Sixth-graders in the math class taught by Marietta Gibb and Nicole Parasiliti at DeWitt Middle School in Ithaca, N.Y., work in small groups to practice different skills in the same class. ITHACA, N.Y. — On a frigid Thursday in February, math teacher Marietta Gibb was warming up her sixth-graders at DeWitt Middle School with some algebraic expressions.
But the racial divide wasn’t Ithaca’s only concern. Students in accelerated math were struggling when they entered high school, having failed to pick up the skills they needed. Tracking didn’t seem to benefit anyone, so Ithaca becameMath is the most-tracked subject in school: Three-quarters of eighth-graders attend math classes that are segregated by ability, according to the latest federal data.
The teachers worried the process for tracking kids was overly subjective. Students were placed in regular or accelerated math at the end of fifth grade based on teacher recommendations. But teachers complained of sometimes feeling pressured by parents to recommend their children for accelerated math.
The district liked what it saw and decided to take the changes a few steps further. In fall 2019, Boynton, the district’s other middle school, adopted DeWitt’s two tiers for eighth-grade math. Meanwhile, sixth- and seventh-grade math collapsed from two tracks to one. To support the changes, the district hired teachers to give kids more individual attention and help them work more easily in small groups.But almost immediately, parent opposition sprouted.
The difficulty I find is that when mixing abilities, lazy teachers put stronger kids next to weaker kids and expect them to help. It's because they don't have the resources. I know kids that this happens to, it slows them down and frustrates them.
This is absurd. Some people are more skilled at math and in other advanced courses than others. There's no reason to hold those kids back so the other kids don't feel bad.
After reading the negative comments I draw the conclusion that the real issue is not funding education at a level for kids to be successful.
Me in high school: this is stupid, we're never going to use this in the real world. Me now doing FV, PV, NPV, and IRR calculations, figuring discount rates, and so on: Ah. Got it.
Yea, let’s only be as good as the dumbest kid! liberalLOGIC
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