Advanced Math in elementary schools – HELP

Join Teachers.Net

Chatboards

Recent Groups

Third Grade

MEMBERS

12 Members

+ Join Group

Pinned Posts

ALLAll Teachers

Teachers.Net LIVE CHAT Support group - Tues eve!

Featured Jobs

Full-timeMontessori Teacher

Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

TemporaryTeachers, rural schools

Peace River North School District

Full-timeHead Teacher: 2nd/3rd Grades – Mills College Children’s School

Mills College

Teaching Jobs on Teachers.Net

Featured Job special only $39!

https://teachers.net/jobs

Become a Teachers.Net sponsor!

Third Grade Teachers Chatboard

Advanced Math in elementary schools - HELP

by va

May 23, 2012

The elementary school in my area has been teaching advanced math for many years. Students are traditionally heterogeneously grouped but then are regrouped during math time so that one grade level teacher can have the advanced group. This begins in first grade. Next year, the school is going away from advanced math. They say that they will differentiate in the class the way that they do in other subjects. Some teachers and parents think doing away with advanced math at this level is a great idea and others want to see it stay. Please give me your unbiased opinion. What are the pros and cons to having advanced math in the elementary school? HELP needed ASAP.

Comment

(1)

report post

KK ros of having cross-grade-level grouping for math: *It is the easiest subject to accurately group students, and you can offer flexible grouping so that students can change groups, depending on their pre-testing results for each unit or skill. *It allows the top two tiers of students to continue to advance their math skills. This sometimes falls by ...See Moreros of having cross-grade-level grouping for math: *It is the easiest subject to accurately group students, and you can offer flexible grouping so that students can change groups, depending on their pre-testing results for each unit or skill. *It allows the top two tiers of students to continue to advance their math skills. This sometimes falls by the wayside without specific grouping, in favor of ensuring passing scores on standardized tests for kids working at a lower level of readiness. *With STEM fields crying out for qualified workers from U.S. schools, it is unconscionable not to develop mathematical talent. There should be systematic opportunities K-12 for advanced math students. *Grouping based on pre-testing allows schools to allocate resources thoughtfully. The gifted specialist can work with a set of students, while a resource specialist can support a different set of students. In a traditional system, these teachers have to schedule their time in separate classrooms (leaving less time for each room), or pull students out. With this grouping, students have an opportunity to work with different teachers, and a skill or concept may "click" when it is presented a different way by a different instructor. *Teachers can learn to predict errors within specific skills and concepts, and plan instruction accordingly. It is much more difficult to detect these patterns when you are teaching students with a broad range of readiness levels. The process of creating useful pre-tests also requires teachers to be thoughtful about what specific skills they want students to master, and how students will demonstrate that mastery. *Students who are highly advanced benefit from being grouped together and working at a faster pace. Advanced students can feel more comfortable taking leadership roles during class time when the highly advanced students are not in the same group. Other students may feel more comfortable asking questions and practicing skills when they are grouped with students working at similar readiness levels. *You are already providing a system of differentiated math instruction. If you ask each teacher to differentiate for four or five levels of math instruction in a classroom, you will need to provide ongoing professional development to implement that effectively.

Cons of cross-grade-level grouping for math: *It can be difficult to schedule around. For example, cross-grade-level grouping for reading may not be possible in addition to the set time for math, when you also have to accommodate lunch, specials, recess, and so forth. *If the community is not educated properly, concerns about elitism can be a public relations problem. Pre-testing is the key to cross grade level grouping. The groups should be flexible, and be assigned according to student performance on the skill or unit pre-test. The pre-test should be designed thoughtfully, according to what skills students are expected to master. It should anticipate issues students may have with the skill. For example, if the target skill is adding two-digit numbers, there might be four problems without carrying, and four problems that involve carrying. Two problems might be written horizontally, while two are written vertically. Your school can determine what score on the pre-test constitutes mastery, and group students with similar misconceptions together.

Good luck!

On 5/23/12, va wrote: > The elementary school in my area has been teaching advanced > math for many years. Students are traditionally > heterogeneously grouped but then are regrouped during math > time so that one grade level teacher can have the advanced > group. This begins in first grade. Next year, the school is > going away from advanced math. They say that they will > differentiate in the class the way that they do in other > subjects. Some teachers and parents think doing away with > advanced math at this level is a great idea and others want > to see it stay. Please give me your unbiased opinion. What > are the pros and cons to having advanced math in the > elementary school? HELP needed ASAP.

May 23, 2012

report post