tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post4486711002402560959..comments2024-03-18T01:24:59.573-05:00Comments on a blog about school: Is more better?Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12919030671050831251noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-7783137385266248232013-06-28T10:31:31.545-05:002013-06-28T10:31:31.545-05:00Wonderful!
See "Doing More Time in School&qu...Wonderful!<br /><br />See "Doing More Time in School" by Dr. Peter Gray: http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/peter_gray7.html .<br /><br />Jan Huntjanhunthttp://www.naturalchild.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-825874777241485742011-01-18T00:43:33.713-06:002011-01-18T00:43:33.713-06:00KD -- Yes, there was a time when standardized test...KD -- Yes, there was a time when standardized tests were used for diagnostic purposes, to get a sense of what a particular child was already able to do and what he or she still hadn't mastered. When that's what they're used for, there's no need to aggregate the scores and compare classrooms or schools. Seems like ancient history now.<br /><br />As for the way math is taught, that's a subject I've largely avoided here. I don't have a strong or particularly informed opinion about how math should be taught, though our household has not been without its struggles with Everyday Math. My main worry is that we push math more than we need to in elementary school, when a lot of it might be learned with less time and anxiety if we waited until the kids were a little older. (See my post <a href="http://ablogaboutschool.blogspot.com/2010/05/is-math-necessary-in-elementary-school.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.) Raising kids' math scores isn't worth much if it comes at the cost of making them dislike or fear math over the long term.<br /><br />You might be interested in northTOmom's discussion of constructivist math programs <a href="http://northtomom.blogspot.com/2010/10/this-math-depresses-me.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>, updated <a href="http://northtomom.blogspot.com/2010/11/this-math-depresses-meupdate.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12919030671050831251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-54328831191695354002011-01-18T00:17:05.430-06:002011-01-18T00:17:05.430-06:00Thanks, FedUpMom. I'll cross-post it.Thanks, FedUpMom. I'll cross-post it.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12919030671050831251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-39315507502278352742011-01-17T10:04:24.195-06:002011-01-17T10:04:24.195-06:00"Mathematics is normally taught about three l..."Mathematics is normally taught about three lessons a week at that age."<br /><br />This is unbelievable. My daughters have math daily, with double periods (80 minutes) several times a week. This is an EQAO year (Ontario's standardized tests) for my girls, so the teacher is really piling on the math. Yet the example of Finland shows us once again that more is indeed <em>not</em> better. The Ontario government has been bragging its head off about the province's most recent PISA scores, but it neglects to mention that although reading scores are quite high, math scores have actually dropped somewhat compared to previous years. Perhaps it has something to do with the math overload that my daughters are currently experiencing?StepfordTOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08340282997915000608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-8865774541261899442011-01-17T01:01:06.465-06:002011-01-17T01:01:06.465-06:00One more comment, regarding standardized tests. I...One more comment, regarding standardized tests. Iowa has a very long history of using standardized tests. Most of my school career was in Iowa, in a private school. It was my understanding that all schools, even private schools were to administer the tests. In those days the results were never made public, and the tests were supposed to help look at ways in which they could improve. I'm not clear though that the schools really did anything with the data though.<br /><br />The sample- based learning tests mentioned in the article sound interesting, as a way to inform school administrators.KDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07883213697051461818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-25626888508607584972011-01-17T00:52:01.769-06:002011-01-17T00:52:01.769-06:00I agree that simply adding minutes to the school d...I agree that simply adding minutes to the school day is no guarantee of results. I also believe before the district adopts approaches like a longer school day or a balanced calendar, it should be looking at other variables.<br /><br />I can easily see how one could get more accomplished in less time depending on the approach used in the classroom. I found it interesting that you used the word "instruction". Many times, especially with the previous math curriculum, I'm not sure how much instruction was going on in the classroom. Under the previous curriculm kids were supposed to "discover" math, and the teacher was to function as a "guide on the side" as opposed to a "sage on the stage". While the guide on the side approach sounds nice in theory, I think it is hard to do in practice.<br /><br />At the current time US schools can choose from a diverse variety of approaches to math instruction, so it would be hard to compare what Finland might be doing right vs. what the US is doing wrong.KDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07883213697051461818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-22126938445034687812011-01-16T16:47:15.381-06:002011-01-16T16:47:15.381-06:00Chris, this is excellent. Could you cross-post it...Chris, this is excellent. Could you cross-post it to Kid-Friendly Schools? Thanks!FedUpMomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00951858601020687242noreply@blogger.com