GEORGIA adopts new Math approach

Parents Forum
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<p>The system you describe sounds like the one where we live (in our province in Canada). We have never had the labels you read about but the kids go through many topics every year (in a spiral). </p>

<p>So D doesn’t have a class called “algebra” or “geometry” or “trig” but has all those topics each year in advancing degrees from Math 8 to Math 12 (the latter can be taken concurrently with calculus). </p>

<p>It seems to work very well (in terms of how they do in sciences and math assessments at the world level), but also for college prep it seems to pose no disadvantage that I can see. </p>

<p>I have no idea about Japanese methods nor pedagogy however. I also would NOT say its integrated. </p>

<p>I think you can teach in a spiral fashion as they do, without necessarily being whole or integrated. You can also have the pedagogy described above in Japan with any kind of sequence. There are a lot of dimensions to teaching math and I think most of us really don’t understand them.</p>

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<p>When I saw this thread today I didn’t realize it was the same one I commented on in 2008! Still a relevant topic, I see.</p>

<p>Thanks for the update. IMO, the spiral approach is good, and is the way many subjects are taught, being reinforced and expanded upon year after year.</p>

<p>That is different from “discussions” and group work where the kids have to reinvent math and are not taught the algorithms they need. That is just time-wasting foolishness.</p>

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<p>Hate, Hate, Hate Georgia’s integrated math. Instead of Algrebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Trig, and Calculus, they have Math I, II, and III that integrate all of those plus statistics. My DS is a freshman in high school. Luckily, he is good in math and it comes easily for him. His teacher this year and last were completely over their heads. Part of this new math is group learning. The kids get into groups of 4 and are supposed to teach each other. REALLY??? What if none of them understand it? Or if one understands but is shy and one doesn’t understand but thinks they do and has a more forceful personality? Last year when my son’s group would try to ask the teacher a question, she just told them to go back and work in their group. I have proof that she did not understand what she was supposed to be teaching (long story!). They are supposed to integrate reading into math. Last year his teacher had the students keep a Math journal. Every 3 weeks they were supposed to write have a minimum of 10 one-page papers on math in their journals. It could be about a math problem they were having trouble with and how they solved it, how they used math in their day-to-day life that day, pretend they are a teacher and teach a math problem - they had more writing about math than they had actual math homework. After a few months it disappeared - I think the school must have had a LOT of complaints. A friend of mine is an 8th grade math teacher. One of her frustrations is that a lot of her students are immigrants. Math came easy to many of her students because math is math - numbers are numbers, no matter the language. Now they have to be able to write in English about math - what’s the point? Very frustrating. </p>

<p>What happens when a student moves into our state or moves from our state to another. They will be totally lost. I’ve heard from parents who have moved their kids to private school that the kids are not up to par with the other students who have been taught traditional math (Algebra, Geometry, etc. in a separate year) and have to take a remedial math class or get tutored to catch up. Our kids are guinea pigs. I fully expect them to do away with this math program at some point. All the teachers I’ve spoken to agree. It wil be too late for my son, but hopefully he will be OK since math concepts come easily to him. </p>

<p>I blame the state of Georgia and the legislature for this, as well as the poor training our county gave the teachers. The states they looked to for this program are abandoning it. It is a travesty.</p>

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<p>H teaches 5th grade Math. His grade is departmentalized, meaning he teaches only Math to all 5th graders. In K-4, though, classes are self-contained. Unfortunately for students, many teachers choose Early Childhood Education in college to minimize the amount of math they must take for a college degree. Guess who doesn’t understand or know how to teach Math? Each year his students arrive less proficient than the year before. This year even his gifted students are struggling with their times tables. </p>

<p>H can always tell which teacher his students had in 4th grade. Only one understands math completely, one somewhat, and the other does skits and posters. Her room is beautiful and she is regularly singled out for accolades, including teacher of the year. Oh, and she has her doctorate degree. Somehow she is allowed to let her students take their state exam at the group tables she uses (better for poster making) rather than separated desks. H does credit her with being bright enough to make sure each table has one smart kid.</p>

<p>The new grading system being implemented is even brighter - 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s. No letter grades, no numeric grades. Try and get a 1, set up a problem correctly but incorrect answer scores a 2, correct answer is a 3. A 2 is considered passing!! Everyone passes, everyone graduates - Go Georgia!!!</p>

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<p>Getalifemom; is that a county thing or are they trying to push that grading system statewide? I ask because I have not heard about that and my kids just got report cards the other day and it was the grading scale.</p>

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<p>Sorry for the late response - it’s coming statewide, I believe. I’ll ask H for current info - the last I heard was after an introductory meeting letting teachers know what’s in the pipeline.</p>

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<p>As Georgia HS senior, luckily I haven’t had any firsthand experience with this integrated math but I’ve watched as freshman and sophomores fall behind. My school ran statistics last year and saw that something like 50% of 9th and 10th were failing math, so to counter that they began to gradeflate everything. Now, virtually nobody fails Math I/II because students are allowed to retake each test up to 3 times. In the meanwhile, standardized test scores remain the same or have decreased. Yikes.</p>

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<p>I am a high school senior and this years freshmen math classes have about a 50% fail rate at my school so far. It is obviously not working esp since there are very bright freshmen that i know of and they are struggling this semester</p>

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<p>Latest update on this … Fulton County (in Metro Atlanta) has dumped the new math for next year.</p>

<p>[Fulton</a> rings out new math for old math in 2010](<a href=“http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-c-2009-12-27-181332.114126-sub_Fulton_rings_out_new_math_for_old_math_in_2010.html]Fulton”>http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-c-2009-12-27-181332.114126-sub_Fulton_rings_out_new_math_for_old_math_in_2010.html)</p>

<p>FULTON COUNTY - It’s out with the new and in with the old for 2010 as the Fulton County School System prepares to dump the controversial math curriculum in favor of back-to-the-basics traditional math.</p>

<p>The Fulton County Board of Education is poised to vote next month to accept Supt. Cindy Loe’s recommendation to remove Investigations from grades kindergarten through five, and Connected Math in middle school beginning in the fall of 2010. In high school, state mandates prevent moving too far away from the course standards tied to the state’s End of the Course Tests (EOCTs), but options will be added to allow more flexibility and opportunities for advancement for students.</p>

<p>The goal, noted Loe, is to return to a teacher directed curriculum instead of the inquiry based model favored in Investigations and Connections, where the teacher serves as the facilitator.</p>

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<p>Good for Fulton. Wonder if Dekalb will ever wise up???</p>

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<p>Are you in DeKalb? We are and I wish we could move soon. Things just seem to get worse. Rather than wise up, DeKalb is presenting a series of workshops trying to explain the new math to parents. Worse yet, I know teachers who will tell you that DeKalb is seriously screwing up the state’s curriculum. DCSS is taking something bad and making it worse!</p>

<p>Here is the info:</p>

<p>January 30, 2010 at Oak View Elementary School</p>

<p>February 20, 2010 at Peachtree Middle School</p>

<p>February 27, 2010 at Miller Grove High School</p>

<pre><code>* 8:30-8:45 A.M. Continental Breakfast

  • 8:45 A.M. Welcome and Overview of the Day
  • 8:45–11:25 A.M Concurrent Sessions
  • 11:30 A.M. Closing Session and Door Prizes
    </code></pre>

<p>Elementary School Session Descriptions</p>

<p>9:00 – 9:45 AM
I. Georgia Department of Education’s Parent Resources
The state department for education in Georgia has a wealth of information for parents to learn about the Georgia Performance Standards in mathematics. This web site also includes information about the CRCT and brochures for parents. This web site also has the state frameworks for mathematics instruction that contain a collection of learning activities based on major mathematical concepts.</p>

<p>9:50 – 10:35 AM
II. Education Place Web Site for Student Textbook in Math and Other Resources
In this session, parents will learn about the student Math Georgia textbook that is available online at no cost. The Eduplace web site has: (1) parent letters regarding math instruction, (2) vocabulary, (3) games, (4) parent tools and resources, and (5) the Math Georgia Textbook.</p>

<p>10:40 – 11:25 AM
III. DeKalb Resources for Mathematics to Expect and/or Ask to Receive In this session, parents will receive an explanation regarding pertinent parental involvement resources that communicate information about elementary mathematics. Parents will receive hard copies of these resources so they can ask about them when they work with the teacher in discussing their child’s progress.</p>

<p>Middle School Session Descriptions</p>

<p>9:00 – 9:45 AM
I. The Georgia Performance Standards
In this session, parents will learn about the Georgia Performance Standards Curriculum. The session will include information about standards-based education, how and why the mathematics curriculum has changed, and the course sequence options for middle school students.</p>

<p>9:50 – 10:35 AM
II. Website Review for Student Textbook and Georgia Department of Education’s Parent Resources</p>

<p>In this session, parents will learn about the Connected Mathematics2 textbook web resource which has: (1) parent letters regarding math instruction, (2) homework help, (3) multiple choice skill practice, and (4) vocabulary practice. The session will also focus on the Georgia Department of Education website which has a wealth of information for parents to learn about the Georgia Performance Standards and CRCT test preparation. The websites includes the state frameworks tasks for mathematics instruction, parent letters designed to explain mathematics content aligned with the framework tasks, and sample CRCT practice problems.</p>

<p>10:40 – 11:25 AM
III. Middle School Mathematics and the Standards- Based Classroom In this session, parents will learn about what to expect in a standards-based classroom and become more informed regarding the Look For’s that will help equip parents with questions to ask during parent-teacher conferences.</p>

<p>High School Session Descriptions</p>

<p>9:00 - 9:45 AM
I. GPS v QCC This session will provide information regarding the new curriculum, Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), as it compares to the former one, Quality Core Curriculum (QCC).</p>

<p>9:50 - 10:35 AM
II. The Standards-Based High School Math Classroom This session will discuss and model the standards-based instructional strategies, which should be used in each high school mathematics classroom.</p>

<p>10:40 - 11:25 AM
III. Testing 101 This session will highlight the high-stakes tests associated with each grade level as well as provide test-taking strategies that parents can implement to benefit their children.</p>

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<p>I’m a sophomore in Georgia and my class is the guinea pigs basically. Our class is the experiment. Last year, a lot of kids failed math. There was about ten kids I knew in my class over the year that failed. I was in the Accelerated path and got a 72 both semesters. I’m now in the CP track and I got an 88% last semester. I am basically in a remediation class because we are learning the same exact thing as last year. My teacher last year was terrible, she told us to do homework before she taught the lesson. I could have stayed in the honors track, but it already ruined my GPA. I knew a lot of “smart” kids who had to have tutors for the first time. This year, a lot of CP kids are doing better but lots of the honors kids are doing the same. I should note that my guidance counselor would not let me drop down last year.</p>

<p>Teachers originally hated the idea, but now some like it and some do not. The thing my current teacher and I do not like about it is the levels. You either go really fast or really slow. There is no in between. CP is the new technical class, there is no more technical diploma. We learned new things in the beginning of the semester (Stats) and I had an high A and then we learned things I already learned last year and I still struggled with it. I think it is because of the curriculum, I do not like it. Math is my weakest subject and I need one year of one subject. We did geometry last semester and are doing algebra this semester. It was the opposite for me last year. Though, CP kids will get to a higher level in math now. I will take Pre Cal my junior year and Cal my senior year. The former CP math kids only went up to Pre Cal or Stats. I am going to try and take math at a CC my senior year however.</p>