Why Math is so weak in private schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do see the math hirings in some private schools and the teachers do not even have a math background. Very strange.

Not strange at all.

Not all privates hire accredited teachers. Not required

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do see the math hirings in some private schools and the teachers do not even have a math background. Very strange.

Not strange at all.

Not all privates hire accredited teachers. Not required

Give the tuition I would have expect some quality control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In elementary school if you have advanced math groups in private school then it upsets too many parents when their children aren't chosen for the program. It because a political landmine. So the easiest thing to do is not to accelerate math.

Then new students are admitted in 7th grade and 9th grade primarily. It looks bad when incoming students are placed on a much higher math track because their public schools allowed acceleration. So private schools make it difficult for these entering students to accelerate.

That’s an excellent point and something that has caused infinite drama at our school, along with some dramatic exits of lifers the summer before 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In elementary school if you have advanced math groups in private school then it upsets too many parents when their children aren't chosen for the program. It because a political landmine. So the easiest thing to do is not to accelerate math.

Then new students are admitted in 7th grade and 9th grade primarily. It looks bad when incoming students are placed on a much higher math track because their public schools allowed acceleration. So private schools make it difficult for these entering students to accelerate.

It’s not acceleration. They are normal math tracks for public. Algebra can start in 6-7-8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see that the top students in private schools do have math tutors or go to specialized schools like RSM to enhance their math knowledge.

Why this is the case? With such a high tuition, schools should be providing a very high academic level of math.

Am I missing something related to the subpar quality of math?

Because privates never caught up to publics in this area.

Plus many privates are religious based they don't do a solid science background either.

Here we go again. Religion does not oppose science. Our private school offers AP Physics, AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Environmental Science, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do see the math hirings in some private schools and the teachers do not even have a math background. Very strange.

Not strange at all.

Not all privates hire accredited teachers. Not required

Teacher accreditation does not have positive correlation with teacher quality.

In our DMV public, several of the math teachers do not have any math background. A math background is not actually required for teacher accreditation.

[Anonymous]

Faulty premise. Math is weak in virtually all US schools without regard to status -- public, private, religious, or secular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It’s not acceleration. They are normal math tracks for public. Algebra can start in 6-7-8.

That is acceleration. It is not normal to start algebra in 6 or 7 grade in public. Kids have to be placed there. It’s not something just any student has access to because they want to they have to be on an accelerated track from 3/4 grade to make it possible. The issue is once kids are on this track they will stay on it regardless of if they show mastery of the material or not. It’s why these students think they will walk into Alg 2 at an area private and get shocked when they bomb the placement and have to retake Alg 1. Public schools don’t have superior math teachers. They have messed up policies that forces kids forward without knowing or caring if they are ready for it. The only students I know at public schools who show mastery in math are the magnet students who are all supplemented with outside resources just like you all complain private school students are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It’s not acceleration. They are normal math tracks for public. Algebra can start in 6-7-8.

That is acceleration. It is not normal to start algebra in 6 or 7 grade in public. Kids have to be placed there. It’s not something just any student has access to because they want to they have to be on an accelerated track from 3/4 grade to make it possible. The issue is once kids are on this track they will stay on it regardless of if they show mastery of the material or not. It’s why these students think they will walk into Alg 2 at an area private and get shocked when they bomb the placement and have to retake Alg 1. Public schools don’t have superior math teachers. They have messed up policies that forces kids forward without knowing or caring if they are ready for it. The only students I know at public schools who show mastery in math are the magnet students who are all supplemented with outside resources just like you all complain private school students are.

This happened to my child when transitioning to a private 9-12. She failed the placement test and was put back into Algebra 1. It stung, but in hindsight we are able to acknowledge she didn’t have a strong enough grasp of the subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because acceleration doesn’t work and it doesn’t help students become engineers it actually hurts.

How does it hurt?

DP. If students are fuzzy on concepts they learned years ago it could hurt them.

Many top engineering programs will only let students place out of the first level calculus class so kids will be repeating any material learned beyond that.

I have an engineering degree and I can tell you that's not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This happened to my child when transitioning to a private 9-12. She failed the placement test and was put back into Algebra 1. It stung, but in hindsight we are able to acknowledge she didn’t have a strong enough grasp of the subject.

Im sure daughter is grateful you gave her the opportunity to build a better foundation that will support her throughout HS, college, and her career. I know several parents who backed out of private school when the placement test didn’t go as planned and kept accelerating their kid in public only to be “shocked” by low AP test scores and low SAT scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This happened to my child when transitioning to a private 9-12. She failed the placement test and was put back into Algebra 1. It stung, but in hindsight we are able to acknowledge she didn’t have a strong enough grasp of the subject.

Im sure daughter is grateful you gave her the opportunity to build a better foundation that will support her throughout HS, college, and her career. I know several parents who backed out of private school when the placement test didn’t go as planned and kept accelerating their kid in public only to be “shocked” by low AP test scores and low SAT scores.

I’ll admit it was a shock to us. We talked to the head of the math department, who assured us that a stronger foundation in Algebra would be necessary for all future math study. She also explained that we weren’t the only family to face the decision; because of the acceleration in various schools, many students transfer expecting a higher math than they qualify for.

My daughter is in college now (bio major). She’s doing well. Slowing down her math progression didn’t impact their college acceptances or her university course of study. The math dept chair was correct and I’m glad we listened to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see that the top students in private schools do have math tutors or go to specialized schools like RSM to enhance their math knowledge.

Why this is the case? With such a high tuition, schools should be providing a very high academic level of math.

Am I missing something related to the subpar quality of math?

Varies from school to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In elementary school if you have advanced math groups in private school then it upsets too many parents when their children aren't chosen for the program. It because a political landmine. So the easiest thing to do is not to accelerate math.

Then new students are admitted in 7th grade and 9th grade primarily. It looks bad when incoming students are placed on a much higher math track because their public schools allowed acceleration. So private schools make it difficult for these entering students to accelerate.

There are many of us against acceleration for acceleration’s sake, which is what is occurring in many public districts right now.

Our private gives a placement test at the start of 9th. If the student places into Alg 2 or Trig, that’s where they start. If, however, they demonstrate they need to retake Algebra 1… then they retake Algebra 1. It’s likely the student didn’t retain the skills from middle school Algebra.

The school isn’t making it difficult for the student to accelerate; they are simply making sure the student is appropriately placed.

The private school parents proclaiming to be against acceleration for acceleration’s sake generally have kids who don’t enjoy math and do not have a natural ability in math.

It is ridiculous that the most advanced students are not given the opportunity to have more challenging work. So as a result so many private school parents are paying for classes and programs and materials outside of school.

Do you think in Asia they have this philosophy of not allowing math acceleration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In elementary school if you have advanced math groups in private school then it upsets too many parents when their children aren't chosen for the program. It because a political landmine. So the easiest thing to do is not to accelerate math.

Then new students are admitted in 7th grade and 9th grade primarily. It looks bad when incoming students are placed on a much higher math track because their public schools allowed acceleration. So private schools make it difficult for these entering students to accelerate.

There are many of us against acceleration for acceleration’s sake, which is what is occurring in many public districts right now.

Our private gives a placement test at the start of 9th. If the student places into Alg 2 or Trig, that’s where they start. If, however, they demonstrate they need to retake Algebra 1… then they retake Algebra 1. It’s likely the student didn’t retain the skills from middle school Algebra.

The school isn’t making it difficult for the student to accelerate; they are simply making sure the student is appropriately placed.

The private school parents proclaiming to be against acceleration for acceleration’s sake generally have kids who don’t enjoy math and do not have a natural ability in math.

It is ridiculous that the most advanced students are not given the opportunity to have more challenging work. So as a result so many private school parents are paying for classes and programs and materials outside of school.

Do you think in Asia they have this philosophy of not allowing math acceleration?

Have you read the thread? Posters, including me, have written that their private schools DO offer accelerated math tracks. The difference is that students aren’t pushed into them. You have to test into them when transferring to the school.

So if your child is naturally strong in Math, your child can take advanced math.

This is as it should be. People aren’t against strong students taking accelerated math courses. They are against being the norm for all students.