Anonymous wrote:I know folks talk a lot about no HW in Middle school but the schools are on a block schedule. This gives them 90 minutes per class and time to do assigned "homework" in class. Kids also work on these assignments in TA. So if your kid is doing what they should be doing they should not bring home homework.

This depends heavily on the class/teacher. My kid had a couple of teachers who would use the whole 90 min block, then assign homework. Especially in math. Plus, projects, essays, & studying for tests. He got a lot done at school but definitely had homework in 7th & 8th (6th was virtual).

I know folks talk a lot about no HW in Middle school but the schools are on a block schedule. This gives them 90 minutes per class and time to do assigned "homework" in class. Kids also work on these assignments in TA. So if your kid is doing what they should be doing they should not bring home homework.

Anonymous wrote:Your experience was very different from my sons. He has had weekly delta math assignments, plus a weekly dreambox requirement (which switched to ixl at some point in the spring). He also has two quizzes and then a test for each unit. This is at dhms and at dhms all the math classes have the same homework and tests.

If all of the math classes are the same at dhms, that's news to me. Delta math assignments were easily finished in class, dreambox the same and, as we should all know from covid, there's a million ways to game dreambox. IXL was I guess helpful for the SOL/standardized testing generally? The quizzes and tests are sometimes announced to parents and sometimes happen on the days they were scheduled for, but not always. They haven't yet finished geometry and they barely got to 2/3 of what the SOL tests on. They were on 5th grade math until February. Everything is online, not paper.

I do think that in part the differences of opinion re: the APS middle school experience starts with the difference of experience in elementary schools. Our APS elementary school was heads above our middle school experience so far at dhms as to use of the dang iPads, admin support, counseling services, academics, communications, community building, social/emotional learning... I absolutely don't know how parents and students who need more help survive the APS middle school experience. I guess the luck of the draw as to which school and which teachers inside that school?

That’s really good to know. Jefferson for the sake of “fairness” did not assign any homework for 2 quarters and with no quizzes worksheets or notes it was difficult to understand how my child was progressing. They did add more resources inside the classroom, more teachers, translators and specialists, however this approach I don’t believe helped those that started the year behind. Math requires practice outside the classroom. I feel like my child was lab rat for APS to use this approach in teaching Math.

Your experience was very different from my sons. He has had weekly delta math assignments, plus a weekly dreambox requirement (which switched to ixl at some point in the spring). He also has two quizzes and then a test for each unit. This is at dhms and at dhms all the math classes have the same homework and tests.

They do. As well as each class. Jefferson Middle.

What middle school? I hear they all teach Math6 differently.

Reflecting here on my son’s Math 6 experience this year. First 6 months, no homework. Then 4 months of IXL units that never really aligned with what was being taught. Quarterly grades consisted of 3 summatives (exams). No quizzes. No structure. Hardly any updates to canvas on what was being covered.
We got by fine. But I sympathize with kids that truly would benefit from structure. Whose parents want to help but simply can’t because there is nothing to refer to. Or parents that want their kids to work on a few problems or review what they did at school but can’t.
Seriously, Arlington, what are you doing?? How unfair is this? Kids that were behind in math before the school year are most definitely worse off now.