Algebra Exam results from January

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one part of the solution - give all students an Algebra textbook. A kid misses a day of school or doesn't understand the class lecture. The student can go back and review the textbook. Today, with no book a student misses class and they have no way to study the content and Algebra builds so a good foundation is important.

No way to study the content without a textbook? There are many math resources on line these days. Many, many, many, many, many math resources.

Yes there are, but damned if I can find out what they're supposed to be learning in their classes. Just a few worksheets come home, and I have very little clue what is coming next.

Have you asked the teacher? Or, more importantly, has your child asked the teacher?

New PP chiming in - I have sent emails to the teacher and requested meetings. The teacher failed to show for 2 meetings. I met with the Principal and Department Chair instead. My child goes in daily to meet with the Department Chair because the teacher is not teaching the curriculum. The Principal and the Department Chair see the problem but they are stuck with a unionized teacher who is failing at his job.

Wow, just wow. My sympathies, OP, and kudos for advocating as well as you could.

[Anonymous]

^^ Oops. Not responding to OP, but PP who was describing the completely unhelpful teacher and having to arrange meetings with Dept Chair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to my child's teacher, they (teachers) are given very detailed lesson plans and know what to teach from day to day and have specific worksheets to give the students for every day of instruction. They do have flexibility on how they teach the material but there is a step by step approach from the county. This is per my student (I did not speak to the teacher about this) but I have no reason to doubt the veracity of what he says.
We have not felt the need for a textbook but I believe the teacher made some online resources available to the students through edline and that is what they are supposed to use if they need further clarification outside class.

I see one child getting this type of instruction and one child not. The principal said the materials provided by the Central Office are optional tools that the teacher can elect NOT to use. The child that gets the materials though did better on the exam than the child who does not.

With that being said, I often copied the material for my child who did not receive such handouts, however, on day to day homework they have not been of help. The teacher not using the Central Office materials has not been teaching the same topics. They are like two different courses. So the handouts on their own have not been a replacement for a highly skilled and organized teacher.

I am not sure if you are in a position to judge but in your opinion are the Central Office materials high quality? There have been a lot of posts bemoaning the lack of a textbook and I wonder whether these materials are meant to substitute for the textbook. On the other hand if the materials simply replicate likely test and exam questions, all they are doing is teaching the child how to do well on a test or exam and they might not be learning enough to do well in Algebra II or Calculus.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure if you are in a position to judge but in your opinion are the Central Office materials high quality?

No, not really. Poor quality control and still incomplete.

[Anonymous]

In addition to better materials we need gifted teachers with superior training. I need to Brag: My daughter graduated magna cum laude and retrained as a math teacher after a successful career in computer science. She used to be a math teacher at one of the lower income MCPS high schools. she is a devoted bilingual teacher. She was assigned classes of kids many if whom had previously failed algebra 1. Many of these kids had interrupted educations and/ or worked after school to support their families. She was able to work with these kids, often ordering pizza from her own pocket so they would
come in at lunch or after school for tutoring. Her results on the Algebra final were better than most of the W schools. We need to attract and reward the very best teachers.

[Anonymous]

Your daughter is very unique. Most of the MCPS teachers and people writing the curriculum couldn't pass a computer science class let alone get a degree in it. We need to stop hiring education majors for math.

[Anonymous]

I agree that we should hire Math or related subjects majors with special teAcher training to teach math . But to do so we will have to have differentiated recruitment and pay scale. The teachers union should support this because it would add an incentive for more math education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your daughter is very unique. Most of the MCPS teachers and people writing the curriculum couldn't pass a computer science class let alone get a degree in it. We need to stop hiring education majors for math.

Which colleges/universities allow students to major solely in education?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your daughter is very unique. Most of the MCPS teachers and people writing the curriculum couldn't pass a computer science class let alone get a degree in it. We need to stop hiring education majors for math.

Which colleges/universities allow students to major solely in education?

Almost all?

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching

I'd guess that any college that isn't STEM focused (think MIT) would have one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your daughter is very unique. Most of the MCPS teachers and people writing the curriculum couldn't pass a computer science class let alone get a degree in it. We need to stop hiring education majors for math.

Which colleges/universities allow students to major solely in education?

Almost all?

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching

I'd guess that any college that isn't STEM focused (think MIT) would have one.

That link is for a ranking of colleges/universities by how well they teach undergraduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that we should hire Math or related subjects majors with special teAcher training to teach math[b] . But to do so we will have to have differentiated recruitment and pay scale. The teachers union should support this because it would add an incentive for more math education.

I thought for MS/HS math/science teachers, they needed to have a related degree, not just have majored in education? But, I don't think most math majors would necessarily make good teachers. Being a good math teacher requires a lot more than just understanding math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to my child's teacher, they (teachers) are given very detailed lesson plans and know what to teach from day to day and have specific worksheets to give the students for every day of instruction. They do have flexibility on how they teach the material but there is a step by step approach from the county. This is per my student (I did not speak to the teacher about this) but I have no reason to doubt the veracity of what he says.
We have not felt the need for a textbook but I believe the teacher made some online resources available to the students through edline and that is what they are supposed to use if they need further clarification outside class.

I see one child getting this type of instruction and one child not. The principal said the materials provided by the Central Office are optional tools that the teacher can elect NOT to use. The child that gets the materials though did better on the exam than the child who does not.

With that being said, I often copied the material for my child who did not receive such handouts, however, on day to day homework they have not been of help. The teacher not using the Central Office materials has not been teaching the same topics. They are like two different courses. So the handouts on their own have not been a replacement for a highly skilled and organized teacher.

I am not sure if you are in a position to judge but in your opinion are the Central Office materials high quality? There have been a lot of posts bemoaning the lack of a textbook and I wonder whether these materials are meant to substitute for the textbook. On the other hand if the materials simply replicate likely test and exam questions, all they are doing is teaching the child how to do well on a test or exam and they might not be learning enough to do well in Algebra II or Calculus.

The handouts and worksheets are not as in depth as a textbook. A textbook often goes step by step into the principals and rationale on how to solve problems. A student can often supplement a teachers explanation or even self teach material (if absent from class) with what a textbook provides.

The MCPS 2.0 handouts for Geometry were a few examples of problems and often glossed over definitions or written explanations. They did, however, come numbered with the Student Learning Objective which helped to keep the student notes organized. The course is designed to be taught in sequential order so it was helpful to keep the handouts in sequential order for the progression in material.

Overall, the 2.0 handouts do teach to the test. Kids are not learning more in depth, they are just learning to spit out the answers in a different format. However, without exposing kids to the same materials and practice, the county exams are unfairly punitive to kids that are in schools who are doing their own curriculum and methodology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your daughter is very unique. Most of the MCPS teachers and people writing the curriculum couldn't pass a computer science class let alone get a degree in it. We need to stop hiring education majors for math.

Which colleges/universities allow students to major solely in education?

Almost all?

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching

I'd guess that any college that isn't STEM focused (think MIT) would have one.

That link is for a ranking of colleges/universities by how well they teach undergraduates.

Well, that was embarrassing. Here's another list: http://www.collegecrunch.org/rankings/top-20-colleges-for-education-majors/

Most colleges offer an undergraduate education degree from what I can see, and are generally geared towards elementary school/special education. I think as a general rule middle and high school students should be taught by teachers w/ degrees in the field they're teaching along with some training on how to teach effectively. I don't have any data on whether or not that's actually occurring; perhaps that's the norm.

[Anonymous]

Knowing math and knowing how to teach are two different disciplines and skill sets. You need both to be a good math teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to my child's teacher, they (teachers) are given very detailed lesson plans and know what to teach from day to day and have specific worksheets to give the students for every day of instruction. They do have flexibility on how they teach the material but there is a step by step approach from the county. This is per my student (I did not speak to the teacher about this) but I have no reason to doubt the veracity of what he says.
We have not felt the need for a textbook but I believe the teacher made some online resources available to the students through edline and that is what they are supposed to use if they need further clarification outside class.

I see one child getting this type of instruction and one child not. The principal said the materials provided by the Central Office are optional tools that the teacher can elect NOT to use. The child that gets the materials though did better on the exam than the child who does not.

With that being said, I often copied the material for my child who did not receive such handouts, however, on day to day homework they have not been of help. The teacher not using the Central Office materials has not been teaching the same topics. They are like two different courses. So the handouts on their own have not been a replacement for a highly skilled and organized teacher.

I am not sure if you are in a position to judge but in your opinion are the Central Office materials high quality? There have been a lot of posts bemoaning the lack of a textbook and I wonder whether these materials are meant to substitute for the textbook. On the other hand if the materials simply replicate likely test and exam questions, all they are doing is teaching the child how to do well on a test or exam and they might not be learning enough to do well in Algebra II or Calculus.

The handouts and worksheets are not as in depth as a textbook. A textbook often goes step by step into the principals and rationale on how to solve problems. A student can often supplement a teachers explanation or even self teach material (if absent from class) with what a textbook provides.

The MCPS 2.0 handouts for Geometry were a few examples of problems and often glossed over definitions or written explanations. They did, however, come numbered with the Student Learning Objective which helped to keep the student notes organized. The course is designed to be taught in sequential order so it was helpful to keep the handouts in sequential order for the progression in material.

Overall, the 2.0 handouts do teach to the test. Kids are not learning more in depth, they are just learning to spit out the answers in a different format. However, without exposing kids to the same materials and practice, the county exams are unfairly punitive to kids that are in schools who are doing their own curriculum and methodology.

This is what I was afraid of. My child is bright enough to use these type of handouts to ace the tests and exams but I worry about how much he is actually learning. I guess we'll find out when he gets to the really high level classes. He often reports that the tests have questions that are nearly identical to the ones on the handouts - just slightly different numbers. The teachers are not doing these students any favors by sticking to the handouts. I plan to have my child study using a textbook during the summer vacation but I can't bring myself to make him do this during the school year.