Why iReady is dangerous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No, only 1 answers the question how many are dogs.

I agree. It's pretty obvious that the correct result has an = followed by the actual answer to the question. 11-7=4 correctly answers the question. 7+4 = 11 is part of the same fact family, but it answers the question "If you have 7 cats and 4 dogs, how many animals do you have altogether?" 11-4 = 7 answers the question of how many cats there are, if you had been given that there are 11 animals and 4 dogs. It's pretty basic math, and it's not at all dissimilar to the problems my kids received on regular fcps homework and exams in 1st grade.

The teacher is right about this question, it's terrible. There are many ways to think about the word problem and solve the equation. People who don't recognize this were mediocre math students, like I was. In high school a smart friend told me, "the reason math isn't fun for you is that your class only learns how to solve problems one way. But there are actually many ways to solve an equation, and that's what is fun for me."

If you're a self-professed mediocre math student, why are you even weighing in on this? As an excellent math student, I can flat out tell you that you're wrong and have no clue what you're talking about. FWIW, the teacher who wrote the article is almost certainly another mediocre math student. After all, people who are exceptional with math don't enter elementary education fields.

DP. I majored in engineering. Is that good enough?

More relevantly, I look at my DC's math papers and he doesn't use the equal sign to point to the answer, even in 2nd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
DP. I majored in engineering. Is that good enough?

More relevantly, I look at my DC's math papers and he doesn't use the equal sign to point to the answer, even in 2nd grade.

Your kids didn't learn to translate a word problem directly into a math equation? Weird. Mine certainly did, and extensively at that. It's a pretty basic math skill.

[Anonymous]

I hate I-ready, when I do it I get the same lessons every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I hate I-ready, when I do it I get the same lessons every time.

You reopened this thread just for this statement? Can you be more specific? What does "when I do it" even mean? It's a series of tests, a curriculum, teaching materials. What are you even talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many elementary FCPS students will come home with score reports from iReady today (June 15–last day of school). Take a look at this short piece (see link below) from a a highly regarded math coach in FCPS about what this assessment is and why it’s a dangerous path for FCPS. It addresses only the math part of iReady, not the reading part.

FYI—Your kid was pulled out of instruction 3 times this year to sit for this. Even kindergartners had to take this. Many principals and teachers hate iReady because it is a waste of time. It’s important that parents know what their kids are being assessed on and what the point of it all is.

https://mathexchanges.wordpress.com

Excellent article and eye opening. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

The article has been debunked. The assessment information given to teachers is specific, used by many across America, and FCPS is realizing that their students are not performing as well as others in the nation. No amount of teacher complaining will remove this reality.

[Anonymous]

How do we get the results of this assessment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do we get the results of this assessment?

Goes to the teachers unless your school authorizes releasing to parents. The part of the assessment parents got from FCPS was very small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the author have a hard time with the dog and cat questions? The two numbers given are 7 and 11 and the picture only shows cats and dogs, so obviously it is a subtraction problem of 11-7=4. I remember getting questions like this growing up.

No, that's a terrible question. Any of the equations are the right answer, the way that math is taught now.

No, only 1 answers the question how many are dogs.

I think it is a terrible question because it is much more important for a child to understand that three of the answers are mathematically equivalent than it is for a child to be able to translate "animals minus cats = dogs" into numbers.

So from this one question you conclude that they aren't also being taught the mathematically equivalency of the other answers? They are. But that wasn't what this particular question was about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do we get the results of this assessment?

Goes to the teachers unless your school authorizes releasing to parents. The part of the assessment parents got from FCPS was very small.

I asked for the full report from DS's teacher at the end of the year, and she was happy to give it to me. Wish I'd asked for earlier full test results, because there was some useful information that helped nail down what I should be working on with him at home.

[Anonymous]

So would you agree then that it is helpful to teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So would you agree then that it is helpful to teachers?

I teach HS and yes it is useful. It helped screen my 9th graders and tell me where they are in terms of comprehension, decoding, and vocabulary, which allows me to differentiate, target my instruction, and refer students who scored WAY below grade level for additional screening with our reading specialist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So would you agree then that it is helpful to teachers?

I teach HS and yes it is useful. It helped screen my 9th graders and tell me where they are in terms of comprehension, decoding, and vocabulary, which allows me to differentiate, target my instruction, and refer students who scored WAY below grade level for additional screening with our reading specialist.

Wait, what? You're using iReady in high school? I teach at a middle school and was under the impression this was a 1st thru 6th grade tool only. We don't use it here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So would you agree then that it is helpful to teachers?

I teach HS and yes it is useful. It helped screen my 9th graders and tell me where they are in terms of comprehension, decoding, and vocabulary, which allows me to differentiate, target my instruction, and refer students who scored WAY below grade level for additional screening with our reading specialist.

Wait, what? You're using iReady in high school? I teach at a middle school and was under the impression this was a 1st thru 6th grade tool only. We don't use it here.

Only in 9th

[Anonymous]

whats the EXACT reason of why iready is dangerous?

i dont need a a story just to find out