kitchen table math, the sequel: opportunities to vent

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

opportunities to vent

courtesy of Barry:

Shelve Everyday Math?


courtesy of me:

Should Student Test Scores Measure a Teacher's Value?
Posted by at

12 comments:

Catherine Johnson said...

Hey- you guys are falling down on the job.

Go to the New York Times.

Right this minute!

January 22, 2008 at 5:13 PM
concernedCTparent said...

I thought they were looking for teacher comments so I've stayed quiet. Plus, you don't want to get me started on Everyday Math.

It's funny you posted that because late last night I found a link to an old blog entry about a Texas teacher who was secretly throwing her Everyday Math textbooks away. She was assigned many struggling fifth grade students and this veteran teacher knew better.

Her standardized scores put the rest of the 15 fifth grade classes to shame. These struggling students gained 30 points on the test and EVERY one of her students met the passing standard for the test.

See what happens when you dump Everyday Math and have a capable math teacher.

The blog entry is here and is worth reading.

January 22, 2008 at 7:34 PM
concernedCTparent said...

Correction: Everyday Math does not have textbooks. The Texas teacher was secretly throwing her Everyday Math journals away.

January 22, 2008 at 8:38 PM
Independent George said...

CT Parent - I commend the teacher, but I think they're reinforcing a bad idea here. The main thrust of the article seems to be that Everyday Math is bad because it's a standard curriculum, and not because it's a bad curriculum. It doesn't even describe what Everyday Math is besides the fact that it was "developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project and lauded by many".

Furthermore, the teacher's method seems like something straight out an Everyday Math manual ("pose problems that students can solve using a variety of strategies, then help her students to express the concepts behind the strategies they use. She doesn’t show kids how to solve problems; she writes problems in such a way that her students can use what they know to construct their own strategies... Her highest priority as a teacher is to understand her students’ thinking and to build on it.").

I'd like to see what her actual lessons are. The first thing that comes to mind is that video of the Japanese math class, which was held up as proof that constructivism works; then mathematicians got hold of it, and broke down every bit of explicit instruction throughout the entire lesson.

January 23, 2008 at 1:42 AM
concernedCTparent said...

Point well taken. I too would have liked to know more about what that teacher was teaching those students.

Nevertheless, the teacher quietly made the point that Everyday Math wasn't the answer it chalked up to be.

I'm also assuming (rightly or wrongly) that this teacher must have had a good understanding of mathematics. That has to count for something no matter how terrible the mandated curriculum. I'd chose a math teacher with strong content ability and a bad textbook over a poor or mediocre math teacher and a bad textbook anyday. Of course, in the best of worlds, I'd choose strong content knowledge and a good textbook.

January 23, 2008 at 6:05 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

Close your door and teach = close your door and paper-shred.

January 23, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

Well, I am annotating the Earth Science textbook.

If I have to reteach the course the least the school can do is give me some teaching materials I can mark up.

C. said, "The next kid who gets this book is going to love you."

Speaking of which, I decided not to write the answers to questions in the text.

I'm annotating the margins.

January 23, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Anonymous said...

I found this comment interesting:

It is the responsibility of every parent to teach their own child how to read, write, and do simple math. Schools are for learning advanced complicated material, learning how to socialize with other human beings, and being exposed to real world situations teaching children to become adults. Why in the world do we want to make schools about the stuff most countries expect students to know before they enter school?

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/should-student-test-scores-measure-a-teachers-value/#comment-158831

I can't tell if the commenter is serious or sarcastic.

-Mark Roulo

January 23, 2008 at 2:19 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

wow

I can't tell, either.

If I had to bet I'd say this is serious.

At this point there is essentially a complete denigration of the skill, intelligence, and experience it takes to teach the foundational skills well.

January 23, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Independent George said...

Mark - I wonder if that commenter understands the ramifications of that line of thought. Unless a kids' parents are both experts in the academics and have the time/resources to school them, then that kid is pretty much screwed for life. That's a wonderful way of dealing with inequality - ensure that the only people who get an education are the ones born into an educated family!

January 23, 2008 at 3:25 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

That's a wonderful way of dealing with inequality - ensure that the only people who get an education are the ones born into an educated family!

There are times when I see this commenter's attitude as malign instead of simply illogical...

January 24, 2008 at 9:26 AM
Liz Ditz said...

Quote from Sherman Dorn:

Value-added, with botulism

Before Kevin Carey proclaims that value-added [method] comes of age, he might want to read the real true facts behind the New York City teacher value-added project, wherein we learn that the city's great statistical experts thought three children were enough of a sample on which to base a teacher evaluation, or maybe the ethical problems with the NYC project, or maybe even my comments on value-added or growth measures in Accountability Frankenstein.

No matter what else you can say about growth measures, NYC's project is about the worst example I can imagine to use if one wanted to push the approach

January 24, 2008 at 3:42 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)