a direct translation of the problem. Translating a word problem directly into a math equation is an important skill for kids to have. I'm sure there were other problems in which kids were asked to select all of the equations in the same fact family.

You keep insisting that iready isn't accurate, but on what basis? The linked article was just speaking about special ed kids, who really ought to be receiving appropriate accommodations, and kids who gave up and filled in whatever. That's been happening since the dawn of standardized tests. Back in the day, I remember at least a few kids filling out the bubble forms for the ITBS tests by making pretty pictures with the bubbles rather than trying to do the test. What's your angle with this? Are you the teacher who said that it doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know? If so, it might be useless, but it's apparently accurate. Are you a parent? If you're a parent, are you upset that your kids scores were lower than you expected?

There seems to be a lot of vitriol and histrionics from a few people over what is basically just another standardized test. I only have two data points, but my anecdata shows that the test is pretty accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Did you even read the article? Please stop talking about things you know nothing about. Sure, you can solve a subtraction problem, and you went to school. But that does not mean you understand the pedagogy of mathematics. Teaching kids the "trick" or the algorithm is not the answer. Kids have to have an understanding of the concept. I'm sure you think using flashcards is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, that just won't work with many kids.

The issue with the iReady is that the teacher never knows which problems the kid got wrong. All the report says is that the child is low in "Number Sense" or "Operations." Those are HUGE topics and leave the teacher wasting time trying to really get at where the breakdown in problem solving lies. This assessment is a waste of time, and schools that are using the computer interventions that can come with it are doing a huge disservice to children. FCPS can do better.

NP, but as a math person, I strongly disagree with you. There was nothing at all wrong with the problem as written, and only one equation correctly solved the question as asked. Two other equations were part of the same fact family and could be utilized to find the correct answer, but only one equation was a direct translation of the problem. Translating a word problem directly into a math equation is an important skill for kids to have. I'm sure there were other problems in which kids were asked to select all of the equations in the same fact family.

You keep insisting that iready isn't accurate, but on what basis? The linked article was just speaking about special ed kids, who really ought to be receiving appropriate accommodations, and kids who gave up and filled in whatever. That's been happening since the dawn of standardized tests. Back in the day, I remember at least a few kids filling out the bubble forms for the ITBS tests by making pretty pictures with the bubbles rather than trying to do the test. What's your angle with this? Are you the teacher who said that it doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know? If so, it might be useless, but it's apparently accurate. Are you a parent? If you're a parent, are you upset that your kids scores were lower than you expected?

There seems to be a lot of vitriol and histrionics from a few people over what is basically just another standardized test. I only have two data points, but my anecdata shows that the test is pretty accurate.

This

[Anonymous]

This brochure says the I-Ready report comes back with information per each state standard or common core standard. Is the problem that the state standards aren't specific enough? The common core standards are very specific.

https://www.tsc.k12.in.us/uploaded/Technology/Tech_Training_Docs/Textbook_Adoption/iReady-User-Guide_(1).pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Did you even read the article? Please stop talking about things you know nothing about. Sure, you can solve a subtraction problem, and you went to school. But that does not mean you understand the pedagogy of mathematics. Teaching kids the "trick" or the algorithm is not the answer. Kids have to have an understanding of the concept. I'm sure you think using flashcards is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, that just won't work with many kids.

The issue with the iReady is that the teacher never knows which problems the kid got wrong. All the report says is that the child is low in "Number Sense" or "Operations." Those are HUGE topics and leave the teacher wasting time trying to really get at where the breakdown in problem solving lies. This assessment is a waste of time, and schools that are using the computer interventions that can come with it are doing a huge disservice to children. FCPS can do better.

NP, but as a math person, I strongly disagree with you. There was nothing at all wrong with the problem as written, and only one equation correctly solved the question as asked. Two other equations were part of the same fact family and could be utilized to find the correct answer, but only one equation was a direct translation of the problem. Translating a word problem directly into a math equation is an important skill for kids to have. I'm sure there were other problems in which kids were asked to select all of the equations in the same fact family.

You keep insisting that iready isn't accurate, but on what basis? The linked article was just speaking about special ed kids, who really ought to be receiving appropriate accommodations, and kids who gave up and filled in whatever. That's been happening since the dawn of standardized tests. Back in the day, I remember at least a few kids filling out the bubble forms for the ITBS tests by making pretty pictures with the bubbles rather than trying to do the test. What's your angle with this? Are you the teacher who said that it doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know? If so, it might be useless, but it's apparently accurate. Are you a parent? If you're a parent, are you upset that your kids scores were lower than you expected?

There seems to be a lot of vitriol and histrionics from a few people over what is basically just another standardized test. I only have two data points, but my anecdata shows that the test is pretty accurate.

Can you clarify what you mean as being a "math person?" What does that mean? What is your profession?
Thanks.