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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Did you even read the article? Please stop talking about things you know nothing about. Sure, you can solve a subtraction problem, and you went to school. But that does not mean you understand the pedagogy of mathematics. Teaching kids the "trick" or the algorithm is not the answer. Kids have to have an understanding of the concept. I'm sure you think using flashcards is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, that just won't work with many kids.

The issue with the iReady is that the teacher never knows which problems the kid got wrong. All the report says is that the child is low in "Number Sense" or "Operations." Those are HUGE topics and leave the teacher wasting time trying to really get  at where the breakdown in problem solving lies. This assessment is a waste of time, and schools that are using the computer interventions that can come with it are doing a huge disservice to children. FCPS can do better.
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[b]NP, but as a math person, I strongly disagree with you[/b].  There was nothing at all wrong with the problem as written, and only one equation correctly solved the question as asked.  Two other equations were part of the same fact family and could be utilized to find the correct answer, but only one equation was a direct translation of the problem.  Translating a word problem directly into a math equation is an important skill for kids to have.  I'm sure there were other problems in which kids were asked to select all of the equations in the same fact family.

You keep insisting that iready isn't accurate, but on what basis?  The linked article was just speaking about special ed kids, who really ought to be receiving appropriate accommodations, and kids who gave up and filled in whatever.  That's been happening since the dawn of standardized tests.  Back in the day, I remember at least a few kids filling out the bubble forms for the ITBS tests by making pretty pictures with the bubbles rather than trying to do the test.  What's your angle with this?  Are you the teacher who said that it doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know?  If so, it might be useless, but it's apparently accurate.  Are you a parent?  If you're a parent, are you upset that your kids scores were lower than you expected?

There seems to be a lot of vitriol and histrionics from a few people over what is basically just another standardized test.  I only have two data points, but my anecdata shows that the test is pretty accurate.   [/quote]

Can you clarify what you mean as being a "math person?" What does that mean? What is your profession? 
Thanks.[/quote]

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