14 Sep 2005 - 04:43

can't float this year either

Well, tonight I finally quit dithering and (e-)mailed off a letter to Ben's math teacher and his case worker.

Things haven't been going so well in math class the last couple of weeks. Ben brought home a failing grade on a factoring quiz last Friday, because he hadn't been paying attention in class, and because (I think) he misunderstood the quiz instructions.

Today he reported that they were doing a Connected Math group project, and there was a worksheet to be done. Ben's group of kids was given one worksheet, and Ben never got access to it; he had to try to read it upside down, and as a result, he only did one question out of three (not only that; I very much fear that the assignment was part of the dreaded My Special Number project).

Well, everyone is very well-intentioned and kind; but things are just not going very well. If middle school is sink-or-swim, Ben is sinking.

So I wrote this email. Names are substituted to protect the well-intentioned.

Dear Math Teacher,

I also need to level with you and Caseworker on another issue (although Caseworker knows about most of this from B's transition meeting last year). I am a math Ph.D., a former math professor and current engineer/researcher, and I run a website about mathematics education. I am very familiar with Connected Mathematics, as well as most of the other mathematics curricula that are currently used.

Last school year, I went to great lengths to find and open enroll B at a school in BVSD that did not use Connected Math. I was able to find only two schools that did not use Connected Math in the district; one was yours (I found out that yours did not use CMP by calling the school and asking. I was switched to someone in the math department who told me that you were using Prentice Hall). I was told by many parents that your school had a traditional math program, and that it was the best program in the city. I was dumbfounded and not happy to find, when I came to introduce myself the first day of school, that 6th grade math is using Connected Math in addition to Prentice Hall.

This is the reason I went to such great lengths to avoid Connected Math for B: CMP is a constructivist, group-activity-oriented math curriculum, with much in common with Everyday Math, the curriculum B used in grade school in 4th and 5th grade. His ability to function in class sharply declined when Everyday Math was introduced; this is well-documented and his sped teacher from High Peaks will back me on that.

Here are a couple of reasons for that:

-- CMP adheres to the notion that exposition is important in math ed, so that kids spend a lot of effort explaining what they've done (rather than simply showing their work). B is verbally delayed, whereas mathematically he has been on or ahead of target. Math is his strong suit, and language is not.

-- As today's activity shows, B is at a real disadvantage in group work, and I would prefer not to have him work on his social skills in math class. Unlike many other topics (eg English and Social studies), math is a cumulative body of skills and understanding. If B spaces out or is edged out of a group activity while studying the Aztecs, all he'll lose out on is knowledge about the Aztecs; if he misses out on learning about fractions, he'll be at a huge disadvantage indefinitely.

I have no problem with prentice hall. I do wonder, though, why B never seems to have assignments from it.

I decided to give the new school year a chance before mentioning all of this, but enough is going wrong for B in his math class that I am growing quite concerned and feel I need to bring all of this up. Of course, attending in class is going to be difficult for him no matter what curriculum is used. I can tell from your email that you can see that now. :)

All of this is nothing personal at all, by the way. B likes you very much and thinks you are a kind teacher, and I appreciate that a lot.

We can discuss all of this next week when we meet. I'm open to suggestions for mitigating the problems, or for changes. I just don't want to let things go.

Sincerely,
Carolyn

I'm actually very tired of swimming upstream, and wish I could just turn over and float for a while; but when it's your kid, you just can't quit trying to make things as right as you can.

Back to main page.

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Well, this is a timely post, as I am steaming first thing this morning.

Ms. Kahl (I personally have a Name Names policy) gave Christopher a 1 out of a possible 2 points on his first homework assignment, because he failed to rewrite the problems from the book onto his paper.

She did not grade the homework; she did not check any of his answers.

Not one.

She walked around the class carrying her Special Stamp, and stamped each child's paper with a "Good" or an "Incomplete."

Needless to say, the girls did very well; the boys all bombed.

I checked all his answers, btw; I did the homework with him. Every answer was correct.

I'm thinking this teacher needs a message from me today. She was the teacher parents were so furiously angry with last year. Parents were so furiously angry the district had to organize a Phase 4 Math Meeting that the principal of the school, the assistant superintendent for curriculum, and, IIRC, a guidance counselor or two attended. No one likes that in this district (or in any district, I'm sure), so she's got a Big Black Mark on her own permanent record.

But I'm going to force myself to THINK before I send anything off.

And in the meantime content myself with boldfacing her name here.

[Checked with Christopher; the kids did check their answers 'with each other.' He got 100% correct.]

-- CatherineJohnson - 14 Sep 2005

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NO FLOATING

Remember that!

Thank God I'm Scots-Irish.

-- CatherineJohnson - 14 Sep 2005

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Carolyn,

Doesn't Ben have an IEP? The IEP is a legal document with goals and objectives. The school is legally obligated to adhere to them. Also, since it is a legal document, there is an entire appeals process.

One last thing: there is a clause somewhere in the IDEA law that states (paraphrasing here) that if a school district cannot provide what the student needs, then they have to pay for a school that does.

I hired an special education advocate (a lawyer who specializes in the IDEA law) when Daniel was in first grade. It was worth every penny. They know absolutely all the ins and outs of the law and the school district. They know how to write letters to get action.

There is a website (typical Anne can't remember what it is called or how to access it) that explains all this and how to advocate for yourself.

If Ben doesn't have an IEP, I would very strongly recommend getting one for him.

-- AnneDwyer - 14 Sep 2005

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We've been hiring lawyers for years.

It's still a struggle.

This year we hired a lawyer--or started to hire a lawyer--for both Andrew & Jimmy when the special ed program jumped the tracks.

$6000

Just for starters.

-- CatherineJohnson - 14 Sep 2005

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The web site is probably Wrightslaw.....is that it?

-- CatherineJohnson - 14 Sep 2005

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Hi Anne!

Ben does have an IEP. We have an annual staffing next month, and a meeting about the math situation next week.

I've looked at Wrightslaw in the past but not for a while. TIme to do it again; maybe even time to get a mouthpiece.

-- CarolynJohnston - 15 Sep 2005

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Carolyn,

I got my special education advocate by asking around to see if anyone had had any issues with the school district that they had to get resolved. She was very good. She helped me organize my documents, reviewed all of them, came to my meeting, and helped me write letters. Writing letters in a way that gets action is a very important skill. Since the law is so specialized, it helps to have someone who knows how its done. Additionally, she was wired into the school district so she knew whether the team at the school was good and what their strenghs and weaknesses were. She charged by the hour, but didn't nickel and dime me on every little phone call or quarter of an hour.

Honestly, I would find someone good and take them with me to the meeting. The school always sits up and takes notice when you bring in someone from the outside.

Have you looked into alternate schooling for Ben? There was an article in the NYTimes (which I saved but cannot for the life of me find) about Winwood School in New York. It is a school for children with disabilities. Their main objective is to get kids caught up so that they can go back to their home schools. But some kids graduate from the school. Their teaching methods are totally traditional with an emphasis on minimizing noise and distraction. But the main point of the article was that many of the students were there on their school district's dime because they couldn't provide an appropriate program. It didn't say how much trouble it was to get this to happen.

The point is that Ben should have goals written into his IEP for math. If this classroom is not going to allow him to meet his goals, then they are legally obligated to change it. (I think....you need a person who really knows). I don't know how specific your goals are. But if they are very specific (i.e. Ben will learn thus and so this year) and Connected Math doesn't actually teach it, then he can't learn it.

-- AnneDwyer - 15 Sep 2005

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"The point is that Ben should have goals written into his IEP for math. If this classroom is not going to allow him to meet his goals, then they are legally obligated to change it."

Why does it take an IEP and legal action to get a school to respond? (Actually, it sounds like IEPs don't work if you have to get legal representation.) Why leave out the non-IEP students? We want to support the legal community too. I had a school committee member tell me once that she thought an IEP for all students was an ideal. About 20-25 percent of the students in our schools are IEP students. In our state, if you need specialized help in even one small area, you get an IEP. I would love to be a (required) full partner in my son's education, but it sounds like having an IEP is no guarantee.

The school loves it when parents are uncritical cookie-bakers and helping hands. When I offered to be a member of a new curriculum committee, the superintendent said OK, but the committee was never formed and the school went ahead and kept MathLand and added CMP. They really love their monopoly and don't want anyone telling them what to do.

"But the main point of the article was that many of the students were there on their school district's dime because they couldn't provide an appropriate program."

My son is not an IEP student, but he was learning very little during the day because the pace was so slow and the content very poor. (MathLand!) That was not appropriate at all! But what's the use of an IEP if you have to start legal action? Twenty five percent of the students in our town go to other schools, paid mostly out of their parents' pockets, in spite of the fact that two-thirds of our property tax goes to the school budget. They try to characterize all of them as elitists. The problem seems so intractable and exasperating to these parents that they move their kids and wash their hands of the whole problem. (Except that they might not be willing to support increases to the school budget.)

Our schools have a good reputation for handling IEP students. So much so that people move to our town just for that reason. (Apparently, they don't know or care about MathLand.) The school and school committee even talk about bringing in money by "tuitioning-in" IEP students from other towns. It seems that they don't care about driving away students who are ready and willing to do more. With full-inclusion and no tracking, they rely on "differentiated learning" to solve the problem of a very wide range of abilities. It ends up as differentiated enrichment homework. It doesn't work. They called it an "academic ceiling". I find it very interesting that they changed it to "performance ceiling". This implies that the problem is with the student and not the school.

I would say that the problem is not an IEP problem. It's a philosophy and monopoly problem. Schools want to do what they want to do (or able to do with union rules) and parents have very little leverage. As a parent, I dont expect to march into a school and demand change. However, I don't want to be ignored (or get the smile and head nod). A better answer would be to have the money follow the student with the parents directing where the student goes.

-- SteveH - 15 Sep 2005

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"With full-inclusion and no tracking, they rely on 'differentiated learning' to solve the problem of a very wide range of abilities. It ends up as differentiated enrichment homework. It doesn't work. They called it an 'academic ceiling'."

Couldn't have said it better. Ed school grads are particularly mired in this thinking. They truly believe they can effectively teach the entire bell curve with no problems. I once asked my son's principal, who mentioned that she really believed in the non-tracking approach, how she would meet the needs of my two sons (one is in the 99th+ percentile and the other is in the bottom 3rd) if they were in the same class with 20-something other kids of varying abilities. Since she knows them both she actually looked like she had never considered such a scenario. It would have been a disaster for both of them. I don't understand why they don't get this.

I've never had many problems with my son's IEP because I've never challenged them. I have to pick my battles and in general, most parents are thrilled when their children get what appears to be "extra" out of their districts.

The biggest complaints concerning IEPs that I hear about are with kids who have maybe one or two issues. One friend had a son whose IEP stated that he couldn't be penalized in spelling on homework, tests, or essays. When they transferred him to the high school they left off the word "tests," probably by accident. Nobody noticed until a teacher started failing him for spelling on his tests. His mother took it all the way up the chain of command (to the superintendent)and even though she had no knowledge of any changes that were to be made on the high school IEP, the administration did nothing and the boy's grade point average took a big hit. There was no way this mother could hire a lawyer, but it was pretty clear that's what it would take to get any response, in spite of this really being a no-brainer. The kid had an IEP for spelling and a couple of other things. The spirit of the IEP apparently is unseen unless spelled out to the last letter.

So, I think Steve is dead on with the IEP stuff. They hand us these little brochures that explain our rights, but nobody really understands them. They know they are required to provide an "appropriate" education. Nowhere does it say they are required to provide an exceptional one, or even a particularly good one, so when a parent has an issue, they know there isn't much that can be done, particularly if it goes against the school's often unseen philosophy.

-- SusanS - 15 Sep 2005

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Drezner http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/002309.html has a post on math and science. There are tons of interesting reader comments.

A reader comments:

We have innovated the math curriculum into a bizarre shambles which makes absolutely no sense to anyone who acutally knows arithmetic.

My daughter got a "D" on a paper with all correct answers because she did long division the way I was taught, rather than using the "process," whatever the hell that is.

-- CharlesH - 16 Sep 2005