PSA MCPS math warning

[Anonymous]

correct, they got so many complaints and the P system was so uninformative they have brought back letter graders after a 5 year haitus. a step in the right direction for feedback.

[Anonymous]

I thought MCPS was doing pretty good in math. My 7-year-old is doing multiplication and division up to 12 and factoring fractions. Last year they covered 3 digit addition and subtraction with refactoring. Their MAP-P score was in the high 220s. It's a national test and I think that's in the 99.9%% for their age, but we're in the DCC which has small classes (<20).

Nope - my youngest scored significantly higher than that when he was 7 and always scored very highly on MAP M in subsequent years. He's always been very intuitive about math but what we found out when we moved was that MCPS had not given him any exposure to precision or speed. These skills are required for higher level math later on and schools other than MCPS start building them early so they come naturally.

I hate that he we went from being in the top group within the compacted math class at his school where all the kids score ridiculously high on MAP-M and PARCC to being one of the kids getting a B- on math tests for things he already learned. He's adjusting now and rather than just finishing a test early is actually going back and checking his work. He realizes now that getting the right answer actually does matter in addition to your critical thinking. It did hit his self esteem to see his grades drop at a time when he trying to adjust to being the new kid. Its better in the long run that we got of out of MCPS before he went into higher level math where it would be a practical problem.

There is absolutely no reason why MCPS couldn't have taught critical thinking and the practical ability to complete academic work with fluency, accuracy and precision. One does not negate the other. MCPS is VERY vested in pretending its a good system when it really sucks. I fell for it. I hope others don't.

[Anonymous]

correct, they got so many complaints and the P system was so uninformative they have brought back letter graders after a 5 year haitus. a step in the right direction for feedback.

MCPS can still inflate grades with letters. Middle school and high school receive letter grades and the same lack of actual grading and inflating grades is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I thought MCPS was doing pretty good in math. My 7-year-old is doing multiplication and division up to 12 and factoring fractions. Last year they covered 3 digit addition and subtraction with refactoring. Their MAP-P score was in the high 220s. It's a national test and I think that's in the 99.9%% for their age, but we're in the DCC which has small classes (<20).

Nope - my youngest scored significantly higher than that when he was 7 and always scored very highly on MAP M in subsequent years. He's always been very intuitive about math but what we found out when we moved was that MCPS had not given him any exposure to precision or speed. These skills are required for higher level math later on and schools other than MCPS start building them early so they come naturally.

I hate that he we went from being in the top group within the compacted math class at his school where all the kids score ridiculously high on MAP-M and PARCC to being one of the kids getting a B- on math tests for things he already learned. He's adjusting now and rather than just finishing a test early is actually going back and checking his work. He realizes now that getting the right answer actually does matter in addition to your critical thinking. It did hit his self esteem to see his grades drop at a time when he trying to adjust to being the new kid. Its better in the long run that we got of out of MCPS before he went into higher level math where it would be a practical problem.

There is absolutely no reason why MCPS couldn't have taught critical thinking and the practical ability to complete academic work with fluency, accuracy and precision. One does not negate the other. MCPS is VERY vested in pretending its a good system when it really sucks. I fell for it. I hope others don't.

bellyache much

[Anonymous]

Perhaps they can go back to textbooks. The Teacher's Edition is idiot proof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I thought MCPS was doing pretty good in math. My 7-year-old is doing multiplication and division up to 12 and factoring fractions. Last year they covered 3 digit addition and subtraction with refactoring. Their MAP-P score was in the high 220s. It's a national test and I think that's in the 99.9%% for their age, but we're in the DCC which has small classes (<20).

Nope - my youngest scored significantly higher than that when he was 7 and always scored very highly on MAP M in subsequent years. He's always been very intuitive about math but what we found out when we moved was that MCPS had not given him any exposure to precision or speed. These skills are required for higher level math later on and schools other than MCPS start building them early so they come naturally.

I hate that he we went from being in the top group within the compacted math class at his school where all the kids score ridiculously high on MAP-M and PARCC to being one of the kids getting a B- on math tests for things he already learned. He's adjusting now and rather than just finishing a test early is actually going back and checking his work. He realizes now that getting the right answer actually does matter in addition to your critical thinking. It did hit his self esteem to see his grades drop at a time when he trying to adjust to being the new kid. Its better in the long run that we got of out of MCPS before he went into higher level math where it would be a practical problem.

There is absolutely no reason why MCPS couldn't have taught critical thinking and the practical ability to complete academic work with fluency, accuracy and precision. One does not negate the other. MCPS is VERY vested in pretending its a good system when it really sucks. I fell for it. I hope others don't.

NP here. My son's compacted math teacher grades his work for accuracy and notes his mistakes with a red ink the old fashion way. My son got D's on two tests because of his mistakes. He quickly learned to check his work and go back and fix his mistakes. He also was required to memorize multiplication facts up to 20, which my son complained about, but now understands the benefits in being able to compute quickly in his head and is not dependent on a calculator. Clearly, everyone in MCPS does not have the same experience. Side note: my son's 3rd and 4th grade teachers taught grammar and spelling. I did have to teach him cursive the summer of his 4th grade year.