Reply to State set to keep MS math minutes requirement that will likely cut electives (but delaying it a year)

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "State set to keep MS math minutes requirement that will likely cut electives (but delaying it a year)"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To provide 60 minutes of daily math without cutting electives, Maryland middle schools can utilize scheduling adjustments like modular block scheduling, hybrid A/B schedules, or integrated cross-curricular teaching. These methods carve out the required instruction time without forcing schools to drop exploratory or elective courses.

Modular / Flexible Block Scheduling: Instead of traditional 45-minute periods, schools use block scheduling to create larger instructional blocks (e.g., 90-minute blocks that rotate). This allows math to receive the required 60 minutes while still providing room for electives throughout the week.

A/B or Hybrid Schedules: This alternates class schedules over a two-week period. Schools can schedule math every day for 60 minutes, and rotate electives on an A-day/B-day basis, allowing students to take more electives overall.

Cross-Curricular Integration: Schools embed math standards into elective or encore subjects (such as STEM, tech education, or art). This reinforces mathematical concepts through project-based learning and frees up dedicated periods in the master schedule.

Flexible Intervention Periods: Instead of pulling students out of electives for math remediation, schools build a dedicated "intervention/advisory block" into the daily schedule. Math support and enrichment can happen during this time without encroaching on elective periods.[/quote]

1) There are a ton of things in this post that are not allowable under MSDE requirements.  It does not appear to be written by someone with any familiarity with the policy/requirements.

2) Is this AI slop?  Please don't post AI slop anywhere, but especially when people are having an important conversation.  Use your own brain and your own words.  Also that would hopefully address the issue in #1 where you are posting things that are not allowed under MSDE policy. [/quote]

I looked up the MSDE policy and it does not appear was to prohibit the above. Can you link to the document you are referring to?[/quote]

The MSDE policy ([url=https://marylandpublicschools.org/stateboard/Documents/2025/0325/Pre-K-12-Comprehensive-Mathematics-Policy-A.pdf]here[/url]) requires that "all math courses" must be 60 minutes every day or 300 minutes a week.  So the suggestions that include providing the extra math minutes through other subjects or during intervention/advisory would not work, since the requirement is that the math courses themselves be 300 minutes a week, not that students receive 300 minutes of math instruction each week. The suggestion of using block scheduling with only one period of math (with the idea that on math days kids would get 90 minutes of math which is more than 60) also would not work, because that would not add up to 300 minutes per week.

The only thing in there that would actually conform with the policy is "A/B or Hybrid Schedules: This alternates class schedules over a two-week period. Schools can schedule math every day for 60 minutes, and rotate electives on an A-day/B-day basis, allowing students to take more electives overall."  It is true that this would work-- rather than only having one elective, students could have two half-credit electives (one on A days and one on B days, or one first semester and one second semester.)   If MCPS does end up making the cuts to electives, I hope they do it this way, but it definitely has its own problems as well.[/quote]

Look at the rest of the document/guidance, including the possible implementations offered by MSDE.  I think you are reading it wrong, though they could have used more precise language.

From those docs, when they say "all math courses" they pretty clearly mean 60 minutes/day or 300 minutes/week of math instruction [i]across[/i] all courses [i]taken[/i] by a student (or across all instruction in elementary).  Otherwise, they wouldn't be talking about proximate courses with math components (e.g., science) having their math-oriented minutes counting.

And with so many weeks having fewer than 5 days due to holidays, etc., they aren't meaning that each and every week has to include 300 minutes.  It's got to be an average, though I would think they want it to be such that it is consistent through the year -- not a whole bunch one quarter and less another.  A block schedule would work just fine, and their guidance examples include that.[/quote]

What references to proximate courses like science are you talking about?  I don't see anything about that in the policy.  And I don't see any guidance from MSDE on scheduling the 60 minutes (they have a page [url=https://marylandpublicschools.org/about/pages/dcaa/math/math-policy-guidance.aspx]here[/url] for math policy guidance and there is nothing like that linked there)-- please share links and quotes if there is something on this I've missed.  But everything I have seen points very strongly to requiring math classes being an average of 60 minutes per day.[/quote]

"Points to" isnt definitive. If it doesn't explicitly state that, then schools can find other ways to implement the extra 15 minutes of additional math per day aka use advisory. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics