The state’s new math program: “Kids are failing left and right”
The AJC has a long story today about the slippage in math grades in the state, which the state Department of Education attributes to the higher standards. Some posters here attribute it to the state adopting an unproven and unworkable math curriculum.
Many of the critics here on the blog have researched this issue and raised compelling arguments about whether Georgia adopted successful math program ingredients from other states or threw a lot of ideas in a pot and produced a foul stew all of its own.
But the state appears determined to stay with the program. The most valid concern to me is whether there was adequate training of teachers before the state rolled out the new math, which introduces tougher concepts earlier and integrates math instruction across disciplines.
The real question is whether the new state school superintendent will agree. With the resignation of Kathy Cox, I have no idea who will be our next school superintendent. I do think how Georgia teaches math will be one of the big issues during the upcoming campaign in which many newcomers will have to introduce themselves quickly to the voters.
According to the the story: (This is only an excerpt. Check out the whole story.)
“In my classes, I have 60 kids and only 17 are passing. You know how stressful that is on me?” said Donna Aker, a veteran math teacher at South Gwinnett High School.It’s a problem common to many metro Atlanta schools. Nearly one in five ninth-graders in metro Atlanta last year got an F in Math I — the first year of the state’s new math curriculum in high school.
The math failure rate was more than double that experienced by the same group of kids in the eighth grade the year before.
The tougher curriculum is already forcing some of the area’s better students to reconsider signing on for another year of bench-pressing binomials. Some switched to general math their sophomore year, afraid of getting another low grade.
Jessica O’Brien was a straight A student with hopes of going to Harvard University.
Those hopes grew a little dimmer after she got a D in math as a ninth-grader. She opted out of the accelerated program.
“I’m worried I’m going to almost fail again,” said Jessica, now a sophomore and cheerleader at Campbell High in Smyrna. “I’m so used to being good at math.”
Jessica’s mother, Susan O’Brien, backed her all the way.
“Kids are failing left and right, I’m talking your high achievers who never fail,” said O’Brien, who is concerned about Jessica’s shot at Harvard. “My daughter loved math and had been on the math team but only got out with a D in Accelerated Math II. My biggest fear is that it is going to hurt her when she applies for college.”
Starting with the Class of 2012, every Georgia student must pass four years of math to receive a college prep diploma even if he or she plans to attend a technical school or enter the work force after graduation. Special needs students can appeal to opt out after completing Math III if they stay concurrently enrolled in math support classes and a review of their education plan makes it clear that the course would be the highest level they could achieve.
Aker says the program is so accelerated that upperclassmen who used to help her tutor can’t do the math the freshmen do.
“The algebra in Math I is as advanced as what I was teaching to students in Algebra II junior year,” she said. “Some of my juniors in the National Honor Society and Beta Club haven’t even learned it yet.”
When the state initiated this new era of souped-up instruction in math, pushing students to grasp complex concepts in algebra, geometry and statistics sooner than ever before, the goal was to produce a new generation of college-ready teens to compete globally.
By prolonging the exposure of all students to complex math, the state expected to help increase Georgia’s average SAT score, which ranks near the bottom among states.
“On the SAT, when we looked at all of the kids who have taken math at different levels, we found that even our high achievers are still performing below the rest of the country,” said Matt Cardoza, a spokesman for the state Department of Education. “Our kids are just as smart as any other kids. They need to be able to compete with students around the world for jobs and college.”
The math overhaul was pushed by state Superintendent Kathy Cox. Now that Cox has announced she will not seek a third term, some parents and teachers wonder whether the program will continue at the same accelerated pace, be diluted or scrapped altogether by her successor.
For students, the program got off to a rough start.
In 2009, nearly 20,100 failing grades were handed out to high school freshmen in Georgia — about 17 percent of all grades given in the new Math I course. That’s more than double the percentage of failing grades given in the eighth-grade preparatory class the previous year, according to state statistics obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In metro Atlanta, nearly 19 percent of Math I grades were F’s.
It’s also tough on teachers, including some who say they were not properly trained to teach the new content.
“You have to cover everything. It’s a lesson a day,” said Aker, who is co-president of the Gwinnett County Association of Educators. “There is no time to get them to master each section.”
Janet Davis, the state’s math program manager, believes that “as students, teachers and parents become more comfortable with this curriculum we will see the scores increase.”
At Duluth High, the 2009 math grades concerned principal Jason Lane so much that he developed a plan to give 100 select freshmen flexible block schedules next fall so they can have 90 minutes of math instruction instead of 52 and earn more credits.Now, as students take End of Course tests, the state will soon have its first progress report on how well students are performing under the increased demand.
Aker says the state should consider spreading Math I and Math II over four years to give students more time to understand them. “To have every child take this math, those who aren’t going to college, those who are special ed in self-contained classrooms, to me feels like a conspiracy on how to make kids fail.”
Davis, the state’s math director, however, says she is “pleased” with early results from End of Course tests given in December 2009 to students on block schedules taking Math I. Overall, 61 percent met or exceeded standards in Algebra I and 65 percent met or exceeded them in geometry, which is slightly better than under the old curriculum. Students still learning English, however, performed better under the old curriculum. She is counting on exam scores as well as SAT scores to improve over time as students move through school. The Class of 2019 will be the first to have had the accelerated math exposure from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“I can’t see a benefit of offering a math program a student couldn’t use to go to college, technical [school] or the workplace,” Davis said. “… What we are giving our students who struggle is an opportunity to feel as successful as our students who are mathematically talented.”
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220 comments Add your comment
so where to?
May 22nd, 2010
2:37 pm
Attentive Parent,
I have never heard of the QCC Frameworks. Do you know where I can find them? Also, the timeline of your discussion was a bit confusing since you mentioned “1902,” which is clearly a typo.
Wasn’t the GPS Frameworks produced AFTER the GPS? How closely the QCC Frameworks resemble the GPS and the GPS Frameworks?
Attentive Parent
May 22nd, 2010
3:47 pm
Yes that was a typo. I figured it was not worth a separate posting to correct. It should have said mid-1990’s.
The problem with links is that some of what I’m describing is getting purged off data bases within 24 hours of mentioning it on Get Schooled. Even though I keep hard copies and download it’s very tiring to see how desperately people are trying to sanitize the story behind the new math curriculum.
Maybe you work for the DOE as they tried to tell me a few months ago that they’d never heard of those frameworks either. That was really frustrating as 9 then current DOE employees worked on those frameworks and 2 former DOE employees came out of retirement. The then DOE Curriculum Coordinator was even the GIMS Co-Director. So much for the whole “we don’t know nothing” stance.
I’m going to assume you’re asking in good faith so here’s a link to the description in the Spring 1996 UGA Research News magazine.
http://researchmagazine.uga.edu/96ws/gims.html
Interested Readers- please save or print if this interests you. I am not exagerating the extent to which these data bases are being purged of everything contra to the official story.
There are continuous references to these frameworks through the adoption of the GPS and after indicating they remained in use especially on local school district data bases . Later the learning tasks and activities for the GPS get added to the DOE’s data base. Old timers in Georgia education have repeatedly confirmed, when asked, that the GPS math frameworks are just a repackaged, supplemented version of the QCC frameworks going back to GIMS.
To this day the frameworks remain such an essential part of the Georgia math curriculum story that the RTT letters of intent the participating districts had to sign stipulated that these districts had to agree to base their professional development on using the frameworks.
Not making sure the teachers knew and could teach the content but “using the frameworks”.
Jessica
May 22nd, 2010
3:54 pm
I am a student in high school and I failed Math 2. 90% of the kids in my grade also failed math 2.
????
May 22nd, 2010
4:12 pm
maureen can we get the authors of the article to clarify their stats. Clearly the failure rate was under-reported given the error in the grading scale they used.
Attentive Parent
May 22nd, 2010
5:57 pm
Maureen,
I have a comment that’s been in the filter for a few hours.
It’s long and has just one link.
Please free me.
parents just dont understand
May 22nd, 2010
5:57 pm
@DD
Your aggrorance knows no bounds. Thrice you have erred. First your understanding of new and obscure where called into question. Since you can not seem to understand by point of obscure let me put it in words you may understand: Obscure – the normal person would not see these terms in any part of their everyday lives or in the business they conduct. Second, you could not admit to yourself you misspoke when I attempted to clarify new and obscure. Lastly, for whatever reason you decide to personally attack a person you know nothing about. You use the term “ignorant” to descibe my take on GA math. Perhaps I am very well versed in Mathematics, literature, music, and several other subjects that would lead me to determine that the curriculum for Math that GA is using at this particular time is not a benefit to students.
Maybe just maybe you are not right on this one. Where I am no Cyrano; it seems you would cut off your nose to spite your face. Have no fear though my panache is very mush intact.
: )
Wishing
May 22nd, 2010
6:08 pm
This goes to show how watered-down the curriculm was before!!! I do know that Private schooled have refused to teach this way!!! If you have already had alg 1 and eoct and gem w/eoct. This is actually a dumb-down math concept!!! They were making students that transfered from private with alg1 and gem 1 have to take acl 2 for freshman year. This would have made them have to actually repeat what they just learned. Many parents keep students at private for freshman year because of this foolishness!!
Veteran teacher, 2
May 22nd, 2010
9:23 pm
@wishing-I don’t know where you got your information, but Accelerated Math 2 is WAAAAAAY beyond Algebra 1 and Geometry!
so where to?
May 22nd, 2010
9:36 pm
AP,
According to the file in your link, there was document called Georgia Framework for Learning Mathematics and Science. I googled it, and found this: http://www.coe.uga.edu/framework/
Is this the document you are talking about? I don’t work for DOE – I don’t know what makes you think that. Anyway, I think the issue of archiving is a legitimate issue/dilemma in the electronic age. Memory space is getting cheaper and cheaper, but how to maintain old documents is an issue every organization faces, I believe.
I haven’t looked at the document that carefully, but the current Frameworks for the GPS can’t be just a re-packaging of this Framework as this one doesn’t seem to contain much of specific instructional tasks.
dennyboy93
May 22nd, 2010
9:57 pm
This new curriculum is a disaster. Not all students are alike, and not all students are going to college. It makes as much sense as making them all wear a size 9 shoe.
MiddleSchoolMath
May 22nd, 2010
10:09 pm
“Davis, the state’s math director, however, says she is “pleased” with early results from End of Course tests given in December 2009 to students on block schedules taking Math I. Overall, 61 percent met or exceeded standards in Algebra I and 65 percent met or exceeded them in geometry, which is slightly better than under the old curriculum.”
If I had 35-39% of kids failing, my life would be even more miserable as a teacher, if they (the school) would even keep me. I have had up to 42% fail in a given year and I was told to reconsider how I grade. The parents and administration were relentless. I had to give students re-dos, let them turn in things late (9 weeks sometimes) and teach special classes. I argued that the math was way too difficult for them, they barely know the extreme basics, let alone graph how to solve and graph a linear equation. I let the students re-do any assignment they wanted to, including tests, and took any assignment at any time. Students still failed and I didn’t budge. Strangely enough, all but 4 students passed. The met the criteria on the CRCT and were moved along. Most of them never even did any work but yet they knew enough to pass a 7th grade CRCT test. Same rule applies in 8th grade. Class grades don’t matter. You would think that there would be a correlation between class grades and CRCT scores but I have not yet found one.
“In 2009, nearly 20,100 failing grades were handed out to high school freshmen in Georgia — about 17 percent of all grades given in the new Math I course. That’s more than double the percentage of failing grades given in the eighth-grade preparatory class the previous year” and I teach middle school.
Who are we kidding here? The students and parents, that’s who. The parents need to take control. The next time your kid brings home a test, try giving them another one (if you can do the math that is.) You would actually be better off to try this before they take the test but I’ll save that one for another day. I bet most of you do know some basic math and can find a calculator somewhere, so give your kid a basic test like 3-4 digit multiplication problems, some fractions, decimals, percents, and basic division problems. They’ll impress you one way or the other!
Parents need to step up and help. Make your kid learn the math that they bring home from school. If you don’t think the teacher is doing their job, then it’s up to you to help . . . your kid. Find out what they don’t know but should already know (that’s called a prerequisite), teach it to them (if you can) and I guarantee you their math teacher will be able to make them learn.
DD
May 22nd, 2010
10:16 pm
Once upon a time, someone criticized the new GA math program because it contained “obscure” ideas like “incenter,” “orthocenter,” etc. Of course, s/he didn’t realize that those ideas aren’t really obscure in the world of mathematics. Now, s/he wants to claim that those are ideas that “the normal person would not see these terms in any part of their everyday lives or in the business they conduct.” That may be true, but that means s/he was criticizing the new program because it includes words that “the normal person would not see these terms in any part of their everyday lives or in the business they conduct.” I don’t know about her/him, but I have rarely, if ever, use “quadratic formula,” “cosine,” “polynomials,” etc. in my everyday life or in my business. In fact, if the practicality is the criterion, I don’t see much point in teaching math beyond 6th grade.
I just wonder if s/he knows what “incenter” and “orthocenter” are. Oh well…
Attentive Parent
May 22nd, 2010
10:18 pm
That is the frameworks.
Look at it carefully and realize how radically it wants to change science and math instruction in this state and who’s behind it.
It’s fascinating to read and also tragic. The desire is to make learning accessible to every child even if we have to radically change what it means to learn. Although there are constant references to it for over ten years and the new frameworks augment, it also has a dated utopian feel.
I think that’s why project based learning and math through technology have become popular. We continue to look for the curriculum that will make equal academic outcomes possible. For over 15 years though we have pushed learning science and math as a hands on, constructivist activity. There’s a tremendous amount of solid research that explains that method hasn’t work and suggests why. That’s not a traditional approach in any meaningful sense of the word regardless of the course name.
Read the frameworks and appreciate how much they influenced “algebra” when it was still called that in Georgia.
Then we can have an honest realistic discussion on what went wrong in the past and how we can get the most Georgia children as accomplished as possible in the future.
james
May 22nd, 2010
10:20 pm
A lot of people say colleges are not for everyone. I wonder how many would agree that high schools aren’t for everyone, either. What is the level of mathematics that people believe *most* students can master.
MiddleSchoolMath
May 22nd, 2010
10:33 pm
Attentive Parent, you’re correct.
I’ve always argued that if we went back to traditional math pedagogy, more students will learn. But they keep shoving that “hands-on, constructivist activity” stuff down our throats. So much that our school (principal) tried to get rid of all over-head projectors to force us to use more technology. They need to learn more fundamentals or “basics” before hands-on activities or one of my favorites … “discovery lessons.”
but...
May 22nd, 2010
11:15 pm
… not enough students were learning. That’s the reason we had the “new math” movement in the 60’s. Then, after the “back to the basic” movement, not enough students weren’t still learning. So, how often do we have to keep going back to the “traditional” approach which hasn’t proven to work for more students?
Once you learn something, there is no point in going back to “hands on.”
Wishing
May 22nd, 2010
11:19 pm
I got my information right from the head of the math dept. from Woodstock High School last year at orientation. She wanted to put my child with 3 others coming in from private that had already completed Algebra 1 w/eoct 7th grade and Gemoetry w/eoct 8th grade. into Accl math 3 but couldn’t because they hadn’t even taught ACCl 2 yet. She even told me that my son would learn with them (the teachers) I realize what the new math is!!! All to well. The truly advanced end up taking AP calc by junior year. They never truly have a complete solid year of anything!!! It’s Alg, gem, trig, stat. looped for three years. For some it is truly harder for others it is watered-down. This has been the controversy!!! The students that have been told they are in advanced math in middle school that are going into private schools are having to repeat a full year of Algebra because they never had the EOCT. Only maybe had it for Algebra but never Gem. The students that graduate class of 2013 is what really got the rotten end because they couldn’t go new or tradition. They all got thrown into new no matter what they had!!!!! I talked to Cherokee county doe about this as well. They all said the same thing. They all agreed this was a crock of b. What I don’t understand is everyone I talk to keep telling me all there children have straight A’s because all they have to do is show up with homework and you get an instant 100% for just completing. With the freshman academy you have a full hour for lunch. If you don’t pull anything higher than a c you get to re-take test. So, I’m not sure but this sure seems dumbed-down and grade inflated to me!!!!!!
what can be done
May 22nd, 2010
11:19 pm
Multiple tracks to graduation.
I would also recommend researching the new common core standards (CCSSI). If GA would adopt those that would be a great step toward helping students and aligning courses with colleges. In them it details career or college ready and on top of that it mentions that for students that excel in math and science: STEM (science, tech, engine, and math) advanced courses be offered to those that can handle it.
http://www.corestandards.org/Files/K12MathStandards.pdf
thrown in the link if it helps
Wishing
May 22nd, 2010
11:30 pm
Middle school Math is so correct with this. I hear this from my friend teachers all the time!!!!!! Everyone gets passed along anyway even if they fail. An F is a B!!!! NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND!!!!!Even if they should be.
Mike Honcho Himself
May 22nd, 2010
11:46 pm
I’ve got some experience with this curriculum and I am looking forward to the opportunity to vote for a state school superintendent who will remove the current math currculum and one-size-fits-all graduation requirements. I have heard that Kathy Cox called this math curriculum her “baby” and it was here to stay. Well she isn’t here to stay so maybe we can rid ourselve of this cobbled up mess of a math curriculum a little sooner that we expected. I would love to see a math curriculum developed with the input of real math teachers. Get some input from those of us in the trenches as well as those who teach mathematics at the college level. The people at the state office will tell you there was input from math teachers around the state. At the first training of Math I a few years ago I was in a room of more than 40 teachers who seem to believe this new curriculum was a bad idea. I think the majority of this states high school math teachers feel this curriculum is already a failure. If our state school superintendent really believed in this curriculum she would want to stay and fight for it. I believe she knows it is a failure and now she is ready to get out of Dodge. Now let’s get someone in there that can fix all of her messes.
I hear the new “national standards” closely resemble Mrs. Cox’s “baby”. I’m not sure about that, but I believe we could have improved our standards while maintaining traditional math courses.
While I have serious issues with the current mathematics curriculum, I have even greater issues with the low expectations we have for our current high school students. We no longer hold students accountable for their behavior or actions. Some of the current practices I am aware of are: No grades below a 50 (even if students don’t do anything), students being allowed to retake tests over and over again, low cut scores for passing of end-of-course tests, and on and on.
Mike Honcho Himself
May 23rd, 2010
12:12 am
I taught 2 students this year who each took algebra 1 and geometry at private school during their 7th and 8th grade years respectively. They were placed into Accelerated Math 2 and they seemed to be in the proper class. I have taught Algebra 1, Geometry, Math I, Accelerated Math I, and Accelerated Math 2. I don’t think a student who has only completed Algebra1 and Geometry should go directly into Accelerated Math 3. There are many Algebra starndards taught in AC Math 2 that students would definitely need for AC math 3.
what can be done
May 23rd, 2010
6:55 am
@wishing
I am hearing the same thing about passing students along. Teachers speak of meeting AYP and so the school will not be placed on “needs improvement” they move the student through.
what can be done
May 23rd, 2010
6:57 am
http://www.corestandards.org/Files/K12MathStandards.pdf
Here is a start
Ole Guy
May 23rd, 2010
7:44 am
Jessica, I’ve always tried to view the world as “half full”…it’s not always (in fact, seldom is) easy. In the case of your fellow students’ performance on the math 2 curriculum, I suppose I would prefer to view that part of the world as 1/10 full rather than 9/10 empty.
The point I am trying to make, Jessica, is that the difficult things in life are more-than worthy of our best efforts. Please don’t allow the nine students out of ten, whose performance was not up to standard, to decide the level of difficulty in math 2. If one student in ten could pass the course, THEN SO CAN YOU…and so can the other students in that 90%. You all must try harder. I know it’s not easy…it certainly wasn’t easy when I wore your shoes and sat in your desk many years ago.
Jessica, the fact that you have chosen to share, with the reading public, your views means that you care. You can do it, Jessica.
ScienceTeacher671
May 23rd, 2010
7:49 am
If ITBS scores are still available in your district, try comparing ITBS math scores with the same grade level CRCT math scores. In my comparisons, students who barely pass the CRCT are working 3-4 years “below grade level” according to ITBS.
just a dad
May 23rd, 2010
8:25 am
This is an interesting, and very relevant – I have a 10th grade son – discussion. Personally, talking with my son, I really don’t have any concern with his mathematical progress. He seemed to have learned just about all traditional Algebra II topics – he was in Accl Math II. He was doing geometric proofs last year. I think he has done much more on statistics than I ever did in my own HS – and I am really glad for that since statistics is probably the most “real-life” mathematics today’s students as a whole need.
I am somewhat confused about the exact nature of the issue. As I understand it, the Georgia Performance Standards simply list what students are to learn in respective courses. I understand that each course has a mixture of algebra, geometry and statistics, but I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with that idea. After all, mathematics through middle schools are organized that way. There are many other countries doing it that way with no negative effects on their students.
On the other hand, I hear a lot of issues about the way math is to be taught. What’s not clear is if that is also dictated in the standards. Some people seem to say it is not, while others imply it is. Either way, is the problem the way math is taught, or the way math courses are organized? Those seem to be different issues.
Then, there seems to be another issue about whether or not there should be multiple tracks for HS students. That’s a separate issue, isn’t it? Some of the “solutions” seem to be too simplistic – probably driven by the frustration those individuals felt about the program – whether as teachers or parents.
another teacher
May 23rd, 2010
10:32 am
A couple of points:
1. IMHO, the original article muddied the difference between the Accelerated classes and the non-Accelerated but “New” courses.
2. The best math students take Accelerated Math 1 in the 8th grade, which is middle school in most systems, so their grades and scores don’t show up when you are only pulling data from high schools. Look at the scores of freshmen who are taking Acc. Math 2 if you want to see how the top students are faring.
3. The mom who wants her child to master calculus without a graphing calculator is still doing her laundry in the stream. A good teacher ensures that students know how use the calculator to solve problems, but that they also understand the math behind the calculations/graphs/statistics. Does she want her child to calculate square roots by hand, too? My dad taught me how to do that once, just for fun, but made sure I knew how to find them on a slide rule, too, back in the days before calculators. There is plenty of research to support the use of calculators in the math classroom.
what can be done
May 23rd, 2010
10:38 am
@just a dad
Multiple tracks is tied directly to GA math. All students in the state of GA must take Math I-IV. It is a one size fits all type of program.
Please if I could recommend going to the common core site and look through all the math they think would be best for schools. In it you will see that the think tank that developed it thought about those students that just do not perform well in math and also those that excel at it. I feel comfortable in saying since your child was in Accl math 2 he would be a success no matter what class he is in and more than likely would need STEM classes.
Just because a student may not do well in a particular subject does not mean they will not succeed. Actually, the solution is simple; do we stick with the one size fits all and does not align with any other state or do we adopt a common sense approach (common core) that does align with other states and provide a pathway for each and every student to succeed.
another teacher
May 23rd, 2010
10:57 am
@ Middle School Math
re: “Discovery Learning”
A couple of years ago, I had a group of gifted students in 7th grade (under the old curriculum), then again in 8th grade (with the new curriculum). I had covered the Pythagorean Theorem with them at the end of 7th grade, and thought I’d try the new textbook’s approach to the same topic and see how they did. After 3 days of “discovery learning” through “guided activities,” they didn’t have a clue as to what they were supposed to be learning, even though the topic was something they had mastered a few months earlier. (Note: the school system quickly realized that this textbook series was not working, and adopted something more traditional. It might have worked better if teachers had gotten more information on how to effectively lead the discovery lessons – just reading the teacher’s guide wasn’t enough).
While I am generally in favor of a constructivist approach, and believe that kids learn a lot more by constructing their own word problems and by doing math projects that incorporate the math they are learning, I also believe in plenty of practice every night, called homework, and the homework grade is not just a “participation grade.” Research on how kids learn says they need at least eight repetitions before they master a concept, so that means at least eight problems on each step of the process of a math concept, not eight problems all together. Slower learners need more repetitions, faster learners can learn with less practice, but practice/homework is essential.
Most traditional math textbooks provide this, but one other problem with the new curriculum is that there is not one textbook that covers all the topics in one course, so teachers end up cobbling together resources and assignments from various sources. This lack of a coherent, comprehensive text for a course makes it much more difficult for parents (and private tutors), to help their students effectively. It’s hard to provide homework help to a student who doesn’t understand, when all you have are the homework problems on a ditto (worksheet), with no instructions or sample problems to accompany the assignment.
Metro ATL Math Teacher
May 23rd, 2010
10:59 am
Reading the comments are very interesting. 1. The teachers are adequately trained. 2. The Class of 2012 should all be under the New Curriculum. 3. The teachers are to teach lessons on higher levels with the premise that the students were prepared for the courses in middle school. 4. Teachers were highly monitored to ensure they were teaching the course as they were trained. Math support courses were used to help the students that are behind in the regular course. 5. Accelerated courses are only given to a small number of students if any in most metro schools. (requires MANY teachers) 6. New Curriculum assumes the students can all read on level and can comprehend everything they read. (English teachers teach this everyday, math teachers dont) 7. 2008-2009 Scores were not released to the teachers to average into the final grade which is 15% of their final grade. (My system didnt get them. Check the state site for the information) The GPS is not better than the QCC. It is just another attempt by the state to have students taught at a higher level but feel that the teachers should have the option of teaching the course differently than the script we are given on the website. Students will have a better understanding of the standards if we are allowed that option.
Teacher&mom
May 23rd, 2010
12:19 pm
It should be noted that last year’s Math I EOCT student results were not shared with the school systems. Teachers were unable to review individual student scores which prevented Math I teachers from making any adjustments in their instruction. Why? What is the justification for keeping the scores a secret?
I’d love for the AJC to question the DOE/Kathy Cox about the decision to hide the results from teachers. I’d also like to know why the Math I EOCT did not count against the last year’s freshman but the Math II EOCT will count. Also, I’d love to hear their reasons for field testing the Math II EOCT in Algebra II classes. THEN….contact other leading math specialists in other states and ask them about our new standards, and the methods used to field test standardized tests. What are their thoughts, how do they field test new items, etc.??
It would also be interesting to contact colleges outside the state of GA (large, small, Ivy League, etc). What do they think about our new math curriculum? Do they anticipate problems with transcripts, etc?
Please dig deeper.
ScienceTeacher671
May 23rd, 2010
1:30 pm
I agree with Teacher&mom @ 12:19.
CCSI
May 23rd, 2010
1:34 pm
@ what can be done,
The Common Core Standards do not (at least in the public release draft) specify course-by-course standards. They even have an appendix where they present two possible ways those standards may be achieved in HS courses – one set for sequential and one for parallel, as in the GPS. My reading of the CCSI math standards is that GA can adopt it with a minimum impact at the HS level – the only thing they may have to consider is the creation of a “career ready” track. I think they can just do that by allowing some students to take Math 1, 2 and 3 in 4 years. The standards for K-8 requires some changes as the grade placement/sequencing of some topics are very different from the GSP.
Veteran teacher, 2
May 23rd, 2010
1:59 pm
@just a dad-WOW, yours may be the best post of the numerous blogs on this topic. You have clearly defined where the lines in arguments get blurred due to the emotion displayed by many posters. I am teaching math, and my kids are learning math. Are there some things I would like to change? Sure, and please know that I have been working through proper channels to provide my input on each matter. As for the EOCT, the vast majority of kids in my classes scored within 5 points of their class grade. There were four that scored far less than their course grade, and their track record shows that these students have not done so well on any standardized test. They were very upset, and I told them to keep learning and not worry about what a single test says.
Also, I know that many people do not want to hear this, but a high failure rate on the EOCT may not indicate problems with the curriculum. We have many students who do not take any EOCT seriously. Kids are not stupid. 15% of the grade is not that much. In fact, unless the student scores significantly higher or lower than the course grade, the EOCT is not likely to change the final grade more than one point. Over 30 years of teaching, I have rarely seen a final exam of any type significantly change many students final grades. Anyone who thinks that all the kids are trying their best on EOCT tests is uninformed.
Another Cobb Math parent
May 23rd, 2010
4:25 pm
@just a dad and Veteran teacher, 2 – thanks for the voices of sanity.
concerned DCSS parent
May 23rd, 2010
5:33 pm
Regardless of the merits of the state’s math plan, the implementation has been horrible. Kathy Cox should not have implemented this curriculum without adequate financial resources to make sure that teachers would have solid professional development.
Leaving it to the school systems –HUGE Mistake.
Veteran Teacher — I agree with you about the EOCT and student’s motivation.
Justadad — It sounds like your son would do well on either curriculum. While this mixed curriculum may have worked well in other countries (where they probably don’t educate all children), versions of it have failed in many other states.
Veteran teacher, 2
May 23rd, 2010
7:08 pm
Not defending Kathy Cox, but I think if you researched this, you would find out that the State Board of Education mandated the time-line for implementation of at least the high school portion of the curriculum. I know that the DOE employees wanted to wait at least another year. However, the middle school curriculum had already been started. I agree that implementation is the main difficulty. Unfortunately, politicians (and some general public for that matter) do not have the patience to start something in kindergarten and let it filter through over 12 years. It seems to me that more major and out of the box ideas would stand a chance for success if implemented over 12 years.
Fed Up
May 23rd, 2010
7:15 pm
What kids (and parents) need to realize is that if they don’t buckle down and LEARN this stuff, when they get to college they will need to take remedial courses or suffer low grades in their majors because they don’t have the right foundation. How does paying for 6 years of college sound?
theedge
May 23rd, 2010
10:10 pm
I am not talking about receiving college credit, I am talking about meeting thei addmissions requirements. For instance this is from the GT website “**All students that apply for freshman admission, must have at least one higher level math beyond Algebra II (Statistics does not count as a higher level math).” My daughter will not have Algebra II on her transcript she will have Math I, II, III, IV. Which looks like to me some general math course.
Another Cobb Math parent
May 23rd, 2010
11:44 pm
@theedge, There may be all kinds of reasonable criticisms of the new math curriculum. However, the idea that admissions at Georgia Tech, an in-state public university, won’t be able to recognize the math courses on an in-state public high school transcript, is beyond ridiculous. This is just not a problem.
GA Teach
May 24th, 2010
2:26 am
I have come to a conclusion……I will not support any candidate for governor that thinks vouchers, merit pay, and charter schools are the solutions to our educational system. Why is it so hard for people to give back to their local public schools? There are schools in the metro area that make private schools and charter schools in the area look bad. These public schools are no different then any other public school in the area, yet they are some of the highest achieving schools in the state. I have been reading the websites of candidates running for governor and I am disappointed in their solutions for education. I have been a republican for a long time, but I will not vote for politicians that do not support their public education system. I cannot believe the state would spend money on charters schools when they cannot afford the schools they have already built. Teachers: Republican or Democrat I beg you not to vote for anyone the supports vouchers, charter schools, or merit pay systems. How can you have a merit based pay system in our educate everyone no matter what society? We have to educate everyone not matter their disability, language, family life…etc….I am asking teachers to wake up and vote for the candidate that is going to support you……3500 teacher jobs gone. I thought we where in a teacher shortage……Just wait until these lay offs affect our students…….Kathy Cox might be the smartest woman alive….she made a smart move to get out before the powder keg went off.
How can governors appoint Board of Education members that have no experience in the classroom. I was watching some of the things that the board members vote on and there was this fellow named Buzz that voted no on granting variances on the GHSGT…..I wonder if he could even pass it. I think that all teacher, admins, board members, senators, reps, and governors should be required to take the same test our students take before the can serve the community. Yes they did it when they were young, but if they are so important they should be required to take the same test to serve in office….Wait teachers do have to take a test…so do admins…..but board members make choices for the whole state and they do not have to take the same tests student take…….I would be willing to bet they could not pass the math test…or the GHSGT…required by the state.
????
May 24th, 2010
6:20 am
It just seems some person’s that post are from the GA DOE and using talking points that are discussed at meetings?
????
May 24th, 2010
6:26 am
and they got their style from the carl rove play book; attack, attack, attack, belittle, well you just dont know what your talking about; “ridiculous” (what about out of state colleges?), “ignorant”.
How about just admitting we tried it; its not working move on.
Come on, Kathy Cox has already jumped ship; she is on her life raft floating to DC sipping tea; and watching the titanic go down.
@ theedge
May 24th, 2010
9:03 am
As I understand it, the state of NY used to (not that long ago) had their HS math courses organized in the manner similar to GA. Did their students have difficulty convincing colleges about the nature of their math courses?
Also, as I understand it, there are other places in the US, students are given options of taking either the traditional courses or the integrated courses. Do the students who take integrated courses have any difficulty with college adminissions?
Your argument would be much stronger if it wasn’t just a speculation.
Think
May 24th, 2010
9:10 am
GA Teach, you have got to be kidding me!!! Hasn’t GA had enough time to prove to us parents why we should support public GPS??? Many have tried to believe in this system for far too long. Now these children and parents deserve a choose, whether it be public, charter or private. If you did your homework you would realize that the district which the charter resides still gets 33% of the students funds, even though they are not going to that school. As far as vouchers for private, the private school parent still pays the taxes for the school that the student would be districted for therefore, it’s a win for public without the student (free money for the public school) these schools and people like you should love this theory. No one is taking funds away for the public ed. If anything they are adding to it!!!!!!!
theedge
May 24th, 2010
9:30 am
I pointed out that I heard a rumor that I have not yet been able to confirm. There was one post from somebody attending a college night and the addmissions representatives as they said “Looked at them like they had two heads” when the math ciriculum was described. From the results at my daughters school the new Math is a failure. Whether it is the course and materials the teachers or the students I am not sure. Probably a combination of the three, but an unnecessary experiment on the backs of the class of 2012. I will be looking for private schools this summer.
Think
May 24th, 2010
10:31 am
@theedge, smart move!!! The class of 2012 and 2013 are the ones being terribly disserviced due to this lovely bs math!!! No matter what anyone says. Yes, the truly gifted math students will do o.k. but still it is a disservice to them as well. Just wait until these students try to go out of state for college! This is sad, most of us want to support public ed however, how can we subject our students/children to this madness any longer. Who are these parents kidding that think this is o.k. keep sweeping this one under the rugs. After all everyone’s doing just great on the dumbed down CRCT. That’s all these parents seem to care about. WOW you are all being so brained washed you can’t even see it! AMAZING!!
Booklover
May 24th, 2010
10:35 am
I’m not so concerned about the kids staying in-state for college; those admissions offices know what’s up.
But not all students are going to stay in GA for college, nor should we expect them to. “Math I, II, III, IV” on a transcript still looks like a special education track to me (IIRC, this IS what they called the sped maths back in the midwest in the ’90s when I walked uphill both ways to school).
What about our students who go out of state or the region for college? Do you think the admissions offices at, say, UC-Berkeley or University of Wisconsin or, gosh, Harvard, are paying all that much attention to GA’s math curriculum? Are out-of-state admissions counselors really going to spend all that much time translating Acc Math II=Kinda Algebra II? Nope, they are just going to take the kid from Kansas with the “A” in Algebra II because they know what that means.
(An analogy here would be the GACE teacher exam…does anyone really believe it’s harder than the praxis? Riiiight. GA has its own teacher exams because, sadly, too many of our colleagues were failing the praxis. I took the GACE in English 6-12 and it was a JOKE that didn’t even align with the state curriculum. One question on Shakespeare. ONE! But five questions on Restoration Literature.)
Make no mistake, this WILL hurt our students’ chances of getting into elite universities outside of Georgia.
Some posters on here, and the state DOE, need to broaden their horizons and realize that some districts have high student mobility and not all of our students are going to just stay in GA forever!
@ booklover
May 24th, 2010
11:17 am
Colleges won’t care about MATH I, II, III, and IV if students go on and take the AP Calculus class and the exam. If students score a 4 on AP Calculus, why should colleges care what exactly those math courses before AP calculus was about?
Kindra
May 24th, 2010
2:24 pm
We moved from Georgia to Arlington, in Northern Virginia last year and daughter completed 8th grade accelerated math this year in 6th grade. She’ll finish Algebra 1 and Geometry in Middle School. 52% of kids at least complete Algebra 1 in middle school. Teaching the “old standards” seems to work just fine in this area, even with one of the nation’s most diverse student populations – students come from 127 countries and speak 105 different languages. The district is 48% white, 26% hispanic, 13% African American, and 11% Asian/Pacific Islander, with 32% on subsidized meal programs. Programs for limited English students have been in place for years, and there is never a let up in commitment to these students. Languages taught from 7th grade on include French, Spanish, Latin, German, Arabic, and Chinese.
Students in our district are eligible to test for the Thomas Jefferson School of Science and Technology – the top public HS in America according to USNews and World Report. This top school recommends in preparing for the entrance test, “write every day on any and all topics and learn to do math without a calculator.” What is the difference between Northern Virginia and Atlanta metro area? Parental and institutional commitment to get every child to perform his or her best, year after year. This district’s improvement plans map the progress made over the years from a mediocre district to an outstanding one. Tinkering with curriculum is not the answer, Georgia.