Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the problem: the most important years in a child’s education are k-5. Yet, the lower third of every college graduating class go into teaching (if they go into elementary education at all). See the issue?

This is a long standing problem. In order to attract higher caliber students to education programs, teacher pay needs to be raised which just isn't happening. If you raise pay, then likely more higher achieving kids will want to study education in college.

MCPS teachers who are on a 10-month schedule (don't have to work 2 months/year) start at $54,038 and go up to $118,814 with experience:
https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/salary_schedule_current.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the problem: the most important years in a child’s education are k-5. Yet, the lower third of every college graduating class go into teaching (if they go into elementary education at all). See the issue?

This is a long standing problem. In order to attract higher caliber students to education programs, teacher pay needs to be raised which just isn't happening. If you raise pay, then likely more higher achieving kids will want to study education in college.

MCPS teachers who are on a 10-month schedule (don't have to work 2 months/year) start at $54,038 and go up to $118,814 with experience:
https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/salary_schedule_current.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the problem: the most important years in a child’s education are k-5. Yet, the lower third of every college graduating class go into teaching (if they go into elementary education at all). See the issue?

This is a long standing problem. In order to attract higher caliber students to education programs, teacher pay needs to be raised which just isn't happening. If you raise pay, then likely more higher achieving kids will want to study education in college.

Anonymous wrote:Dump the 50% rule as well as the limit on the number of assignments a teacher can give. Only allowing 8-12 practice (homework) assignments per quarter is destroying competence and academic self-confidence. The current system is a disaster.

Anonymous wrote:Dump the 50% rule as well as the limit on the number of assignments a teacher can give. Only allowing 8-12 practice (homework) assignments per quarter is destroying competence and academic self-confidence. The current system is a disaster.

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the problem: the most important years in a child’s education are k-5. Yet, the lower third of every college graduating class go into teaching (if they go into elementary education at all). See the issue?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's done for equity reasons. Too many kids of certain groups were failing the grade because they weren't passing certain classes. This helps them move forward.

I think it's highly unlikely MCPS will change this, considering the expected results regarding equity.

Your equity argument is getting tired. When all you have is a hammer...

Source?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we need to get rid of the 50% rule and go to a traditional grading system. This means that all work is GRADED (not just checked for completeness). A multitude of grades helps to keep kids average from plummeting from a bad score. If this isn’t enough, I support extra credit opportunities where students can do extra work for extra credit. This provides both extra practice to help struggling students and inspiration for advanced students. Retests should not be given as a matter of course, but I support allowing some extra credit for completing corrections. Final exams should be reinstated. Finals provide an incentive for students to study for mastery and not just to remember something long enough to get through a test. It also allows assessment (at least at one specific moment of time) of how much course content a student is able to use. (As an aside, one of the most effective teaching strategies I personally experienced was in my Algebra class where the teacher gave us a very short daily quiz that could be taken from any material covered in the course. It was like a daily miniature final. I don’t necessarily think it should be instituted in every class, but it vividly illustrated the value of holding students accountable, at some point, for all material covered in a course.)

I think calculators should be forbidden for all math below high school level. Students need to develop not only the skills to solve problems without calculators, but also a sense of what type of answers should be expected. If is too easy to rely on calculators and not register that an error in keying a problem could give you an incorrect answer. All kids should know their basic facts. Any attention that has to be diverted to strategies to determine a basic sum/difference of product/quotient means less to focus on solving a problem which may require concentration to incorporate new concepts or to use advanced reasoning to determine and carry out a correct strategy.

I think kids should have textbooks and that parents should be able to see their tests. Textbooks will help the child learn the material, will let parents help their children as necessary, and will let the parents see if the approach being taught actually makes sense. If the curriculum is flawed, parents will be able to see the weaknesses and try to get things changed instead of waiting years for the possibility of a curriculum audit to reveal that thousands of children were ill served by a bad curriculum.

I think there should be flexible ability grouping (not tracking) in elementary school. Unless you’re going to completely ignore on-level and advanced students, any time spent on their instruction takes away from time and attention that could be focused on helping struggling students. Meanwhile, those on-level and advanced students certainly aren’t reaching their potential. Flexible ability grouping would allow all students to be taught at their approximate level, maximizing the effectiveness of instruction. Here’s an article describing the effective use of flexible ability grouping in MCPS. We allow older students to take basic, honors, AP/IB levels of classes, and to switch back and forth (If a student does well in Algebra, they might try Honors Geometry, or if a student struggles with Honors Geometry, they might want to take the basic level of Algebra 2 the next year, or even drop down to the basic level of Geometry). We allow some leeway for students to start advanced math (beginning with Algebra) based on their readiness. We recognize with older students that at any given time, students will have different levels of interest and ability. We need to acknowledge that pre-algebra, they’re not identical clones that should be treated the same, but individuals who would benefit from having a full class taught at their level to help them progress to the next level.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301167.html?sid=ST2007110301386

You want to assess whether the curriculum is flawed? And your qualifications and experience in this area are....?

Anonymous wrote:It's done for equity reasons. Too many kids of certain groups were failing the grade because they weren't passing certain classes. This helps them move forward.

I think it's highly unlikely MCPS will change this, considering the expected results regarding equity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school parent here. Our school doesn't allow students to advance if they don't master the previous course. Hence, after a year of virtual learning during covid, most students who were doing Algebra I in 7th grade had to repeat it in 8th grade. Luckily we entered the school in HS and my daughter (who was in person entire 20-21 school year) tested into Algebra 2 for 9th grade while most 9th graders are doing geometry. She's doing great, but is only one of two 9th graders in her class. What's great is the class is rigorous and not dumbed down to accommodate other 9th graders who didn't master previous material.

Public schools used to be so good with math, but I fear those days are ending. My older child did MCPS through 8th grade years ago and had an excellent preparation for HS math.

Yawn, you keep posting about your private school the has no relevance to MCPS. Many kids did just fine in Algebra virtually, like mine. Maybe there is an issue with your private school if your child had to repeat a class. Or, why didn't you help them or get a tutor or have them do a summer prep or review class? Algebra 2 is nothing to brag about in 9th. Some of our kids are doing Algebra 2 in 8th.

I didn't say my kid had to repeat. I said the kids who were in this particular school for middle school had to repeat. My daughter was in person in another school for middle school and enrolled in this school for 9th. They did the right thing. Kids who aren't prepared for the material will only hold back those who are.

You are correct--SOME students do Alg. 2 in 8th, but it is very rare...especially now that kids are so far behind in math. I guess you haven't been reading all the stories about the horrendous test scores. Yes, some kids are fine and maybe yours is fine, but the majority ARE NOT FINE. MCPS just pushes kids through regardless of whether or not they have mastered material. We all know this.

You claim MANY kids did just find virtually in Algebra I...what does many mean? It should be most, not many. If not, then the kids who didn't do ok should repeat Alg. I so they don't hold back the kids who are actually well prepared for Alg. II.

Anonymous wrote:It's done for equity reasons. Too many kids of certain groups were failing the grade because they weren't passing certain classes. This helps them move forward.

I think it's highly unlikely MCPS will change this, considering the expected results regarding equity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school parent here. Our school doesn't allow students to advance if they don't master the previous course. Hence, after a year of virtual learning during covid, most students who were doing Algebra I in 7th grade had to repeat it in 8th grade. Luckily we entered the school in HS and my daughter (who was in person entire 20-21 school year) tested into Algebra 2 for 9th grade while most 9th graders are doing geometry. She's doing great, but is only one of two 9th graders in her class. What's great is the class is rigorous and not dumbed down to accommodate other 9th graders who didn't master previous material.

Public schools used to be so good with math, but I fear those days are ending. My older child did MCPS through 8th grade years ago and had an excellent preparation for HS math.

Yawn, you keep posting about your private school the has no relevance to MCPS. Many kids did just fine in Algebra virtually, like mine. Maybe there is an issue with your private school if your child had to repeat a class. Or, why didn't you help them or get a tutor or have them do a summer prep or review class? Algebra 2 is nothing to brag about in 9th. Some of our kids are doing Algebra 2 in 8th.

Anonymous wrote:I think we need to get rid of the 50% rule and go to a traditional grading system. This means that all work is GRADED (not just checked for completeness). A multitude of grades helps to keep kids average from plummeting from a bad score. If this isn’t enough, I support extra credit opportunities where students can do extra work for extra credit. This provides both extra practice to help struggling students and inspiration for advanced students. Retests should not be given as a matter of course, but I support allowing some extra credit for completing corrections. Final exams should be reinstated. Finals provide an incentive for students to study for mastery and not just to remember something long enough to get through a test. It also allows assessment (at least at one specific moment of time) of how much course content a student is able to use. (As an aside, one of the most effective teaching strategies I personally experienced was in my Algebra class where the teacher gave us a very short daily quiz that could be taken from any material covered in the course. It was like a daily miniature final. I don’t necessarily think it should be instituted in every class, but it vividly illustrated the value of holding students accountable, at some point, for all material covered in a course.)

I think calculators should be forbidden for all math below high school level. Students need to develop not only the skills to solve problems without calculators, but also a sense of what type of answers should be expected. If is too easy to rely on calculators and not register that an error in keying a problem could give you an incorrect answer. All kids should know their basic facts. Any attention that has to be diverted to strategies to determine a basic sum/difference of product/quotient means less to focus on solving a problem which may require concentration to incorporate new concepts or to use advanced reasoning to determine and carry out a correct strategy.

I think kids should have textbooks and that parents should be able to see their tests. Textbooks will help the child learn the material, will let parents help their children as necessary, and will let the parents see if the approach being taught actually makes sense. If the curriculum is flawed, parents will be able to see the weaknesses and try to get things changed instead of waiting years for the possibility of a curriculum audit to reveal that thousands of children were ill served by a bad curriculum.

I think there should be flexible ability grouping (not tracking) in elementary school. Unless you’re going to completely ignore on-level and advanced students, any time spent on their instruction takes away from time and attention that could be focused on helping struggling students. Meanwhile, those on-level and advanced students certainly aren’t reaching their potential. Flexible ability grouping would allow all students to be taught at their approximate level, maximizing the effectiveness of instruction. Here’s an article describing the effective use of flexible ability grouping in MCPS. We allow older students to take basic, honors, AP/IB levels of classes, and to switch back and forth (If a student does well in Algebra, they might try Honors Geometry, or if a student struggles with Honors Geometry, they might want to take the basic level of Algebra 2 the next year, or even drop down to the basic level of Geometry). We allow some leeway for students to start advanced math (beginning with Algebra) based on their readiness. We recognize with older students that at any given time, students will have different levels of interest and ability. We need to acknowledge that pre-algebra, they’re not identical clones that should be treated the same, but individuals who would benefit from having a full class taught at their level to help them progress to the next level.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301167.html?sid=ST2007110301386