Reply to Superintendent Taylor admits there is grade inflation in MCPS during BoE meeting

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Teacher here. Math education in MCPS is a hot mess. There are kids who do well despite MCPS. But they are generally from higher income families and have the luxury of math tutors, or parents helping them at home or they are just very bright and pick up math easily. But in general, students are not picking up basic math skills. And worse, they do not understand how to manipulate numbers at the most basic level possible. High school kids have no idea how to multiply or divide without a calculator. They can’t catch any mistakes because they blindly follow problem solving steps with no understanding of what they are doing. Central Office administrators responsible for math should be given a year to come up with a strong plan to completely overhaul math instruction and if they can’t get their act together, they should be fired [/quote]

The Great Courses
Khan Academy
Textbooks.

Anyone can teach their kids Maths at home if they are literate.  [/quote]

I think a big part of the problem is we keep looking to the “experts” in Central Office to fix the problems they made, and their idea of fixing it is to double down.  Let’s find a commercial curriculum with good results elsewhere, and go with it.  I’d rather have a curriculum (any curriculum) produced by subject matter experts, that has a proven track record, than anything our Central Office staff can throw together.  A commercial curriculum would provide students a reference to use at home.  Moreover, it would allow parents to evaluate the curriculum for themselves.  If it turns out to be a flawed curriculum, the weaknesses would be more readily exposed, rather than being hidden with parents only seeing inflated grades and receiving assurances that “MCPS is one of the best school systems in the country.”

I also agree 100% with the PP teacher about calculator dependence.  Calculators usage should be saved for advanced math, well after students have mastered basic arithmetic.  I was appalled when my children’s elementary started pushing calculator usage in 3rd grade, and instituted the rule that while they should use calculators as directed in the classroom, they were not allowed to use them for homework without asking for specific permission. I think I allowed them to start using their own discretion somewhere around Algebra 2 or Trig.[/quote]

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