Just wrote this math rant on a community forum, but thought it might apply for any of you concerned parents: Math!! Don’t get me started. Ok since you asked… :) I believe the math issues in the Issaquah school district go far beyond one type of math. WARNING: Rant ahead! I’ve had three children go up in the Issaquah school district through Cascade Ridge, BLMS, and Skyline. Let’s start with my oldest. Stay with me--this is not a brag, but foreshadowing: This kid is bright. He self-taught himself to read at age 4. Hyperfocus on things he loved, but haphazard on that which he didn’t. He was reading Harry Potter fluently at 5. No struggles except with organization. Solid in math in his Bay Area school. We moved here in 4th grade and were a little skeptical of the math. This was pre-Everyday Math. Still the program was not impressive and very similar. To rewind, you have me a poli-sci major who struggled fiercely with math and my husband a Berkeley mechanical engineer and supply chain guy growing up with a mother with a masters in mathematics and a geo-physicist dad. Yeah, a little lopsided. So we had a deal: He would take math and I would do LAS/SS for kids. He took one look at the work at Cascade Ridge and gave up. The ridiculous fuzzy, spiral math they teach with emphasis on ludicrous exactly-formed, nitpicky answers (regardless of whether it’s the correct answer) using ridiculous lattice-gobbley-gook methods makes it nigh on impossible as parents to help. So fast forward to 5th grade? We spent up to two hours each night with my son on math. So many tears. So much frustration. Then? I had a conniption at his parent-teacher conference when his teacher gave him an overall “4” on math. Her response, “I thought you’d be happy with a 4.” Umm, no, I want an accurate reflection of my child’s mathematical abilities.This was also the teacher that asked kids to raise their hands if they believe in God. No joke. We tried to get out of the class...unsuccessfully. The principal assured me that CRE parents put so much pressure on teachers like these that she was confident she wouldnt be back. Still that didnt help us stuck in that classroom. Luckily, she only lasted 1 year at CRE (onward to Echo Glenn where no parents to critique her), but the damage was done. Before 6th grade started, I was also told in an auditorium that we helicopter parents needed to back off and let our children do it on their own. More foreshadowing: Foolishly, I complied. Onward to 6th grade at BLMS where he received A-/B+ in Pre-algebra. It was a big change back to what I call traditional math. By this point, he was dependent on his calculator with no ability to discern if he hit a wrong button by having a estimate or general idea of what the answer should look like. Yes, the evils of calculators. Finally he was taught long division in the schools. Totally calculator dependent. Still he seemed to be ok. All A’s on homework, but significantly lower on tests. Great teacher in a supportive sense. Seventh grade? All homework was spot checked and graded in class by students. Answers were in the back of the book tempting kids that didn’t understand. Homework, quizzes, tests, and chapter, and unit tests were not returned/entered until 6 weeks later when it was too late to discern the student was struggling. D on quiz, 2nd D on quiz, F on test, D on unit test….bam, bam, bam! All these showed up at once when it was too late to catch it. This was the problem with all classes at BLMS. Teachers with student-high piles of papers to grade in their classrooms. When I complained, I was told they were within their rights to report grades every 6 weeks. I am sorry, but WTF? How are we parents supposed to know how they are doing if work is not returned in a timely manner? Even worse, we never get tests back and yes this continues through Skyline? How does one study for a unit test if one doesn’t have the results of the quiz to know ones missteps and re-work it at home before a test?? I’ve been told it’s because the teachers are “too lazy” to make new tests every year and so use the same tests years after year. I don’t know if this is true. Still he managed A’s and B’s so imagine our shock when he FAILED the WASL. 8th grade? Math lab it was. Kids referred to it disparagingly at SP-ED Math. Special Ed math for as the kids called them, “ r$t$rds.” :( Huge hit on his confidence. So he was to go to his regular math class then on to math lab where they would cover the material in-depth with different methods and a little slower. Everything sounded great. He had A’s. Oh wait? What’s this? I find out for the first semester all homework and tests were immediately forwarded to the lab. There they were allowed to grade them as a class and CHANGE their answers. Yes, change the answers on the TESTS. ((Jaw Drop)) Once off this system the 2nd semester, his grade drops to B/B-. Still they say he’s good to go for Geometry 9th grade. Yay! Geometry being pretty different in a curriculum sense and having a great Skyline teacher, he does well. A’s and B’s. 10th grade Algebra 2? FAIL! Death spiral. D in class. We go in and realize he is so far behind it’s impossible to catch up. His teacher agrees. We go to talk to counselor. At this point, my son had been diagnosed with ADHD finally, so it explains the inability to focus on the ten-bajillion different explanations on simple division of what I now call junk math in 4th and 5th grade. At this time, we have him start using KHAN Academy ( khanacademy ) from the beginning. The VERY beginning. Starting with addition. We find HUGE gaps in knowledge on basic tripl-digit multiplication, long division, fractions--basically everything he did between 4-7th grades. We can see where he spends 30-40 minutes on basic arithmetic. Khan tracks it. Yes, he understood higher algebraic concepts, but couldn’t understand decimals!! We were shocked. So we asked again to pull him out and put him back in Algebra 1 for the 2nd semester. The counselor resisted and actually told me, “Well a D is passing.” ((crickets)) We also have a 504 meeting with teachers, staff and VP. During the four years we have been at Skyline, we never did get a 504 for my son despite our pediatric neurologist saying he needed one and suggesting we sue. Yes, she said get a lawyer, but with two other kids in the district, we worried about repercussions. We were told 504’s were for kids failing and his B average in 9th-10th grade was too high--yes there were C’s and D’s in math and LA, but hey an A in PE, Art, etc. Ugh! We did have his LASS Honors teacher advocate that his test scores were two grades/deviations lower than his other work, but she was ignored. His counselor’s first response was, “Let’s assess the rigor of his program. Apparently in his mind, ADHD meant less intelligent and the response was to pull him out of honors and challenging classes rather than provide a binding contract of quiet rooms for tests, extra time for tests and sitting at the front of the class. No matter he wasn’t working at his full potential. No matter they put my tall ADHD kid in the back of classes of up to 69 students because. “he was tall.” No matter each semester his new teachers had no idea he had ADHD and didn’t watch out for his focus issues. Sigh... At that point, I then told them at the 504 meeting about that auditorium in middle school where they told us helicopter parents to back off. Then I looked each teacher and principal in the eye at that meeting and said, “Fair warning: This helicopter mom is back in.” I don’t think they liked me after that. After a while, they refused to meet with us to discuss 504’s. At this point, remember that 4 year old self-taught, bright kid? Who always wanted to go to my husband’s and my alma mater Cal? He hated himself. Thought he was stupid. Did not plan to go to college. No self-esteem. Broke our hearts. Seriously resigned himself to a life of minimum wage jobs. We insisted he go back to Algebra 1. 2nd semester Algebra 1? AWESOME. Fantastic teacher. He got 98%. Picked up on the gaps. Self-esteem starts to rebound. Continued to work Khan as well that semester and throughout the summer. Alegebra 2? Fantastic teacher. Of course, she lost her job because of tenure. She moved on to North Bend school and they are lucky to have her. Again 98% all year long. All gaps covered. He continued to work with Khan through the summer. Senior year? Precalculus. All A’s. Taking IB Chemistry and IB Computer Science and Physics along with that. Best GPA ever. Accepted to UW!!!! Plans to major in computer science. Considers math his “BEST subject.” Life is good. What I am trying to say is the math program in the ISD elementary and middle school levels failed my son. Skyline school failed him for his disability. We cannot wait for the teachers, schools, and system to do anything for them. PLEASE Do NOT listen when they say back off at BLMS!! Your job is to be a parent. Your kids need you. Learn from my mistakes. When we moved to Washington, my realtor thought I was crazy. I only looked at tests scores and school rankings to choose where we lived. It was between Cascade Ridge/Sammamish, or Bellevue or Mercer Island. I have since realized it’s not necessarily the schools that are good, but the involved parents and their ability to pay for tutors/tutor their kids. I understand at least from talking to the parents of my son’s peers that almost 60% of the kids had tutors in math starting in middle school. Not everyone can afford that nor should they have to, but this is what I understand is the case. For those that don’t have tutors, at least in math, I HIGHLY recommend Khan Academy. It’s a free non-profit. It’s simple. It’s amazing. Bill Gates’ kid even uses it. So my younger two kids? I put them on Khan at the same time as my son even though they had no struggles. My youngest who had always done reasonably well getting 4’s/440’s on standardized tests posted a fantastic score in the 500’s after months of Khan. They put him in both the advanced math pull out program and the gifted program the next year at Cascade Ridge where Ms Lindenberger rocked! He was challenged. He also has ADHD. We caught it early this time. I’ve also discovered that I potentially have ADHD and as a 41 year old, it was a revelation for my math struggles from all those years ago. I still to this day have poor self-esteem when it comes to math. In 6th grade, at BLMS, he is getting straight A’s and is in the Advanced Math program.Yes, he is taking the class in 6th grade that my eldest had to retake in 10th grade. I feel confident we made sure there were no gaps, but still, we will do Khan on breaks and over the summer. 1 hour a day in summer because I no longer trust the ISD math program. I link modules completed in Khan to minutes for video game minutes. I originally gave a $ incentive. MISTAKE!! The kids were doing 8 hours a day. Heh! My daughter at Skyline has A’s in Geometry in 9th grade as she did in her math courses at BLMS. She does Khan as well. I recall she was in 3rd grade when Everyday Math started. It was a nightmare, but she had two fantastic (30+ years experience teaching) old-school teachers in 3rd grade and then again in 5th grade that supplemented the crap out of the program. Added in the rote work. Made their own hybrid programs so she had a solid foundation. Will she do Khan this summer? Absolutely! And so my takeaway? Ignore when teachers call you “silly.” You are your children’s best advocates. Just because a school looks good on paper, wins awards, and gets high scores does not mean they will justice for YOUR child. Odds are those high scores came from parental involvement, opportunities from a more affluent area, tutors, and a few good teachers--not the curriculum or the school district. Stepping off my soap box….sorry for the long rant!
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 19:17:40 +0000
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