Achievement gap continues to grow between high- and low-income schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you realize how much less you are learning when it takes your child 15min to do one problem? I get the wanting to show/understand but a good teacher should be doing that in class, not asking students to do it/learn it at home at the cost of 15 minutes a problem.

10 minutes asking the kids to get 4 things in the class, get 5 more. Put them together. Write the problem on the board. Have kids explain it. Go home doing NORMAL math problems.

That is one of the dumbest a** assements I have ever heard. You mean to tell me that if something is challenging, difficult, hard, that means the person is not learning.
HOW F******* dumb is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I agree completely with the bolded part. I tried very hard to find my son the addition table and times table in a small card but couldn't find them. It is all random flash card stuff. I don't recall anyone in my childhood had trouble memorizing the times table. I think seeing them in those sets must have made it much easier to learn. Also I don't get the memorizing times table up to 12 business. In China, it is up to nine and the table will only show a triangle because half of the rectangle are the same so that students naturally understand for multiplication the order of the two numbers doesn't matter.

Exactly! There are so many simple, visual ways that other countries use successfully to teach math understanding. I don't understand why American educators can't grasp this. I observed my child's class and I'm relieved that she already knows these concepts. The poor teacher was trying to describe in words the most convoluted process that confused her more than the students!

And in India (or so I learn from DCUM), everybody memorizes the times table up to 16, and that shows that math teaching in India is better than math teaching in the US. Basically, however any non-US country does it, it's better than the way the US does it, by definition.

(I don't know anybody in the US who had to memorize the times table up to 12.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree completely with the bolded part. I tried very hard to find my son the addition table and times table in a small card but couldn't find them. It is all random flash card stuff. I don't recall anyone in my childhood had trouble memorizing the times table. I think seeing them in those sets must have made it much easier to learn. Also I don't get the memorizing times table up to 12 business. In China, it is up to nine and the table will only show a triangle because half of the rectangle are the same so that students naturally understand for multiplication the order of the two numbers doesn't matter.

Exactly! There are so many simple, visual ways that other countries use successfully to teach math understanding. I don't understand why American educators can't grasp this. I observed my child's class and I'm relieved that she already knows these concepts. The poor teacher was trying to describe in words the most convoluted process that confused her more than the students!

And in India (or so I learn from DCUM), everybody memorizes the times table up to 16, and that shows that math teaching in India is better than math teaching in the US. Basically, however any non-US country does it, it's better than the way the US does it, by definition.

(I don't know anybody in the US who had to memorize the times table up to 12.)

India performs very poorly on international educational tests like the PISA. I think peoples idea of Indian education is severely warped by the sampling bias of the Indian nationals we meet in the US.

[Anonymous]

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/segregation-now/359813/

A long article from The Atlantic about the resegregation of schools in the south, focusing on Tuscaloosa. Seems relevant to this discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree completely with the bolded part. I tried very hard to find my son the addition table and times table in a small card but couldn't find them. It is all random flash card stuff. I don't recall anyone in my childhood had trouble memorizing the times table. I think seeing them in those sets must have made it much easier to learn. Also I don't get the memorizing times table up to 12 business. In China, it is up to nine and the table will only show a triangle because half of the rectangle are the same so that students naturally understand for multiplication the order of the two numbers doesn't matter.

Exactly! There are so many simple, visual ways that other countries use successfully to teach math understanding. I don't understand why American educators can't grasp this. I observed my child's class and I'm relieved that she already knows these concepts. The poor teacher was trying to describe in words the most convoluted process that confused her more than the students!

And in India (or so I learn from DCUM), everybody memorizes the times table up to 16, and that shows that math teaching in India is better than math teaching in the US. Basically, however any non-US country does it, it's better than the way the US does it, by definition.

(I don't know anybody in the US who had to memorize the times table up to 12.)

India performs very poorly on international educational tests like the PISA. I think peoples idea of Indian education is severely warped by the sampling bias of the Indian nationals we meet in the US.

Please feel free to tell people who are from India and live in the US and post on the MD Public Schools forum on DCUM that their math education was no good. I wonder how they will respond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree completely with the bolded part. I tried very hard to find my son the addition table and times table in a small card but couldn't find them. It is all random flash card stuff. I don't recall anyone in my childhood had trouble memorizing the times table. I think seeing them in those sets must have made it much easier to learn. Also I don't get the memorizing times table up to 12 business. In China, it is up to nine and the table will only show a triangle because half of the rectangle are the same so that students naturally understand for multiplication the order of the two numbers doesn't matter.

Exactly! There are so many simple, visual ways that other countries use successfully to teach math understanding. I don't understand why American educators can't grasp this. I observed my child's class and I'm relieved that she already knows these concepts. The poor teacher was trying to describe in words the most convoluted process that confused her more than the students!

And in India (or so I learn from DCUM), everybody memorizes the times table up to 16, and that shows that math teaching in India is better than math teaching in the US. Basically, however any non-US country does it, it's better than the way the US does it, by definition.

(I don't know anybody in the US who had to memorize the times table up to 12.)

India performs very poorly on international educational tests like the PISA. I think peoples idea of Indian education is severely warped by the sampling bias of the Indian nationals we meet in the US.

Please feel free to tell people who are from India and live in the US and post on the MD Public Schools forum on DCUM that their math education was no good. I wonder how they will respond.

If you tested American graduates of MIT and Cal Tech I'm sure you would think that US math education is the best in the world. India has a billion+ people, the ones that are here are cream of the crop. When you test all Indians they do very poorly; significantly worse than the US.

[Anonymous]

If you tested American graduates of MIT and Cal Tech I'm sure you would think that US math education is the best in the world. India has a billion+ people, the ones that are here are cream of the crop. When you test all Indians they do very poorly; significantly worse than the US.

I know many of these graduates are Indians and Asians!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree completely with the bolded part. I tried very hard to find my son the addition table and times table in a small card but couldn't find them. It is all random flash card stuff. I don't recall anyone in my childhood had trouble memorizing the times table. I think seeing them in those sets must have made it much easier to learn. Also I don't get the memorizing times table up to 12 business. In China, it is up to nine and the table will only show a triangle because half of the rectangle are the same so that students naturally understand for multiplication the order of the two numbers doesn't matter.

Exactly! There are so many simple, visual ways that other countries use successfully to teach math understanding. I don't understand why American educators can't grasp this. I observed my child's class and I'm relieved that she already knows these concepts. The poor teacher was trying to describe in words the most convoluted process that confused her more than the students!

And in India (or so I learn from DCUM), everybody memorizes the times table up to 16, and that shows that math teaching in India is better than math teaching in the US. Basically, however any non-US country does it, it's better than the way the US does it, by definition.

(I don't know anybody in the US who had to memorize the times table up to 12.)

India performs very poorly on international educational tests like the PISA. I think peoples idea of Indian education is severely warped by the sampling bias of the Indian nationals we meet in the US.

Please feel free to tell people who are from India and live in the US and post on the MD Public Schools forum on DCUM that their math education was no good. I wonder how they will respond.

If you tested American graduates of MIT and Cal Tech I'm sure you would think that US math education is the best in the world. India has a billion+ people, the ones that are here are cream of the crop. When you test all Indians they do very poorly; significantly worse than the US.

And a link: http://www.anirudhsethireport.com/pisa-timss-confirm-low-quality-of-indian-education/

[Anonymous]

Another I interesting link. http://super-economy.blogspot.com/2010/12/amazing-truth-about-pisa-scores-usa.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
India performs very poorly on international educational tests like the PISA. I think peoples idea of Indian education is severely warped by the sampling bias of the Indian nationals we meet in the US.

Please feel free to tell people who are from India and live in the US and post on the MD Public Schools forum on DCUM that their math education was no good. I wonder how they will respond.

If you tested American graduates of MIT and Cal Tech I'm sure you would think that US math education is the best in the world. India has a billion+ people, the ones that are here are cream of the crop. When you test all Indians they do very poorly; significantly worse than the US.

And when you test all of China? Not just Shanghai and Hong Kong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
India performs very poorly on international educational tests like the PISA. I think peoples idea of Indian education is severely warped by the sampling bias of the Indian nationals we meet in the US.

Please feel free to tell people who are from India and live in the US and post on the MD Public Schools forum on DCUM that their math education was no good. I wonder how they will respond.

If you tested American graduates of MIT and Cal Tech I'm sure you would think that US math education is the best in the world. India has a billion+ people, the ones that are here are cream of the crop. When you test all Indians they do very poorly; significantly worse than the US.

And when you test all of China? Not just Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Good question. There are some indications that the poor provinces in China score reasonably well on tests like the PISA, but until they actually do the test nobody can know for sure. I'm also a little leery of test results coming out of countries like China. The PISA requires a representative sample to be accurate and I'm not sure how stringent the checking is for this.

[Anonymous]

MCPS has a lot to deal with. In schools where the majority of the kids struggle, the resources are almost entirely dedicated to the kids who are not meeting the standard the school is aiming toward.

This is necessary. However, students who are average or above average will get little or no attention. If they can get into Highly Gifted program, they are in good shape. Those students who just miss out on Highly gifted but who don't need lots of extra help are left out entirely. Parents of these students are going to move out of these districts if they can afford to and the gap widens.

This is our situation. We tried to stay in a struggling school but our kid wasn't struggling so there was nothing to offer him. He finished his work and was not challenged because it was just him and maybe one other kid in class who could do the work. The teacher needed to focus on the kids who needed help. There was no time to help kids who wanted work to get an ES.

To keep parents quiet, kids get an ES or two. The might deserve it but they certainly didn't get the ES level work that they needed. It's not the teacher's fault but it's just the way it is.

[Anonymous]

I just can't understand why montgomery county teach the students at their level. If 5th grader can learn 7th math but manages only 5th grade English, promote him/her to 7th grader math but attend 5th grade English class. If a 6th grader can learn 8th grade English but feel more comfortable in6th grade science class, let her/him take the appropriate classes. Each student is evaluated for each class regularly, and allowed to skip a grade or two in the subject after a promotion test. Since all the classes are offered in each school, no extra resource will be needed. This way, each student is taught to his's/her potential. The school can mix the promoted students with the on grade students to achieve diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree completely with the bolded part. I tried very hard to find my son the addition table and times table in a small card but couldn't find them. It is all random flash card stuff. I don't recall anyone in my childhood had trouble memorizing the times table. I think seeing them in those sets must have made it much easier to learn. Also I don't get the memorizing times table up to 12 business. In China, it is up to nine and the table will only show a triangle because half of the rectangle are the same so that students naturally understand for multiplication the order of the two numbers doesn't matter.

Exactly! There are so many simple, visual ways that other countries use successfully to teach math understanding. I don't understand why American educators can't grasp this. I observed my child's class and I'm relieved that she already knows these concepts. The poor teacher was trying to describe in words the most convoluted process that confused her more than the students!

And in India (or so I learn from DCUM), everybody memorizes the times table up to 16, and that shows that math teaching in India is better than math teaching in the US. Basically, however any non-US country does it, it's better than the way the US does it, by definition.

(I don't know anybody in the US who had to memorize the times table up to 12.[b])

huh?

My daughter had to. She's in 4th grade. And she's expected to continue practicing her multiplication tables 2x/week.

From which planet have you come?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree completely with the bolded part. I tried very hard to find my son the addition table and times table in a small card but couldn't find them. It is all random flash card stuff. I don't recall anyone in my childhood had trouble memorizing the times table. I think seeing them in those sets must have made it much easier to learn. Also I don't get the memorizing times table up to 12 business. In China, it is up to nine and the table will only show a triangle because half of the rectangle are the same so that students naturally understand for multiplication the order of the two numbers doesn't matter.

Exactly! There are so many simple, visual ways that other countries use successfully to teach math understanding. I don't understand why American educators can't grasp this. I observed my child's class and I'm relieved that she already knows these concepts. The poor teacher was trying to describe in words the most convoluted process that confused her more than the students!

And in India (or so I learn from DCUM), everybody memorizes the times table up to 16, and that shows that math teaching in India is better than math teaching in the US. Basically, however any non-US country does it, it's better than the way the US does it, by definition.

(I don't know anybody in the US who had to memorize the times table up to 12.[b])

huh?

My daughter had to. She's in 4th grade. And she's expected to continue practicing her multiplication tables 2x/week.

From which planet have you come?

I was born and raised in the US and educated in public schools. Times table through 10, yes. Times table through 12, no.