Comments on: Passing algebra, flunking middle-school math

By: Engineer-Poet

Engineer-Poet — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:15:17 +0000

Mathematics is its own language (I’m told that math types often go to conferences and have long exchanges with colleagues with whom they share no spoken language). I’d cut a math teacher a lot of slack if they were good at communicating math to students.

On the other hand, there is no excuse for the elementary-school teachers not knowing their times tables or being unable to properly use “your” and “you’re”, and expecially “its” and “it’s”. They are supposed to be exemplary, and they cannot teach what they do not know and cannot model.

By: Mentoressa

Mentoressa — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:04:17 +0000

Precise language is invaluable at all levels. A common understanding of language leads to a shared understanding of ideas and meanings. I am a curriculum director in a public school. This business of concepts being overlooked and grade inflation has been around a very long time. The good news is, however, that technology is letting us see these “curriculum holes” far more easily and far more quickly than in the past. It is also letting us design formative assessment to assure that as a student moves through content, such as middle school math, he/she is retaining the information and, therefore, increasing the chances for using the subskills to think conceptually rather than algorithmically. It is allowing teachers to focus-remediate in a timely manner. If you have never taught, you simply have no idea how challenging this type of instruction is without technology.

As far dyslexic teachers? Pfft! We don’t need the teacher to be the oldest student in the room. As far as grammar snobs? Pfft! once more.

I agree that educators should be fired for such transgressions as a dangling participle if parents who are boring snobs can be placed in stocks in the public square and banned from any further communication with the school. Really…pfft!

By: Ben McAuslan

Ben McAuslan — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:14:38 +0000

markm – I agree with you. My point was that even if a student has no clue about the concepts behind what they’re learning they may still be able to manage getting through homework and tests (within a very limited window). Of course, depending on the teacher in high school the results of that potential experiment would vary widely. But yes, I think if you don’t have middle school math “down pat” algebra and beyond will be a torturous task, if not impossible.

By: Engineer-Poet

Engineer-Poet — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:18:12 +0000

I still think it’s important for all teachers to communicate accurately, but for the upper-level specialties like math and science that may not be so important.

One wonders what would happen to ed-school enrollments if the criteria for language proficiency were part of the entrance testing. Since it’s obvious that precious little subject-matter learning goes on in ed schools, making certain that students have these skills before they go in would heal many ills.

By: Linda F

Linda F — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:28:08 +0000

Well, I’m all for good grammar and spelling, but, if the teacher is otherwise qualified in his/her job, and teaches math or physical sciences, let’s not toss that teacher out for being a miserable speller, or having a shaky grasp of grammar. SOME of those teachers are a little dyslexic.

On the other hand, for the elementary and middle school generalists, making sure that they have mastered the language arts IS essential. With the teaching field so crowded, schools can afford to be picky.

By: markm

markm — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:45:53 +0000

Chrissy: “Essentially, you’re talking about inability to comprehend or calculate correctly with fractions, decimals, percents, know statistical representations (frequency bar graphs, box and whisker plots), etc.”

Ben: “While it does seem extreme in this case I can definitely see students being able to do well in the high school classes and not on middle school math because students are great at remembering processes in bite-size chunks before a test only to quickly forget it later.”

Sorry Chrissy and Ben, but as a person that has worked with algebra and calculus most of my life, it’s clear that if you don’t have the middle-school math down pat, you do NOT know algebra. If you have to pull out a calculator to calculate the coefficients when you expand (x+4)*(x-3), you will forget what you were trying to do before you get done – and you certainly will never be able to work it backwards and factor x^2 + x -12, short of running the quadratic formula on your calculator and getting 3.99999 instead of 4. If you can’t place 1/2 + 1/3 on a common denominator, you can’t do it for 1/x + 1/y. If you somehow do arrive at the correct result but cannot graph it, you don’t understand what the numbers mean.

By: Barney

Barney — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:27:22 +0000

As someone who visits schools on a regular basis, one of the best ways to help students is to teach the curriculum that is intended for the grade that is being taught. A significant teachers work with content that is often two years below where the kids are and in other cases material is taught that is beyond the developmental age of the children. Teaching the text book or a publisher’s program is not teaching the intended curriculum.

By: Jane Mansfield

Jane Mansfield — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:01:17 +0000

As a society we should begin to face the roots of the problem. Derrell Bradford of E3 is speaking on behalf of a pro-voucher, pro-charter schools organization in Newark, NJ. I am the first to attest that many urban public education lacks many ingredients but part of the problem is the powerlessness of the classroom teachers and the freedom to teach what matters.

Those pro-vouchers proponents are weapons attacking public education not only in cities like Newark and Camden but are also funded by major foundations whose goal is destroy public education in America; therefore the end of democracy.

Our children deserve a better, truer education in order to globally compete. They also deserve the truth. The political agenda behind E3 is the real question. The best analogy would be the opening of Walmart in a small town and forcing local businesses to close and therefore destroying the cultural identity and authenticity of the community.

Lets not open a door for corruption but finding solutions for inner city kids to prosper academically and becoming catalysts in improving their communities.

By: Dave Mandel

Dave Mandel — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:27:50 +0000

Ben There, you misspelled kindergarten. You might be on to something in general, but I hope you don’t mean that kindergartners should be drilled in math facts. Instead, they should be with a good, attentive teacher who gets them excited about building things, planting, cooking, etc. while learning about measurement and quantitative concepts.

By: Ben McAuslan

Ben McAuslan — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:28:53 +0000

While it does seem extreme in this case I can definitely see students being able to do well in the high school classes and not on middle school math because students are great at remembering processes in bite-size chunks before a test only to quickly forget it later. Middle school math uses a lot of common sense and lays a basis for the concepts you use later. If you don’t truly understand what you’re doing in middle school math it becomes painfully difficult to incorporate new knowledge into your brain. And then on top of it all, once you get to high school you don’t have to do anything without a calculator – I routinely watch kids go to their calculator for multiplication facts they supposedly memorized in 4th grade.