MD 2022-2023 MCAP Results: Only 14% proficient ELA, 13 proficient math at state-level; MCPS 13.5% ELA, 13.7% math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evidence of Learning presentation to BOe
https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/222933

K-12 Comprehensive math plan update
https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/230561

Not sure if you posted this in support of MCPS, but I did rewatch the math plan update.

As usual, MCPS talked around the problem, but board member Wolff got to the heart of it when she basically got them to admit that part of the reason for the poor math proficiency scores is because too many MCPS kids are being pushed into Algebra 1 early, which requires compacted math, which means they're not building and getting the appropriate amount of exposure and time to master those foundational skills.

This means the problem is on two parties:

1. Parents: We need to stop treating 7th or 8th grade Algebra 1 as the benchmark. Many of our kids aren't ready for it. (Not sure why this is revolutionary, Algebra 1 in 9th grade was completely the norm back when I was in MCPS). Stop pushing your schools to put your kid in "accelerated math" programs unless the test scores demonstrate they have a genuine need at that level. It's great that you believe in your baby's potential, but there's no rush. 9th grade Algebra 1 is ON TRACK, not behind.

2. Admin: Stop cowtowing to pushy parents. Trust the teachers' evaluations and stop allowing any of your staff in the counseling office or team leads to parrot things like "Your child isn't college ready unless they take Algebra 1 by 8th grade."

As usual, it looks like we have created our own problem and now we have to untangle ourselves from a web of our own making.

Are you claiming that the students in 7/8 Algebra are scoring lower on MCAP than the students in 9 algebra?
Is that comparison reported somewhere?

I'm not claiming that because I don't know that. I'm just recapping the convo the school board had about the issue and the curriculum experts said specifically what I summarized.

They didn't break out any data that showed those in 7/8 Algebra are scoring lower, but they strongly hinted at it by insisting the mechanism for Algebra readiness shift from a specific grade-level to one that is based on a criteria of student readiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please change the name of this thread! 2024 results are not available anywhere and won’t be for some time. This all refers to 2021-2022 testing data.

The thread title reflects what is in the article and report:





It says "2022-2023," not 2021-2022 testing data as you are claiming.

Well then the news article is wrong. Kids literally just finished taking these tests and it is not physically possible for results to be back yet.

The data for this year is available. PGCPS included some examples of improvements in the end of year message.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe there are 3 economic groups: the disadvantaged, the advantaged, and the middle. Otherwise the numbers don’t add up.

There have to be more than three groups though, because even FARMS and Economically Disadvantaged do not completely overlapped.

The report I linked to says that in 2020-2021, there were 246,780 MD students that met the Economically-Disadvantaged criteria, but there were 382,118 MD students that met the FARMS criteria.

So there's probably a variety of ways to slice the student groups up, depending on these statuses and it's clear that these student group statuses aren't mutually exclusive.

There's no way for there to be more than two groups, though, unless they are using population-level data by zip code. Maryland knows which kids qualify for FARMS, but they don't know anything beyond that. So, on paper, there is no difference between a poor kid who just never filed for FARMS and a wealthy kid in Potomac.

It’s also irrelevant because the data as cited in the article is bogus and misunderstood.

[Anonymous]

The problem starts way before Algebra. I work at a Title 1 school and kids are herded along despite not having mastery or even basic understanding of mathematical concepts. Teachers are forced to keep pace with the lessons and not allowed to deviate based on student comprehension. We have fourth graders who can not multiply single digit numbers that are expected to divide fractions and they are lost in the sauce. I’m not a classroom teacher, and I don’t see myself ever going back as a traditional classroom teacher because of the explicit expectation that you must strictly follow Week 4, Day 3 Eureka lesson plans with zero differentiation of math abilities-we are not allowed to split kids up into groups based on skill proficiency. I do reading pull outs for struggling readers (don’t get me started on Benchmark and how MCPS schools/teachers don’t understand the science of reading) but it is heartbreaking to witness how much these students are struggling. The answer is not to hire more math and reading coaches. We need to meet students where they are academically, identify the areas of deficit and reteach the foundational concepts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m never sure how to read these. I know my kids totally blow off these tests. They finish them as fast as they can. They end up generally with proficient scores but they are well beyond proficient. But they aren’t going to waste any mental energy on these tests. There’s too many tests — we can’t really expect the kids to give these their best effort. I’d be more interested in how many kids are failing the unit tests, which are aligned with curriculum standards and are not retakable.

Why? Because their life is too hard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m never sure how to read these. I know my kids totally blow off these tests. They finish them as fast as they can. They end up generally with proficient scores but they are well beyond proficient. But they aren’t going to waste any mental energy on these tests. There’s too many tests — we can’t really expect the kids to give these their best effort. I’d be more interested in how many kids are failing the unit tests, which are aligned with curriculum standards and are not retakable.

Why? Because their life is too hard?

You sound like fun at parties. Get some compassion. Grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem starts way before Algebra. I work at a Title 1 school and kids are herded along despite not having mastery or even basic understanding of mathematical concepts. Teachers are forced to keep pace with the lessons and not allowed to deviate based on student comprehension. We have fourth graders who can not multiply single digit numbers that are expected to divide fractions and they are lost in the sauce. I’m not a classroom teacher, and I don’t see myself ever going back as a traditional classroom teacher because of the explicit expectation that you must strictly follow Week 4, Day 3 Eureka lesson plans with zero differentiation of math abilities-we are not allowed to split kids up into groups based on skill proficiency. I do reading pull outs for struggling readers (don’t get me started on Benchmark and how MCPS schools/teachers don’t understand the science of reading) but it is heartbreaking to witness how much these students are struggling. The answer is not to hire more math and reading coaches. We need to meet students where they are academically, identify the areas of deficit and reteach the foundational concepts.

It sounds like MCPS needs to offer math classes geared at ability levels much earlier than 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem starts way before Algebra. I work at a Title 1 school and kids are herded along despite not having mastery or even basic understanding of mathematical concepts. Teachers are forced to keep pace with the lessons and not allowed to deviate based on student comprehension. We have fourth graders who can not multiply single digit numbers that are expected to divide fractions and they are lost in the sauce. I’m not a classroom teacher, and I don’t see myself ever going back as a traditional classroom teacher because of the explicit expectation that you must strictly follow Week 4, Day 3 Eureka lesson plans with zero differentiation of math abilities-we are not allowed to split kids up into groups based on skill proficiency. I do reading pull outs for struggling readers (don’t get me started on Benchmark and how MCPS schools/teachers don’t understand the science of reading) but it is heartbreaking to witness how much these students are struggling. The answer is not to hire more math and reading coaches. We need to meet students where they are academically, identify the areas of deficit and reteach the foundational concepts.

Yes, this Eureka curriculum seems very questionable. I don't understand why MCPS does not allow you to split kids up based on skill proficiency. Is it because some people claim it's racist or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem starts way before Algebra. I work at a Title 1 school and kids are herded along despite not having mastery or even basic understanding of mathematical concepts. Teachers are forced to keep pace with the lessons and not allowed to deviate based on student comprehension. We have fourth graders who can not multiply single digit numbers that are expected to divide fractions and they are lost in the sauce. I’m not a classroom teacher, and I don’t see myself ever going back as a traditional classroom teacher because of the explicit expectation that you must strictly follow Week 4, Day 3 Eureka lesson plans with zero differentiation of math abilities-we are not allowed to split kids up into groups based on skill proficiency. I do reading pull outs for struggling readers (don’t get me started on Benchmark and how MCPS schools/teachers don’t understand the science of reading) but it is heartbreaking to witness how much these students are struggling. The answer is not to hire more math and reading coaches. We need to meet students where they are academically, identify the areas of deficit and reteach the foundational concepts.

Yes, this Eureka curriculum seems very questionable. I don't understand why MCPS does not allow you to split kids up based on skill proficiency. Is it because some people claim it's racist or something?

That’s probably the motivation for 95% of the changes MCPS makes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please change the name of this thread! 2024 results are not available anywhere and won’t be for some time. This all refers to 2021-2022 testing data.

The thread title reflects what is in the article and report:





It says "2022-2023," not 2021-2022 testing data as you are claiming.

Well then the news article is wrong. Kids literally just finished taking these tests and it is not physically possible for results to be back yet.

The data for this year is available. PGCPS included some examples of improvements in the end of year message.

They were probably referring to MAP testing, which gives scores immediately.

[Anonymous]

Every modern classroom needs the following:

1. ⁠A qualified teacher, obviously.
2. ⁠A helper/para to keep students on task and help with students that have IEPs or learning disabilities. (I know disability isn't the right word, but you get it.)
3. ⁠A Wi-Fi blocker that the teacher or para can control, literally just have the power to do a wi-fi blackout for the entire class until the class needs access to Wi-Fi.
4. ⁠Phones and iPads need to be left in lockers or in an area by the door/at the teacher's desk. If it's an emergency, the student can go grab their phone there. (If the student needs their phone to monitor blood sugar levels or w/e (I had a kid that had an app for it last year) then they get to keep it.)

There, you've got 70% of the problems modern teachers are facing taken care of. Everything else has to be done at home--parents need to parent their kids--or admin needs to actually follow through with disciplining/removing troublemakers from classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem starts way before Algebra. I work at a Title 1 school and kids are herded along despite not having mastery or even basic understanding of mathematical concepts. Teachers are forced to keep pace with the lessons and not allowed to deviate based on student comprehension. We have fourth graders who can not multiply single digit numbers that are expected to divide fractions and they are lost in the sauce. I’m not a classroom teacher, and I don’t see myself ever going back as a traditional classroom teacher because of the explicit expectation that you must strictly follow Week 4, Day 3 Eureka lesson plans with zero differentiation of math abilities-we are not allowed to split kids up into groups based on skill proficiency. I do reading pull outs for struggling readers (don’t get me started on Benchmark and how MCPS schools/teachers don’t understand the science of reading) but it is heartbreaking to witness how much these students are struggling. The answer is not to hire more math and reading coaches. We need to meet students where they are academically, identify the areas of deficit and reteach the foundational concepts.

YES! Thank you. Yes, to all of this.

Parents think the kids are doing fine because they are passing and moving along to the next grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every modern classroom needs the following:

1. ⁠A qualified teacher, obviously.
2. ⁠A helper/para to keep students on task and help with students that have IEPs or learning disabilities. (I know disability isn't the right word, but you get it.)
3. ⁠A Wi-Fi blocker that the teacher or para can control, literally just have the power to do a wi-fi blackout for the entire class until the class needs access to Wi-Fi.
4. ⁠Phones and iPads need to be left in lockers or in an area by the door/at the teacher's desk. If it's an emergency, the student can go grab their phone there. (If the student needs their phone to monitor blood sugar levels or w/e (I had a kid that had an app for it last year) then they get to keep it.)

There, you've got 70% of the problems modern teachers are facing taken care of. Everything else has to be done at home--parents need to parent their kids--or admin needs to actually follow through with disciplining/removing troublemakers from classrooms.

1 and 2 are fine (though 2 gets expensive). 4 is tough to implement.

3 is impossible. The FCC frowns on wifi blockers, and you'll likely block parts of the room next door - crashing the test they were taking. And blocking wifi won't block mobile data in those parts of the building with a signal.

[Anonymous]

For 3, maybe each classroom has its own guest Wifi network. For ES and MS, blocking Wifi would be a big improvement (understanding that HS and some MS students have their own data device)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every modern classroom needs the following:

1. ⁠A qualified teacher, obviously.
2. ⁠A helper/para to keep students on task and help with students that have IEPs or learning disabilities. (I know disability isn't the right word, but you get it.)
3. ⁠A Wi-Fi blocker that the teacher or para can control, literally just have the power to do a wi-fi blackout for the entire class until the class needs access to Wi-Fi.
4. ⁠Phones and iPads need to be left in lockers or in an area by the door/at the teacher's desk. If it's an emergency, the student can go grab their phone there. (If the student needs their phone to monitor blood sugar levels or w/e (I had a kid that had an app for it last year) then they get to keep it.)

There, you've got 70% of the problems modern teachers are facing taken care of. Everything else has to be done at home--parents need to parent their kids--or admin needs to actually follow through with disciplining/removing troublemakers from classrooms.

1 and 2 are fine (though 2 gets expensive). 4 is tough to implement.

3 is impossible. The FCC frowns on wifi blockers, and you'll likely block parts of the room next door - crashing the test they were taking. And blocking wifi won't block mobile data in those parts of the building with a signal.

[Anonymous]

WiFi is absolutely not what's holding back math learning in ES.