PSA MCPS math warning

[Anonymous]

Just moved to Mass and while we knew the schools were better up here I had no idea how horrible the math was in MCPS. Both kids easily got into compacted math, ES grades when ES grades were randomly given, very high MAP and PARCC scores, straight As in accelerated MS math class - completely failed the placement exams for math up here. Neither kid had ever taken a cumulative multi-page math test before this one.

After talking to the school up here it doesn't seem to be a problem with their aptitude or capability for advanced math but a problem with their lack of effective math instruction and assessment. No rigor, lacking in computational fluency, choosing complicated circuitous routes to solve problems that take more time and more likely to yield mistakes ...all the hallmarks of MCPS math.

I am so pissed off.

[Anonymous]

I have friends who moved to Mass a couple of years ago. They said their kids were behind in math compared to kids up there too.

[Anonymous]

Same problem in CA. Behind in math and but ahead in reading and writing.

[Anonymous]

OP, how old are your kids?

FWIW, I moved to Maryland from overseas, and let me tell you, compared to students in some countries, American kids as a whole are seriously behind in math, even those in Massachusetts. If Mass is the beacon of light, math-wise, I shudder to think what Alabama might be like.

[Anonymous]

How did you not know this? Of course we are behind. It sucks.

[Anonymous]

DD's third grade teacher is amazed at the number of kids in her class this year that cannot add and subtract. She says they just don't know their basic math facts!

[Anonymous]

NP. I have a kindergartener. What should I be doing to supplement now and in the future? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I have a kindergartener. What should I be doing to supplement now and in the future? Thank you!

singapore math books. I get mine from amazon.

[Anonymous]

NP. I have a kindergartener. What should I be doing to supplement now and in the future? Thank you!

OP here. If I had it to do over I would have had them do an outside math program that included testing with actual questions that required getting the right answers not writing a bunch of bull shit about their critical thinking skills pondering the damn question.

[Anonymous]

Not MCPS but FCPS and we have been visiting privates and based on what I see kids doing in private, FCPS is very behind. In discussing the lack of rigor in Fairfax with a private school admissions officer, I noted that my kids have gotten high marks and are doing fine but that I feel like they can and should be doing more. She noted 2 things that were noteworthy. First, all kids coming from public have "good" grades. And Second, even kids in the Advance Academic Program in Fairfax are behind when they come to the private school. I wonder if the publics all around here are dumbing it down and I wonder why. I grew up in public here and it was a good education. My friend has kids in a county in Florida and I had her send me her kid's work. It is so much more advanced than ours. We do lots of "mom-work" at home and hopefully we will be accepted to a good private. If not, mom-work and tutors are our plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just moved to Mass and while we knew the schools were better up here I had no idea how horrible the math was in MCPS. Both kids easily got into compacted math, ES grades when ES grades were randomly given, very high MAP and PARCC scores, straight As in accelerated MS math class - completely failed the placement exams for math up here. Neither kid had ever taken a cumulative multi-page math test before this one.

After talking to the school up here it doesn't seem to be a problem with their aptitude or capability for advanced math but a problem with their lack of effective math instruction and assessment. No rigor, lacking in computational fluency, choosing complicated circuitous routes to solve problems that take more time and more likely to yield mistakes ...all the hallmarks of MCPS math.

I am so pissed off.

a multi-page paper math test not on the computer like MAP and PARCC. Uh oh....

good thing there was not a handwriting test.... zippo there.

thanks, we struggle with how different it is as well. Knowing that most places do Singapore Math and MCPS serves up some mashed up Pearson's special on chromebooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS but FCPS and we have been visiting privates and based on what I see kids doing in private, FCPS is very behind. In discussing the lack of rigor in Fairfax with a private school admissions officer, I noted that my kids have gotten high marks and are doing fine but that I feel like they can and should be doing more. She noted 2 things that were noteworthy. First, all kids coming from public have "good" grades. And Second, even kids in the Advance Academic Program in Fairfax are behind when they come to the private school. I wonder if the publics all around here are dumbing it down and I wonder why. I grew up in public here and it was a good education. My friend has kids in a county in Florida and I had her send me her kid's work. It is so much more advanced than ours. We do lots of "mom-work" at home and hopefully we will be accepted to a good private. If not, mom-work and tutors are our plan.

Can you tell me what grade are your kids? And how are they behind? Don't they all follow the common core/SOL and move at similar pace? I can see a private school gives more solid understanding of math concepts, but actually move faster than public school? Most private school is aiming Algebra for 8th grade, and advanced kids in MCPS and FCPS is 7th grade for algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS but FCPS and we have been visiting privates and based on what I see kids doing in private, FCPS is very behind. In discussing the lack of rigor in Fairfax with a private school admissions officer, I noted that my kids have gotten high marks and are doing fine but that I feel like they can and should be doing more. She noted 2 things that were noteworthy. First, all kids coming from public have "good" grades. And Second, even kids in the Advance Academic Program in Fairfax are behind when they come to the private school. I wonder if the publics all around here are dumbing it down and I wonder why. I grew up in public here and it was a good education. My friend has kids in a county in Florida and I had her send me her kid's work. It is so much more advanced than ours. We do lots of "mom-work" at home and hopefully we will be accepted to a good private. If not, mom-work and tutors are our plan.

NP. We are in FCPS and my DS hasn't really learned anything at all in math. He's in 2nd. Starting in K, I've had him doing mom-work at home to give him practice being engaged and using his brain -- it's really the only time it happens since school is so dumbed down. I am hoping that AAP will step it up and challenge him. Disappointing to hear that it won't.

[Anonymous]

"Just moved to Mass and while we knew the schools were better up here I had no idea how horrible the math was in MCPS. Both kids easily got into compacted math, ES grades when ES grades were randomly given, very high MAP and PARCC scores, straight As in accelerated MS math class - completely failed the placement exams for math up here. Neither kid had ever taken a cumulative multi-page math test before this one."

My MCPS kids are in college now, in STEM subjects, and doing fine but they still don't actually know their multiplication tables. Believe it or not.

Oh they can figure them out relatively quickly but as far as knowing them without thinking, nope.

This would certainly hurt their ability to pass a pre-algebra math test (think fractions, percentages) even though they had no problem with Calculus.

They also had lots of problems with factoring quadratic equations and doing geometry with only a week or so doing proofs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS but FCPS and we have been visiting privates and based on what I see kids doing in private, FCPS is very behind. In discussing the lack of rigor in Fairfax with a private school admissions officer, I noted that my kids have gotten high marks and are doing fine but that I feel like they can and should be doing more. She noted 2 things that were noteworthy. First, all kids coming from public have "good" grades. And Second, even kids in the Advance Academic Program in Fairfax are behind when they come to the private school. I wonder if the publics all around here are dumbing it down and I wonder why. I grew up in public here and it was a good education. My friend has kids in a county in Florida and I had her send me her kid's work. It is so much more advanced than ours. We do lots of "mom-work" at home and hopefully we will be accepted to a good private. If not, mom-work and tutors are our plan.

Can you tell me what grade are your kids? And how are they behind? Don't they all follow the common core/SOL and move at similar pace? I can see a private school gives more solid understanding of math concepts, but actually move faster than public school? Most private school is aiming Algebra for 8th grade, and advanced kids in MCPS and FCPS is 7th grade for algebra.

First grade. I have fraternal twins and we are seeing how it fails the higher achieving kids (by not offering enough opportunity) and the kids who need a boost (because they don't really give it). I cannot explain it. Part of it has to do with our class size I think. 30 per class. There is also a very low bar. I never understood the rage against SOLs. I thought it has to be good to set a minimum standard that all kids should learn. But now I see that it has become all the teachers try to do. Nothing more for sure. So for first graders at our school (with lots of redshirted kids turning 8 in the next few months) the teachers are going for sufficient grasp of addition up to 18. That is basically 9 plus 9. That is ridiculous. Privates are going for 19 plus 7 or 17 plus 12 or more. Our school has this spiraling back thing so they did addition for about 2 weeks at the beginning of the year. Then they moved on to shapes, and patterns and now they are finally back to addition. Some kids remember but others don't and it is February (I have one of each)! In our School, the teachers seem to view the SOL as the goal to achieve rather than the minimum of what to achieve. So if the kids accomplish what is required by the SOL, they are kind of done and there isn't much room for additional work (even during the "free-time"). For the kids who actually are not meeting the standards, there does not appear to be a plan B. They get the same grades and are just pushed ahead. My kids --who are night and day in terms of ability--get the exact same report cards (including an identical narrative from different teachers) and the same classwork. And for the language arts, the program is very similar to what I have seen in private but it just doesn't work with 30 kids. But language arts isn't just my daily five (or shouldn't be). At our school there is no spelling or word work or phonemic awareness going on though. I see all of that in private.