Struggling in Honors Algebra 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every family we’ve spoken to has a tutor. This just doesn’t seem right.

Why do you think that is? Do you think the issues you’re seeing at your school are because of the teacher? Or are the kids having trouble readjusting to in-person? So far, any curriculum skipped in Geometry wouldn’t have affected Algebra 2x, would it? Or is it the missing Algebra 1 content from the shutdown 2 years ago that’s the problem?

My 9th grader says their Algebra 2 teacher isn’t thrilling, and seems a little distracted and overloaded, but is doing a good job of introducing the concepts, then helping kids work through the problems in class. So far, my kid has a low A, and is mostly just happy not to be trying to deal with all the virtual tools they used last year. Paper and pencil and calculator seems to be working much better.

Is your kid in regular or honors algebra 2?

Honors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a kid in the same situation. He says that it doesn't help a new concept is introduced on a Monday and already tested on the Wednesday - not always enough time to get your head around it. Also the tests are reflecting far more complex versions of what has been learned - so the teacher is not actually covering the entire content prior to the tests.

We have hired an MCPS math teacher to tutor weekly - to spend more time on each concept, work out the creases. We've had to do this before and it helps.

This is a problem we’ve seen at Churchill with the honors math classes - the fact that the tests don’t reflect what has been taught in class. Perhaps this new administration will finally address it. OP, If your kid wants to stay you may have to resign yourself to tutoring twice a week or at least moving the tutoring to align better with the syllabus so that the tutor comes earlier in the week to help prepare for tests.

Parents complained to Dr. Benz about issues in the math department. Nothing changed.

When Mrs. Heckert became Principal, parents were excited that she had a background as a math teacher. We thought that perhaps she would create change. At her first PTA meeting she said she had a plan and she explained what the PAR system was. Still, very little changed except that Mrs. Heckert was transferred in under 3 years.

I am not holding my breath that there will be improvement in the math department at Churchill. Some teachers are just punching a time clock. There’s no filling in gaps for the material that wasn’t covered during online learning. If the majority of the class has a D then that’s reflective of the quality of teaching in the class.

There should be more teacher observations, especially for classes where the majority of the class is not successful. There needs to be assessments and a plan to fill in gaps that students have from online learning. The prior curriculum was cut but no adjustments are being made in the next level courses. Math thus far does not seem to be on Mr. Taylor’s radar.

Let’s face it. MCPS is only focused on the learning loss of younger kids. There is no system wide plan to help high school students stay on track for math despite the learning loss that occurred with online learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this WJ?

We had different issues at WJ in Hon Alg II. Some super dumb stuff like - teacher had a sub and got behind a day in curriculum, because sub did not cover material. Gave Friday quiz on time anyway on material that was taught SAME day. That didn't go too well. After, though, could see a big effort to give more practice problems in Delta Math. Still many students are discussing wanting to switch to on-level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked over my child's Formative exam and coursework for the Quarter to date after reading this thread and learning that my son did poorly on the exam for Honors Alg 2. My child reported that the class average was a D (same grade DS received) and the highest grade was a low B. My child's cumulative grade is now a low B. I looked over DS exam and noted that he would have received a C because of silly mistakes. However, most of what he got wrong wasn't fully covered in the class materials and one problem was only a lecture/in-class exercise according to my child. I couldn't find any homework assignments on Canvas and in his folder, so I believe my child is correct. I set down with my child this week and went over the test and re-taught the material. He also did similar problems using Khan Academy and now understands the material.

My takeaway: 1) not sure if it is the teacher or the curriculum, but the kids don't do enough practice to reinforce the material. 2) The exam does not fully line up with what is covered in the unit. I understand that Honors requires deeper thinking, which should be reflected in the exam questions. However, the assignments must cover the basic concepts and should also push students so that they can apply that knowledge to the test. 3) There are few graded assignments in the class and therefore, one missed assignment or low grade on an assignment significantly impacts the overall grade. In fact, there are only 7 graded items in the Gradebook under ParentVue. That is ridiculous as we are at the end of the term.

I can't do anything about the curriculum and/or teacher. Therefore, the only solution to make sure DS understands the material and earns an A or B in the course is to hire a tutor and/or have DS do Khan Academy each week to supplement next Quarter. I understand the need for help occasionally from a parent, teacher or tutor, and using resources like Khan Academy to clarify concepts but parents having to basically supplement a course is a problem.

Are they using the same formatives throughout MCPS? Our child's class also had really low grades, and the teacher had to have a talk with the students about what went wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every family we’ve spoken to has a tutor. This just doesn’t seem right.

Junior DD is taking CalcBC, no tutor ever and I never heard any other her friends got a tutor, which school is this where every kid got a tutor?

I don’t think we’re talking about kids on a trajectory to BC in 11th grade….

Don't most MCPS kids take BC in 11th if they are on the accelerated track?
Is Algebra 2 Honors for kids who are on the regular track and accelerated track? Do they get mixed up in the classes? I think my child's class has mostly 9th graders but a few 10th?

[Anonymous]

As an aside, I really appreciate when the schools post the mean information. It helps to know how your kid is doing compared to the rest of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every family we’ve spoken to has a tutor. This just doesn’t seem right.

Junior DD is taking CalcBC, no tutor ever and I never heard any other her friends got a tutor, which school is this where every kid got a tutor?

I don’t think we’re talking about kids on a trajectory to BC in 11th grade….

Don't most MCPS kids take BC in 11th if they are on the accelerated track?
Is Algebra 2 Honors for kids who are on the regular track and accelerated track? Do they get mixed up in the classes? I think my child's class has mostly 9th graders but a few 10th?

No.
9th - Honors Algebra
10th - Honors Precalc
11th - AP BC Calc if really strong, AP AB Calc for many
12th - MVC or AP BC Calc or AP Statistics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I looked over my child's Formative exam and coursework for the Quarter to date after reading this thread and learning that my son did poorly on the exam for Honors Alg 2. My child reported that the class average was a D (same grade DS received) and the highest grade was a low B. My child's cumulative grade is now a low B. I looked over DS exam and noted that he would have received a C because of silly mistakes. However, most of what he got wrong wasn't fully covered in the class materials and one problem was only a lecture/in-class exercise according to my child. I couldn't find any homework assignments on Canvas and in his folder, so I believe my child is correct. I set down with my child this week and went over the test and re-taught the material. He also did similar problems using Khan Academy and now understands the material.

My takeaway: 1) not sure if it is the teacher or the curriculum, but the kids don't do enough practice to reinforce the material. 2) The exam does not fully line up with what is covered in the unit. I understand that Honors requires deeper thinking, which should be reflected in the exam questions. However, the assignments must cover the basic concepts and should also push students so that they can apply that knowledge to the test. 3) There are few graded assignments in the class and therefore, one missed assignment or low grade on an assignment significantly impacts the overall grade. In fact, there are only 7 graded items in the Gradebook under ParentVue. That is ridiculous as we are at the end of the term.

I can't do anything about the curriculum and/or teacher. Therefore, the only solution to make sure DS understands the material and earns an A or B in the course is to hire a tutor and/or have DS do Khan Academy each week to supplement next Quarter. I understand the need for help occasionally from a parent, teacher or tutor, and using resources like Khan Academy to clarify concepts but parents having to basically supplement a course is a problem.

Are they using the same formatives throughout MCPS? Our child's class also had really low grades, and the teacher had to have a talk with the students about what went wrong.

I think they are using the same exam. It is also poorly written.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I looked over my child's Formative exam and coursework for the Quarter to date after reading this thread and learning that my son did poorly on the exam for Honors Alg 2. My child reported that the class average was a D (same grade DS received) and the highest grade was a low B. My child's cumulative grade is now a low B. I looked over DS exam and noted that he would have received a C because of silly mistakes. However, most of what he got wrong wasn't fully covered in the class materials and one problem was only a lecture/in-class exercise according to my child. I couldn't find any homework assignments on Canvas and in his folder, so I believe my child is correct. I set down with my child this week and went over the test and re-taught the material. He also did similar problems using Khan Academy and now understands the material.

My takeaway: 1) not sure if it is the teacher or the curriculum, but the kids don't do enough practice to reinforce the material. 2) The exam does not fully line up with what is covered in the unit. I understand that Honors requires deeper thinking, which should be reflected in the exam questions. However, the assignments must cover the basic concepts and should also push students so that they can apply that knowledge to the test. 3) There are few graded assignments in the class and therefore, one missed assignment or low grade on an assignment significantly impacts the overall grade. In fact, there are only 7 graded items in the Gradebook under ParentVue. That is ridiculous as we are at the end of the term.

I can't do anything about the curriculum and/or teacher. Therefore, the only solution to make sure DS understands the material and earns an A or B in the course is to hire a tutor and/or have DS do Khan Academy each week to supplement next Quarter. I understand the need for help occasionally from a parent, teacher or tutor, and using resources like Khan Academy to clarify concepts but parents having to basically supplement a course is a problem.

Are they using the same formatives throughout MCPS? Our child's class also had really low grades, and the teacher had to have a talk with the students about what went wrong.

I think they are using the same exam. It is also poorly written.

The strong math students figured it out. At BTS night the Hon Alg II math teacher said (and pretty much this was all they said) that the course moves quickly and you have to get help immediately if you don't understand something. At this point in the quarter that's learn new material Mon - Wed, sometimes Thursday, test on Friday. Learning new material in my kid's class = lecture with Q&A for students and then solving problems together, more problems for homework every day. There was a topic that generated so many questions because it had not been covered adequately in Alg I at the "continuity of learning" time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I looked over my child's Formative exam and coursework for the Quarter to date after reading this thread and learning that my son did poorly on the exam for Honors Alg 2. My child reported that the class average was a D (same grade DS received) and the highest grade was a low B. My child's cumulative grade is now a low B. I looked over DS exam and noted that he would have received a C because of silly mistakes. However, most of what he got wrong wasn't fully covered in the class materials and one problem was only a lecture/in-class exercise according to my child. I couldn't find any homework assignments on Canvas and in his folder, so I believe my child is correct. I set down with my child this week and went over the test and re-taught the material. He also did similar problems using Khan Academy and now understands the material.

My takeaway: 1) not sure if it is the teacher or the curriculum, but the kids don't do enough practice to reinforce the material. 2) The exam does not fully line up with what is covered in the unit. I understand that Honors requires deeper thinking, which should be reflected in the exam questions. However, the assignments must cover the basic concepts and should also push students so that they can apply that knowledge to the test. 3) There are few graded assignments in the class and therefore, one missed assignment or low grade on an assignment significantly impacts the overall grade. In fact, there are only 7 graded items in the Gradebook under ParentVue. That is ridiculous as we are at the end of the term.

I can't do anything about the curriculum and/or teacher. Therefore, the only solution to make sure DS understands the material and earns an A or B in the course is to hire a tutor and/or have DS do Khan Academy each week to supplement next Quarter. I understand the need for help occasionally from a parent, teacher or tutor, and using resources like Khan Academy to clarify concepts but parents having to basically supplement a course is a problem.

Are they using the same formatives throughout MCPS? Our child's class also had really low grades, and the teacher had to have a talk with the students about what went wrong.

I think they are using the same exam. It is also poorly written.

The strong math students figured it out. At BTS night the Hon Alg II math teacher said (and pretty much this was all they said) that the course moves quickly and you have to get help immediately if you don't understand something. At this point in the quarter that's learn new material Mon - Wed, sometimes Thursday, test on Friday. Learning new material in my kid's class = lecture with Q&A for students and then solving problems together, more problems for homework every day. There was a topic that generated so many questions because it had not been covered adequately in Alg I at the "continuity of learning" time.

The pace of the class is not the issue. My kid doesn’t have daily homework so no practice outside of class. DS had 4 Delta math assignments to date.

[Anonymous]

For many, algebra 2 is where you get it or don’t get it (not necessarily about grade as one can get straight As without really understanding the subject).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I looked over my child's Formative exam and coursework for the Quarter to date after reading this thread and learning that my son did poorly on the exam for Honors Alg 2. My child reported that the class average was a D (same grade DS received) and the highest grade was a low B. My child's cumulative grade is now a low B. I looked over DS exam and noted that he would have received a C because of silly mistakes. However, most of what he got wrong wasn't fully covered in the class materials and one problem was only a lecture/in-class exercise according to my child. I couldn't find any homework assignments on Canvas and in his folder, so I believe my child is correct. I set down with my child this week and went over the test and re-taught the material. He also did similar problems using Khan Academy and now understands the material.

My takeaway: 1) not sure if it is the teacher or the curriculum, but the kids don't do enough practice to reinforce the material. 2) The exam does not fully line up with what is covered in the unit. I understand that Honors requires deeper thinking, which should be reflected in the exam questions. However, the assignments must cover the basic concepts and should also push students so that they can apply that knowledge to the test. 3) There are few graded assignments in the class and therefore, one missed assignment or low grade on an assignment significantly impacts the overall grade. In fact, there are only 7 graded items in the Gradebook under ParentVue. That is ridiculous as we are at the end of the term.

I can't do anything about the curriculum and/or teacher. Therefore, the only solution to make sure DS understands the material and earns an A or B in the course is to hire a tutor and/or have DS do Khan Academy each week to supplement next Quarter. I understand the need for help occasionally from a parent, teacher or tutor, and using resources like Khan Academy to clarify concepts but parents having to basically supplement a course is a problem.

Are they using the same formatives throughout MCPS? Our child's class also had really low grades, and the teacher had to have a talk with the students about what went wrong.

I think they are using the same exam. It is also poorly written.

My child says the strongest math student in his class, a girl, failed the most recent test too. Unless your child has outside supplementation, something is going wrong in many classrooms or with the curriculum, maybe due to all the content that was missed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every family we’ve spoken to has a tutor. This just doesn’t seem right.

Junior DD is taking CalcBC, no tutor ever and I never heard any other her friends got a tutor, which school is this where every kid got a tutor?

I don’t think we’re talking about kids on a trajectory to BC in 11th grade….

Don't most MCPS kids take BC in 11th if they are on the accelerated track?
Is Algebra 2 Honors for kids who are on the regular track and accelerated track? Do they get mixed up in the classes? I think my child's class has mostly 9th graders but a few 10th?

No.
9th - Honors Algebra
10th - Honors Precalc
11th - AP BC Calc if really strong, AP AB Calc for many
12th - MVC or AP BC Calc or AP Statistics

Can someone in Honors Geometry in 8th grade move to non-Honors Algebra 2 in 9th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every family we’ve spoken to has a tutor. This just doesn’t seem right.

Junior DD is taking CalcBC, no tutor ever and I never heard any other her friends got a tutor, which school is this where every kid got a tutor?

I don’t think we’re talking about kids on a trajectory to BC in 11th grade….

Don't most MCPS kids take BC in 11th if they are on the accelerated track?
Is Algebra 2 Honors for kids who are on the regular track and accelerated track? Do they get mixed up in the classes? I think my child's class has mostly 9th graders but a few 10th?

No.
9th - Honors Algebra
10th - Honors Precalc
11th - AP BC Calc if really strong, AP AB Calc for many
12th - MVC or AP BC Calc or AP Statistics

Can someone in Honors Geometry in 8th grade move to non-Honors Algebra 2 in 9th grade?

Yes

[Anonymous]

Just an update - I have 2 kids in Whitman taking Hons Algebra 2. One struggles the other usually gets A grades.

Both tanked a test last week - and apparently so did the entirety of their classes.

The reason was none of the concepts on the test had been introduced in class.