Superintendent Taylor admits there is grade inflation in MCPS during BoE meeting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it should be called grade inflation. The issue is the curriculum, lack of classwork, and homework. They need to bring back old-style math with textbooks, classwork, and homework. Teachers need to teach a lesson, assign work, go over the work and test. We've only had one teacher in pre cal teach that way and it was wonderful.

They do this at my kids MCPS schools so not sure where you're living.

Correct. The math in ES comes with a homework and helper workbook. Not to mention the entire curriculum is online.

Upper math (Alg2, Pre-Cal, Calculus) is where they need to ensure proper access to curriculum materials and one that is aligned to build all the necessary knowledge needed to take the next class.

[Anonymous]

Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it should be called grade inflation. The issue is the curriculum, lack of classwork, and homework. They need to bring back old-style math with textbooks, classwork, and homework. Teachers need to teach a lesson, assign work, go over the work and test. We've only had one teacher in pre cal teach that way and it was wonderful.

They do this at my kids MCPS schools so not sure where you're living.

Correct. The math in ES comes with a homework and helper workbook. Not to mention the entire curriculum is online.

Upper math (Alg2, Pre-Cal, Calculus) is where they need to ensure proper access to curriculum materials and one that is aligned to build all the necessary knowledge needed to take the next class.

Agree, that is where MCPS does its own thing and doesn't follow an external curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it should be called grade inflation. The issue is the curriculum, lack of classwork, and homework. They need to bring back old-style math with textbooks, classwork, and homework. Teachers need to teach a lesson, assign work, go over the work and test. We've only had one teacher in pre cal teach that way and it was wonderful.

They do this at my kids MCPS schools so not sure where you're living.

Correct. The math in ES comes with a homework and helper workbook. Not to mention the entire curriculum is online.

Upper math (Alg2, Pre-Cal, Calculus) is where they need to ensure proper access to curriculum materials and one that is aligned to build all the necessary knowledge needed to take the next class.

Agree, that is where MCPS does its own thing and doesn't follow an external curriculum.

Upper math is the worst however some on it is in the teachers. Our precal teacher used a textbook and was great. Our calc teacher has a textbook and will not use it and instead bought a curriculum off the internet. No notes, no sample problems, just some homework problems. It’s very difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

We have never seen a new topic every day. Nor do we have the 59% rule. Are you a private parent? We have math homework too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve taught on level math in MCPS MS and HS for 19 years. A math coach is not the answer. The problem I see is students in secondary schools who don’t know basic math skills. What’s 7x3? Shoulder shrug. Show me where (3 , -2) is - shoulder shrug. Part of that problem is that they stare at their phone for much of class, and in HS, many students don’t see the importance in consistent attendance. Another new issue is the updated criteria to qualify for certificate track. I teach 2 students with IQs lower than 60. They are struggling tremendously (that’s a separate thread), but their scores and data are included in these reports.

If the answer is scrutinizing grade books, and sending in “math coaches” to help teachers with authentic grade books, grade inflation will continue. The root cause of poor math skills is way deeper than supporting teachers.

They teach strategies not math facts. We had to teach math facts at home. In hs they rely on calculators.

[Anonymous]

Great they admit to inflation. Now admit that teachers are forced and coerced to do it. Then admit that we are retaliated against if we don't do it or have moral aversion to doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

No, it's slow paced and without depth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. Math education in MCPS is a hot mess. There are kids who do well despite MCPS. But they are generally from higher income families and have the luxury of math tutors, or parents helping them at home or they are just very bright and pick up math easily. But in general, students are not picking up basic math skills. And worse, they do not understand how to manipulate numbers at the most basic level possible. High school kids have no idea how to multiply or divide without a calculator. They can’t catch any mistakes because they blindly follow problem solving steps with no understanding of what they are doing. Central Office administrators responsible for math should be given a year to come up with a strong plan to completely overhaul math instruction and if they can’t get their act together, they should be fired

There is no overhauling math in a year for a public school district with 160k students. Especially without a huge influx of resources. Especially since the first overhaul would have to start with Teachers, many of whom don’t understand math. Just because you learned something doesn’t mean you have a firm enough grasp and mastery of the subject material to be great at teaching it to others. It’s the same reason why parents are struggling to help their kid with the homework. Folks keep saying, “we didn’t learn it this way.” True, but the reality is that if you understood the math it shouldn’t take you a long time to understand a different math strategy. Second, you would need more people available in schools and outside of school to provide intervention support for students and coaching/PD for staff. There are only 12 math coaches(8 at the ES level and 4 at the MS level). There’s 134 ES.

MCPS has overhauled math education TWICE since my kids started K. Curriculum 2.0 / Common Core, and then the switch to Eureka / Illustrated. (Eureka /Illustrated might even count as two more, since they switched from one to another for some grades.)

Common Core is not a curriculm. It is the federal guidelines as to what should happen in each grade so its consistent around the country.

Good start. Now try to keep thinking and see where it takes you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What even is the point of inflating grades if there is standardized testing? The disparity comes out eventually.

Is it just about buying time?

Because then MCPS spends all of its time discrediting testing and insisting that MCAP is flawed and shouldn't be believed OR that "some kids just don't test well" when AP/IB scores don't match classroom grades.

MCPS doesn't want to be accountable, which is why the system fights back against any kind of external standardized testing.

One reason I am grateful for MCAP and MAP testing. I feel I get a much better sense of how my kid is ACTUALLY doing I’m so sick of the grade inflation!

+1 Though I think MAP is better for assessment because it's not created by MD, and it's a national exam, whereas MCAP is purely a MD thing.

I no longer see MD as a state that is great for education. Curriculum 2.0 opened my eyes to that. We moved here just as 2.0 was being implemented, and picked MoCo for the schools. As a PP noted, there are a lot of highly educated people around here; that's why the kids score so high. It's not because of the schools but in spite of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

We have never seen a new topic every day. Nor do we have the 59% rule. Are you a private parent? We have math homework too.

How have you not seen the 50% rule? And several high schools assign minimum to no HW. Teachers are discouraged from giving HW except in AP classes. MCPS calls it an equity issue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

I know, and it's unbelievable and terrible they expect us parents to be involved and help our children learn!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

We have never seen a new topic every day. Nor do we have the 59% rule. Are you a private parent? We have math homework too.

How have you not seen the 50% rule? And several high schools assign minimum to no HW. Teachers are discouraged from giving HW except in AP classes. MCPS calls it an equity issue

My HS student at Blair has 2-4 hours of work a night. Magnet classes aren't crazy or anything. In fact, I think honors spanish 4 is their hardest class. I have seen 0's when they missed something or were absent but think the 50% was ended after the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

We have never seen a new topic every day. Nor do we have the 59% rule. Are you a private parent? We have math homework too.

How have you not seen the 50% rule? And several high schools assign minimum to no HW. Teachers are discouraged from giving HW except in AP classes. MCPS calls it an equity issue

My HS student at Blair has 2-4 hours of work a night. Magnet classes aren't crazy or anything. In fact, I think honors spanish 4 is their hardest class. I have seen 0's when they missed something or were absent but think the 50% was ended after the pandemic.

This elimination of the 50% rule is happening at many MS and HS. However, there are some teachers/administrators have not fully gone away from it. And that’s part of the problem. MCPS lets schools do too much of their own thing. Peter Moran and others have said that what is needed is more standardization across schools and I happen to agree. There should be some really clear expectations and policies outlined for Principals/APs and Teachers and then should be judged on their ability to follow and how they help their students achieve within those guidelines and frameworks. Notice I didn’t say anything about all students getting A’s. Because if I see a classroom full of students getting B’s but also can see they are all making great strides in growth and learning that is going to be fine.

Dr. Pugh highlighted a great point at the last presentation with the BOE and that was there are a number of students who are in the cusp of being proficient. As in 1-3 more correct questions on the exams. So a key priority for the district this year should be 1) Keep proficient students proficient and moving them closer to Distinguished Proficiency. 2) Supporting students in the cusp of proficiency to ensure they are proficient by Spring exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math teachers at my high school tell me that the math curriculum for each grade is designed to be fast paced and without depth. Teachers are supposed to move to a new topic practically every day. If a student misses a week of school which is not uncommon, the student misses several concepts which they will not see again for a long time. There is not much practice time built into the curriculum. Couple this with the 50% rule and you have students being pushed up to the next level of math who have learned next to nothing the year before. I don’t teach math so high school math teachers - please correct me if I’m wrong

We have never seen a new topic every day. Nor do we have the 59% rule. Are you a private parent? We have math homework too.

How have you not seen the 50% rule? And several high schools assign minimum to no HW. Teachers are discouraged from giving HW except in AP classes. MCPS calls it an equity issue

My HS student at Blair has 2-4 hours of work a night. Magnet classes aren't crazy or anything. In fact, I think honors spanish 4 is their hardest class. I have seen 0's when they missed something or were absent but think the 50% was ended after the pandemic.

2-4hrs/night, on top of extended day, and clubs/sports/music is a crazy amount of homework.
Great for kids who want it and get handle it, though.