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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The overall pass rate on the math test for Baltimore City Schools in 7%.

So the fact that there are 23 schools with 0 students who passed is hardly surprising, right? I mean, especially in schools where students already were behind before.

The question I ask is this: is the math curriculum BCPS is using an appropriate one for providing rapid remediation in math?  I am a teacher and I know how to teach elementary math, but the curriculum my school district provides is meant for students who are working on grade level. If students lack foundational math skills we are supposed to provide small group remediation and to tailor the lessons so they can be successful despite not knowing basic math. But those types of adaptations don't actually improve their skills.  They just allow us to pass the student on to the next grade level.[/quote]
This is disheartening. I would have thought that small group remediation would have attempted to backfill gaps in prior math knowledge. Are the gaps too big/time too short that they don't/can't try to do that? How can kids be successful on a lesson if they don't know the underlying math; what kinds of adaptations are being taught to get around that?[/quote]

There's just no way to magically create extra teaching time, so you can "cover" the grade level standards as well as provide the actual instruction and practice the kids need on lower skills.

Especially if you just have, say, 4 students in grade 5 who still need to work on learning their multiplication facts. They don't just need a little "mini-lesson" here and there. They most likely need direct instruction with lots of repetition and opportunities for feedback. That won't be a quick thing you can squeeze in, here and there, in a small group lesson.  And if they lack that one foundational skill chances are really good that they also lack other foundational skills, like the ability to understand equivalent fractions and factoring.  If you don't just "know" that 6x3=18 you likely won't recognize that 3/18 = 1/6 so everything will be much slower for them.

And then they just give up.

[/quote]
It sounds like they need to be in a separate class full-time where curriculum matches their readiness. Assuming there is the will, how would you do this? Can year-long math classes be offered by topic rather than grade; you'd have a wide range of ages but the instruction would be matched to their needs.[/quote]

DP, I completely agree. But currently it seems really out of vogue to separate classes by ability level.[/quote]

This is the problem in math and reading in this progressive state. Force everyone in the same class for the sake of equity but then kids not actually get what they need. [/quote]

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