Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 20:45     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:I see that the top students in private schools do have math tutors or go to specialized schools like RSM to enhance their math knowledge.

Why this is the case? With such a high tuition, schools should be providing a very high academic level of math.

Am I missing something related to the subpar quality of math?


Because privates never caught up to publics in this area.

Plus many privates are religious based they don't do a solid science background either.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 20:43     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
I do see the math hirings in some private schools and the teachers do not even have a math background. Very strange.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 20:17     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:I only know GDS. It's true that they are very opposed to acceleration. But we are very happy with the HS math curriculum. My child is in the honors track (highest of 3 levels) and is learning proofs and theory.


GDS HS doesn't seem opposed to acceleration--they have Calc BC (UL Calc), Multi, Diff EQ and Linear Alg. I don't think there are enough students who could go beyond that to justify another class (to be clear I know of at least one and believe he takes CC dual-enrollment). They also have math support available all day, every day for anyone that needs help. People generally use tutors to be able to stay in the higher levels of math, not because they are falling behind the normal track.

Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 20:16     Subject: Re:Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Because acceleration doesn’t work and it doesn’t help students become engineers it actually hurts.


How does it hurt?


DP. If students are fuzzy on concepts they learned years ago it could hurt them.

Many top engineering programs will only let students place out of the first level calculus class so kids will be repeating any material learned beyond that.
Even MIT lets kids skip multi, diffeq, linear algebra.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 20:15     Subject: Re:Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A lot of the math programs mentioned in this thread are not standalone curricula. Some private schools are weaker in math than others but you can’t tell which is which by looking at the course titles. You’d have to see the objectives covered in the course to compare.

I have a current student at an area private school who is in advanced math at the correct grade level and this school covers more objectives than public schools do in the area. I can tell just by looking at my kid’s homework occasionally and asking him what he is doing in math regularly. I was a certified math teacher so I am familiar with the scope and sequence.


Which curricula are you talking about? I don’t see people here mentioning anything specific, just generic Calc AB or outside programs like AoPs.
AoPS is a curriculum
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 19:48     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why do school just hire the best math teachers? I don’t see them doing that.


There are few people willing to teach. It’s a demanding job that eats into your nights and weekends. It’s exhausting and demoralizing. And, to add to the challenge, teachers are often disrespected by the very people they are trying to help.

And it doesn’t pay well.


Got it. But still private schools in theory could pay more.


They don’t need to. Most private schools pay much less than public schools. It’s well known that teachers choose to take lower pay at privates in order to teach a better population of students and enjoy smaller class sizes, even with additional duties expected of them, including study halls, sponsoring activities, driving busses.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 19:22     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In DC. It's a myth that privates are weak in math, Andover has THE math program. My kids were both in magnet programs and we tutored the heck out of them. One is in med school now and the other one at MIT. Everyone tutors. I was tutored in private school when I was a kid and I'm old.


Everyone tutors with tutors? Or classes like Russian Math, Kumon, and AoPS, or something else?


PP here. We had individual, private tutors, not programs.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 19:19     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why do school just hire the best math teachers? I don’t see them doing that.


There are few people willing to teach. It’s a demanding job that eats into your nights and weekends. It’s exhausting and demoralizing. And, to add to the challenge, teachers are often disrespected by the very people they are trying to help.

And it doesn’t pay well.


Got it. But still private schools in theory could pay more.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 19:14     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:Why do school just hire the best math teachers? I don’t see them doing that.


There are few people willing to teach. It’s a demanding job that eats into your nights and weekends. It’s exhausting and demoralizing. And, to add to the challenge, teachers are often disrespected by the very people they are trying to help.

And it doesn’t pay well.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 19:12     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:In elementary school if you have advanced math groups in private school then it upsets too many parents when their children aren't chosen for the program. It because a political landmine. So the easiest thing to do is not to accelerate math.

Then new students are admitted in 7th grade and 9th grade primarily. It looks bad when incoming students are placed on a much higher math track because their public schools allowed acceleration. So private schools make it difficult for these entering students to accelerate.


There are many of us against acceleration for acceleration’s sake, which is what is occurring in many public districts right now.

Our private gives a placement test at the start of 9th. If the student places into Alg 2 or Trig, that’s where they start. If, however, they demonstrate they need to retake Algebra 1… then they retake Algebra 1. It’s likely the student didn’t retain the skills from middle school Algebra.

The school isn’t making it difficult for the student to accelerate; they are simply making sure the student is appropriately placed.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 19:10     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Why do school just hire the best math teachers? I don’t see them doing that.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 18:56     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
In elementary school if you have advanced math groups in private school then it upsets too many parents when their children aren't chosen for the program. It because a political landmine. So the easiest thing to do is not to accelerate math.

Then new students are admitted in 7th grade and 9th grade primarily. It looks bad when incoming students are placed on a much higher math track because their public schools allowed acceleration. So private schools make it difficult for these entering students to accelerate.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 18:39     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sidwell advanced math is very strong..every year has admits to places like Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford for math

That's BS. Sidwell hardly sends kids to MIT or Carnegie Mellon. Maybe once every five years.


Sidwell can pull its weight for math. There are two to MIT this year. There has been one to MIT in the last few years. The one who went to Carnegie Mellon last year is in accelerated Math with sophomores. The one who went to Harvard last year is in Math 55. Also got into Cambridge for math. One of the kids who is going to Harvard this year may take Math 55. Math 55 is the hardest undergraduate math class in the country. Sidwell always has a few very strong math students who may not even major in math.

This is largely due to the parents. Not the school especially, considering this school failed to investigate serious allegations of misconduct involving one of their employees I'm the 90's because he was a powerful head of school in Seattle with connections to a billionaire/Epstein associate


You’re talking about something that happened 30 years ago as a reason why Sidwell current doesn’t have strong math students? What?


I’m not the person you’re responding to, but I think this comment alludes to the fact that you don’t necessarily need accelerated math when you’re playing another game entirely.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 18:38     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sidwell advanced math is very strong..every year has admits to places like Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford for math

That's BS. Sidwell hardly sends kids to MIT or Carnegie Mellon. Maybe once every five years.


Sidwell can pull its weight for math. There are two to MIT this year. There has been one to MIT in the last few years. The one who went to Carnegie Mellon last year is in accelerated Math with sophomores. The one who went to Harvard last year is in Math 55. Also got into Cambridge for math. One of the kids who is going to Harvard this year may take Math 55. Math 55 is the hardest undergraduate math class in the country. Sidwell always has a few very strong math students who may not even major in math.

This is largely due to the parents. Not the school especially, considering this school failed to investigate serious allegations of misconduct involving one of their employees I'm the 90's because he was a powerful head of school in Seattle with connections to a billionaire/Epstein associate


NP and someone needs to start a Bernie/Ballmer thread so I can throw out some anecdotes that won’t get buried on this thread. SO sketchy.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 18:01     Subject: Why Math is so weak in private schools?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sidwell advanced math is very strong..every year has admits to places like Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford for math

That's BS. Sidwell hardly sends kids to MIT or Carnegie Mellon. Maybe once every five years.


Sidwell can pull its weight for math. There are two to MIT this year. There has been one to MIT in the last few years. The one who went to Carnegie Mellon last year is in accelerated Math with sophomores. The one who went to Harvard last year is in Math 55. Also got into Cambridge for math. One of the kids who is going to Harvard this year may take Math 55. Math 55 is the hardest undergraduate math class in the country. Sidwell always has a few very strong math students who may not even major in math.

This is largely due to the parents. Not the school especially, considering this school failed to investigate serious allegations of misconduct involving one of their employees I'm the 90's because he was a powerful head of school in Seattle with connections to a billionaire/Epstein associate


You’re talking about something that happened 30 years ago as a reason why Sidwell current doesn’t have strong math students? What?