Why Math is so weak in private schools?

[Anonymous]

Decades of PISA test results from OECD show that the US is poor at teaching math all across the nation.

[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

Source? Not saying I disagree just would be interested to read more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Decades of PISA test results from OECD show that the US is poor at teaching math all across the nation.

Agree. Just thought that a private school would have resources to overcome this limitation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Decades of PISA test results from OECD show that the US is poor at teaching math all across the nation.

[Anonymous]

It is partially do to the fact that private school teachers are generally paid much less, even at the "top" privates, with worse benefits and job security.

But now a lot of private school parents will come to shriek that THEIR teachers are EXCELLENT (even though they are paid peanuts) because they are "passionate" and it is a "vocation" to work for peanuts and limited job security. Or that "some" excellent private school teachers have wealthy spouses, because, ya know, there are so many wealthy men married to teachers in the area that privates can be almost fully staffed.

[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.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Decades of PISA test results from OECD show that the US is poor at teaching math all across the nation.

Do we have a breakdown of PISA test results to compare public vs private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

🏹 so true, I earn half a mil, and i topped out at algebra. My dear best friend is a, what are they called, G14, and has a Ph.D. in a quant subject from Harvard. I don’t program and I also don't get the printer to work, someone else does.

NP. Can I ask what you actually did study/focus on and how you got into your role? What was your entry into your field? Would it have been possible for one of those quant kids to take another path and reach your level if they had the drive, or was it just connections/legacy?

[Anonymous]

I think schools don’t take math seriously.

[Anonymous]

My kids are on the accelerated track at their private, which will have them finish BC calc their senior year. My oldest is a junior and got a perfect math SAT and close to that on the verbal. He has a great shot at getting into two legacy ivies, with other T20 schools as backups. I can’t think of any reason he should be another year ahead in math, and the curriculum that got him to where he is right now doesn’t seem bad given his likely outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are on the accelerated track at their private, which will have them finish BC calc their senior year. My oldest is a junior and got a perfect math SAT and close to that on the verbal. He has a great shot at getting into two legacy ivies, with other T20 schools as backups. I can’t think of any reason he should be another year ahead in math, and the curriculum that got him to where he is right now doesn’t seem bad given his likely outcomes.

Which school? The level in mine is so bad that we really need tutors. This is not an exaggeration. The math teacher was hired from a public school were non of the kids passed the minimum required level of math. Moreover, the teacher does not have math or science background. Very depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is partially do to the fact that private school teachers are generally paid much less, even at the "top" privates, with worse benefits and job security.

But now a lot of private school parents will come to shriek that THEIR teachers are EXCELLENT (even though they are paid peanuts) because they are "passionate" and it is a "vocation" to work for peanuts and limited job security. Or that "some" excellent private school teachers have wealthy spouses, because, ya know, there are so many wealthy men married to teachers in the area that privates can be almost fully staffed.

Many private school teachers are former public school teachers.

I’m one of them. Over half the members of my department are former public school teachers. We switched because of bad/hostile administrations and ineffective school policies. We also switched because private gives us more autonomy; we can teach what the students need and not what an outside curriculum company says our students need.

I’m paid about 15% less, but I figure I make that up in job satisfaction and tuition remission for my own children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Decades of PISA test results from OECD show that the US is poor at teaching math all across the nation.

Do we have a breakdown of PISA test results to compare public vs private?

Worldwide, there aren't enough students in private school to make a statistically meaningful comparison.

[Anonymous]

Another reason math in the US appears weak on PISA because the US is one of only three countries that doesn't teach the metric system exclusively.
Also we lose potentially good math teachers because students that excel in math go on to work at Microsoft etc and not teach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another reason math in the US appears weak on PISA because the US is one of only three countries that doesn't teach the metric system exclusively.
Also we lose potentially good math teachers because students that excel in math go on to work at Microsoft etc and not teach.

Yes, and to other jobs. Teachers salary are very low these days.