Reply to 92% in 4 to 5 in Algebra 1 - teacher attributes success to "old-fashioned" algebra

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Go read the thread on tutors. So many families supplement because 2.0 super sucks. [/quote]

Search on DCUM for threads about math tutors before 2.0. There were plenty.[/quote]

My kids were in MCPS elementary math before 2.0.  I would not call it traditional math by any means.  For one thing calculator usage was emphasized.  For another, they were expected to explain their work in prose.  While I agree it is important to make sure that kids understand where an answer comes from, mathematics has its own language that they need to learn.  The single math test I saw in elementary had a problem where the student could use a calculator to get the wrong answer but still get partial credit for explaining how they got their answer, "I used a calculator."

The curriculum seemed to be developed by curriculum specialists using their ideas of how to educate rather than by mathematicians who were thinking of how to develop a solid mathematical foundation.  It leap-frogged from one topic to another not allowing students to make connections (place value to geometry to statistics).  The focus seemed to be on having students discover mathematic principles for themselves rather than through instruction by the teacher. It used a spiral approach covering the subject slughtly deeper each year (one year students covered value to 100, the next year to 1000, the next year to 10,000, etc.)  I think this philosophy was intended to deepen understanding and if a child didn't understand something one year, they would be exposed to it again later.

My recollection is that MCPS was no timelier in getting revisions to teachers back then than they are now.

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