Reply to 23 Baltimore City Schools Have Zero Students Proficient in Math

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’ll agree that in some cases their illiteracy might be affecting their math scores, but there’s more to math than just doing very simple calculations.

And come on, [b]if a kid doesn’t know what the word “space” means in third grade then there’s a big problem.[/b] What the heck are the teachers doing all day in class that the majority of a third grade class doesn’t know that “space” means area?

And I certainly didn’t have any computers reading questions to me in school tests. It’s wild that you think the problem here is that the computer voice reading the math questions is not quite natural enough for you. Next you’ll be complaining about its accent or lack thereof.[/quote]

I mean, yes, that's exactly what I am saying - kids do not understand these questions. Yes, it is a big problem.

Many of the third graders do not have the language skills to understand that "which equation represents the amount of space that Mr Soto will paint" = what is the area of the rectangle.  That's just one example- I'm not picking on this particular sample problem necessarily, just explaining that the sentence structure and vocabulary is deliberately not straightforward. It's an attempt to be sure that students aren't just mindlesslessy calculating area by rote but are able to actually apply the concept of "area" in a real life problem. I get that attempt and approach but am telling you, it is too hard for many third graders, at least those who start off the school year not even able to read.

The computer voice - what can I tell you?  I watch kids take these tests. They are allowed to replay the read aloud feature as often as they want. In schools where many kids are reading below grade level, they really can't read many of these words by themselves.  "equation" "represents" (even "which" some of them can't sound out.).

I can imagine you saying "Wow -- if kids can't read the word "which" we have a big problem."  Yes. Yes, there is a big problem.

IF kids have a tough time with a math problem, they are supposed to go back and read the question to think about what the question is really asking.  If they can read all but one hard word, then it is no big deal, but if they can read hardly any of the words? They have to go back and start the whole thing again. Skimming on your own takes a couple seconds, but restarting the entire question (the test only lets you play back the whole question, not just one word) takes extra time. Kids get tired. A few kids who are poor readers will plod through and take that extra time but most just aren't that dedicated because the test really has no consequences for them.

I'm just saying that in MD, and in the US in general, I think that our math curriculum, and tests, are [b]unnecessarily verbally based[/b], and I don't think it is leading us to have better math outcomes.

I am trying to find examples of what I am talking about, and I can't find it for third grade at the moment, but here is an interesting comparison of first grade math tests in NY and Finland that kind of gets at what I am talking about:

https://taughtbyfinland.com/first-grade-math-tests-in-american-and-finnish-classrooms/

[/quote]

This was done to help girls...[/quote]

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