Experience with grades in 6th Algebra pilot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop blaming the teacher.

It's Algebra. It's not complicated. It's basic mechanical algorithms. If your kid can't get the "instruction" from IXL or Khan practice, your kid doesn't need to be 2-3 years accelerated.

I agree. If the kid is not doing well, drop it now. In our kid's class, there are couple of kids who are not following it, but parents are not dropping it yet because they likes "My kid is in Algebra 1 pilot program".

You should read the thread before posting.

Nowhere did I say that my DC is not doing well in the class. However, Algebra 1 teacher at our school absolutely deserves to be called out for doing a poor job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop blaming the teacher.

It's Algebra. It's not complicated. It's basic mechanical algorithms. If your kid can't get the "instruction" from IXL or Khan practice, your kid doesn't need to be 2-3 years accelerated.

I agree. If the kid is not doing well, drop it now. In our kid's class, there are couple of kids who are not following it, but parents are not dropping it yet because they likes "My kid is in Algebra 1 pilot program".

You should read the thread before posting.

Nowhere did I say that my DC is not doing well in the class. However, Algebra 1 teacher at our school absolutely deserves to be called out for doing a poor job.

To be fair to the teacher, schools were notified about this program a few weeks before the school year started. ES teachers, who are not certified in teaching Algebra and have never taught in HS, have been slated to teach the class without any training and, it sounds like, little help. Some schools seem to have brought in a teacher for just Algebra 1 but some assigned their 6th grade math teacher to teach the class. Your kids teacher could be overwhelmed by the task. That doesn't help your child or the other children in the class but if there ever was a year that a teacher could use some grace, this is it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop blaming the teacher.

It's Algebra. It's not complicated. It's basic mechanical algorithms. If your kid can't get the "instruction" from IXL or Khan practice, your kid doesn't need to be 2-3 years accelerated.

I agree. If the kid is not doing well, drop it now. In our kid's class, there are couple of kids who are not following it, but parents are not dropping it yet because they likes "My kid is in Algebra 1 pilot program".

You should read the thread before posting.

Nowhere did I say that my DC is not doing well in the class. However, Algebra 1 teacher at our school absolutely deserves to be called out for doing a poor job.

To be fair to the teacher, schools were notified about this program a few weeks before the school year started. ES teachers, who are not certified in teaching Algebra and have never taught in HS, have been slated to teach the class without any training and, it sounds like, little help. Some schools seem to have brought in a teacher for just Algebra 1 but some assigned their 6th grade math teacher to teach the class. Your kids teacher could be overwhelmed by the task. That doesn't help your child or the other children in the class but if there ever was a year that a teacher could use some grace, this is it.

OP here. Thank you for posting this and you are 100% right, especially the bolded. I got carried away with the statements of some of the posters who seem to claim that lack of feedback and typical effort that one would expect from a teacher is ok. It just so happens that this teacher is known for problematic practices within the AAP program itself, and has now made them even worse for the Algebra 1 students. I wondered whether this is what the pilot looks like at other schools as well.

But, to flip this whole argument to a completely different direction: if you are a teacher in Algebra 1 pilot and struggling due to the lack of support from the county, what would be your wishlist to make your job easier? I know it might sound silly, but, parents might just be able to pull it off.

Please leave out “take your child if they are struggling” (parents who are smart enough will do that sooner rather than later), or “don’t talk poorly about me on the dcurbanmom” (too late for that and for what it’s worth, that was not my original intention).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop blaming the teacher.

It's Algebra. It's not complicated. It's basic mechanical algorithms. If your kid can't get the "instruction" from IXL or Khan practice, your kid doesn't need to be 2-3 years accelerated.

I agree. If the kid is not doing well, drop it now. In our kid's class, there are couple of kids who are not following it, but parents are not dropping it yet because they likes "My kid is in Algebra 1 pilot program".

You should read the thread before posting.

Nowhere did I say that my DC is not doing well in the class. However, Algebra 1 teacher at our school absolutely deserves to be called out for doing a poor job.

To be fair to the teacher, schools were notified about this program a few weeks before the school year started. ES teachers, who are not certified in teaching Algebra and have never taught in HS, have been slated to teach the class without any training and, it sounds like, little help. Some schools seem to have brought in a teacher for just Algebra 1 but some assigned their 6th grade math teacher to teach the class. Your kids teacher could be overwhelmed by the task. That doesn't help your child or the other children in the class but if there ever was a year that a teacher could use some grace, this is it.

OP here. Thank you for posting this and you are 100% right, especially the bolded. I got carried away with the statements of some of the posters who seem to claim that lack of feedback and typical effort that one would expect from a teacher is ok. It just so happens that this teacher is known for problematic practices within the AAP program itself, and has now made them even worse for the Algebra 1 students. I wondered whether this is what the pilot looks like at other schools as well.

But, to flip this whole argument to a completely different direction: if you are a teacher in Algebra 1 pilot and struggling due to the lack of support from the county, what would be your wishlist to make your job easier? I know it might sound silly, but, parents might just be able to pull it off.

Please leave out “take your child if they are struggling” (parents who are smart enough will do that sooner rather than later), or “don’t talk poorly about me on the dcurbanmom” (too late for that and for what it’s worth, that was not my original intention).

You want a wishlist from A1 pilot teachers to make their job easier that doesn’t include a request to stop badmouthing them or pulling out kids who are failing? You’re right, OP, it does sound ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Said the teacher who is not making an effort.

You cannot have it both ways. If you are struggling, you are refusing an offer to get help, but at the same time you are expecting parents to stay quiet and just accept that you are doing a bad job? Do you even ask yourself how come that this issue does not exist at every school running the pilot? They all magically have students who are not failing and, as a result, teacher is giving more assignments and providing timely feedback?

This will be a dose of your own medicine: you don’t have to accept any help from parents, and maybe you don’t need it, but don’t rush to blame students and parents for not doing your job well.

[Anonymous]

^^ OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Said the teacher who is not making an effort.

You cannot have it both ways. If you are struggling, you are refusing an offer to get help, but at the same time you are expecting parents to stay quiet and just accept that you are doing a bad job? Do you even ask yourself how come that this issue does not exist at every school running the pilot? They all magically have students who are not failing and, as a result, teacher is giving more assignments and providing timely feedback?

This will be a dose of your own medicine: you don’t have to accept any help from parents, and maybe you don’t need it, but don’t rush to blame students and parents for not doing your job well.

I’m a parent who was responding to your ridiculous comment. I also think this pilot is absurd, and if kids are failing it’s bc they’re 11 and have no business taking A1. There are about 30 kids in the entire county who would benefit from this accelerated pace, not 700.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Said the teacher who is not making an effort.

You cannot have it both ways. If you are struggling, you are refusing an offer to get help, but at the same time you are expecting parents to stay quiet and just accept that you are doing a bad job? Do you even ask yourself how come that this issue does not exist at every school running the pilot? They all magically have students who are not failing and, as a result, teacher is giving more assignments and providing timely feedback?

This will be a dose of your own medicine: you don’t have to accept any help from parents, and maybe you don’t need it, but don’t rush to blame students and parents for not doing your job well.

I’m a parent who was responding to your ridiculous comment. I also think this pilot is absurd, and if kids are failing it’s bc they’re 11 and have no business taking A1. There are about 30 kids in the entire county who would benefit from this accelerated pace, not 700.

Thank you for clarifying that you are a parent and not a teacher, because you clearly don’t understand what my post is about. I am honestly relieved that there are no Algebra 1 pilot teachers with your reasoning skills out there.

As a parent, you have no clue how many kids are ready for Algebra 1 in 6th (and neither do I), you have no clue how many are failing (and neither do I). Please do me a favor and start a new thread that addresses the issue that you wish to discuss, which seems to be: why are some students failing Algebra 1 pilot.

My question is very different and is about assignment and grading policies at other schools with Algebra 1 pilot. If you have nothing meaningful to contribute regarding that question, you don’t have to post here.

~OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent who was responding to your ridiculous comment. I also think this pilot is absurd, and if kids are failing it’s bc they’re 11 and have no business taking A1. There are about 30 kids in the entire county who would benefit from this accelerated pace, not 700.

I think one reason there was only about 30 kids in the entire county taking A1 mainly due to inconvenience as well. Previously kids would need to go to a middle school to take the class then come back to elementary school for the rest of school day. Even if my child is qualified, I would not sign up for it. But if the program is in the school, we would consider it.

[Anonymous]

If students are receiving HS credit for Algebra 1 they need to be being taught by a teacher who is either secondary math certified or has an Algebra 1 add-on endorsement. Are we sure that is the case in all these 6th grade Algebra 1 classes this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent who was responding to your ridiculous comment. I also think this pilot is absurd, and if kids are failing it’s bc they’re 11 and have no business taking A1. There are about 30 kids in the entire county who would benefit from this accelerated pace, not 700.

I think one reason there was only about 30 kids in the entire county taking A1 mainly due to inconvenience as well. Previously kids would need to go to a middle school to take the class then come back to elementary school for the rest of school day. Even if my child is qualified, I would not sign up for it. But if the program is in the school, we would consider it.

The main reason was that most schools were not offering A1H for 6th graders as an option, even if that option was to attend the MS or take it virtually. There were a handful of schools that regularly looked for kids who could benefit from the class and were ready. We are like you, DS would not have taken it by going to the MS or virtually but if there was a class at his school we would have placed him in it. This is the one place where I see the value of the Center. A Center would probably have enough kids ready for Algebra 1 to have an in-person class.

I don’t think that there are 700 kids ready for A1H in the County, never mind these pilot schools, but I think the number is closer to 200, extrapolating on the 30 or so who took A1H each year before this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If students are receiving HS credit for Algebra 1 they need to be being taught by a teacher who is either secondary math certified or has an Algebra 1 add-on endorsement. Are we sure that is the case in all these 6th grade Algebra 1 classes this year?

Most of the teachers in ES do not have a certification for teaching algebra, they are supposed to be working on getting those this year. So the teachers who have added a HS class have had to add additional professional development to their schedules.

OP: If you read any of the FCPS threads you will see that there are teachers who are bad about entering grades across all the MS and HS, it doesn't seem to be something that is going to change. DS is in MS and has had grades entered regularly, we have not had an issue, but I believe the people posting that their kids teachers are not recording grades. It does seem to be school dependent, i.e. there is a Principal that doesn't seem to be willing to enforce keeping the gradebook updated. I understand your frustration.

[Anonymous]

I'll tell you what the Algebra 1 teachers need to help...

Curriculum. Not a list of standards, a set of lesson plans they can modify, print, and use.

Multiple versions of assessments (to accommodate retakes and study guides). Paper quizzes and tests in word format that can be adjusted and modified as desired.

Collaborative planning time with other algebra 1 teachers (this is happening at some schools at least)

Vertical articulation opportunities to speak to the algebra 1 teachers in the middle school to align practices to the 7th grade teachers.

It's nothing parents can provide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll tell you what the Algebra 1 teachers need to help...

Curriculum. Not a list of standards, a set of lesson plans they can modify, print, and use.

Multiple versions of assessments (to accommodate retakes and study guides). Paper quizzes and tests in word format that can be adjusted and modified as desired.

Collaborative planning time with other algebra 1 teachers (this is happening at some schools at least)

Vertical articulation opportunities to speak to the algebra 1 teachers in the middle school to align practices to the 7th grade teachers.

It's nothing parents can provide.

OP here. Thank you for your thoughtful post. This is exactly what I was hoping one of the teachers would provide.

Do you have any thoughts on how parents could push to support teachers and get this from the county?

You are most likely right that there is nothing parents can do to help, but we can try to voice concerns and ask for some changes that would help both teachers and students. My experience is in higher education, so a very different environment, but your list is perfectly reasonable, very well defined, and not too expensive to implement. It would take some initiative and figuring out logistics, but, it might be doable if the right people get involved. I also have a feeling that FCPS would like for this pilot to be a success, so now might be the right time to try too ask for some changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll tell you what the Algebra 1 teachers need to help...

Curriculum. Not a list of standards, a set of lesson plans they can modify, print, and use.

Multiple versions of assessments (to accommodate retakes and study guides). Paper quizzes and tests in word format that can be adjusted and modified as desired.

Collaborative planning time with other algebra 1 teachers (this is happening at some schools at least)

Vertical articulation opportunities to speak to the algebra 1 teachers in the middle school to align practices to the 7th grade teachers.

It's nothing parents can provide.

A text book, a printed one, should be of great help in this regard. Most also have a lot of practice questions.