Reply to Oyster middle school- english option?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]The creation of an advanced math track shouldn't be hard if there are students ready for it as suggested, so why don't they? [/quote]

Tracking has a lot of negative aspects, among them the stigmatization of those that are not placed in the advanced group. Also, some kids may be quick to learn some topics but be slower in others. It would also be a logistical nightmare in a small school like ours.

Differentiation is the answer to your concerns. Each student should be challenged by the material they work on in class. In math, the way to do this is by going deeper into the subject instead of moving faster ahead. Posing more interesting and open ended problems to the student, instead of just applying recipes to compute answers. Let students discover the beauty of mathematical reasoning, be creative, and develop mathematical insight. I have taught college math to STEM majors from high SES families (i.e., similar to our IB students)  and most have difficulty going beyond a plug and play approach. So, rushing to Calculus AP in HS is not necessarily a good thing. It is how they do the journey that matters and I think the common core is a positive move in this direction.

There is still much we can do to promote STEM fields at OA through extracurriculars, additional courses as specials, clubs, competitions, etc. In the math sciences, advanced students could be learning in parallel topics that are independent of the 6-7-8 th grade math sequence that everyone does. For example, computer programming, algorithms, discrete math, game theory, proofs, geometry.  So, instead of demanding tracking, I prefer to focus on how to improve the current system so that it better serves everyone.[/quote]

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