“Serving Our Strongest Students”

CAIS Math Day 2008

Please type your answers below and e-mail your completed form as an attachment to CAIS organizer Chris Davies at by TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008.

Please try to be as expansive as possible. The more we share, the more we will take from this day!

(Teachers from the same school should feel free to collaborate on a single questionnaire.)

We hope to share all the completed questionnaires as soon as possible. Depending on how much data we receive, we might post answers online, burn answers to a CD, and/or transfer via flashdrive. Please bring a flashdrive (portable memory stick) to Math Day if possible.

1) Please tell the group about YOURSELF.
Name: Candy Murphy
School: Menlo School
Town: Atherton
Enrollment: 216 in the Middle School
Grades you teach: 6th
Courses you teach: Math
2) Does your school have TRACKING? (or courses offered at “honors” level, or some sort of structured differentiation in the courses?) Explain: Yes, but not in 6th grade. One of four sections in both 7th and 8th is an honors level class.
If you offer advanced classes, briefly describe how they differ from the regular classes? Neither honors class is actually accelerated, only taught at a deeper level with more enrichment. However, Pre-Alg Honors contains more of Alg 1 than does the regular level class. Alg 1 Honors goes on to more Alg 2.
If you offer advanced classes, do you think they benefit the strongest students? What about the rest of the students? Yes, they definitely benefit the strongest students. I also believe it’s better for the rest of the students to have the strongest students in their own class as it allows other strong-but-not-top students to rise up and lead. Builds self confidence that may not develop otherwise.
3) What types of CONTENT ENRICHMENT do you provide for the strongest students? Mention additional problems, projects, extra credit assignments, websites, software, etc. by course (please include as many specifics as you can):
Sixth Grade Math: Each day a warm-up problem is given to the whole class and it is often geared to the strongest students. Math Olympiad problems are often given one at a time. Once a month the actual MO contest is actually given to all students. Once a week during the second semester, top students in each lass are pulled out to work with a parent volunteer on more complex problem solving problems in a small group. No extra credit assignments or separate homework assignments are given.
PreAlgebra:
Algebra:
Geometry:
Algebra 2:
Precalculus:
Calculus:
Statistics:
Other math courses:
4) To what extent are CHALLENGE PROBLEMS (non-routine, math-contest, synthesis type problems that students have not been shown explicitly how to solve) part of the standard curriculum (as opposed to extra credit)? Daily “warm up” problems given – first five to ten minutes of class. Most contest-level questions.
Are students graded on their ability to solve such problems, and if so, how is that done?
Not graded.
5) How do you modify your ASSESSMENT for strong students? Do you grade the strongest students differently or have different standards? No difference.
Do you let strong students skip routine assignments in order to work on advanced assignments?
Occasionally I have tried giving different assignments to my top students, but have found that word spreads quickly and parents call asking if I am beginning to “level” in the 6th grade and why their child didn’t receive the ‘special’ homework. I have also tried giving two assignments and letting students choose which one to do. Interestingly, the less-capable students will often jump to do the higher level homework – and sometimes the top students will opt for the easier homework (because they know it will take less time).
Do your strongest students have difficulty communicating their thinking in oral and/or written form (they can just DO the math in their head)? How do you help them to improve? Yes. I insist that all students show their work in an organized fashion, and the strongest students will sometimes be the ones to really struggle with that requirement. By continuing to encourage them, taking off points when they don’t show the steps required, they come around pretty quickly.
Do you deduct points if answers are correct but the reasoning is not sufficiently communicated? Yes.
6) What other types of PEDAGOGICAL ADJUSTMENTS do you make to serve strong students (Use of class time, differentiated learning, amount of collaborative learning, modified teaching styles, etc.)
7) Does your school allow 9th-12th graders to ACCELERATE in to math courses above their grade level? Yes, once they get to the high school it’s no problem. We can’t do that in the middle school due to scheduling problems and the school’s decision to keep all students in a grade together for academic subjects regardless of ability.
Does your school schedule make this acceleration difficult?
Does your school allow 5th-8th graders to accelerate above age level? How do you weigh the maturity/social issues? No. (See above.)
How is this acceleration accomplished?
Do you receive much parental pressure to allow students to accelerate beyond their age cohort?
Yes, we occasionally have students who choose not to come to Menlo because we don’t allow acceleration in math. We also have some parental pressure once placement is made for 7th Honors as to why their child wasn’t placed in that class.
8) Do you have any SUMMER math offerings on your campus that serve to enrich strong students?
No.
Do you give credit to students who take acceleration/enrichment courses from outside programs?
No.
9) What math COURSES does your school offer for students who have completed Precalculus?
Are there students who run out of math courses to take? What do they do?
10) Does your school have a MATH TEAM?
How much participation is there (in absolute and/or percentage terms)?
About 10 of our 216 students stay for Math Counts after school twice a week. Approx. 5%.
How often are math competitions held on campus?
We have no math competitions on campus.
How often does the team travel to compete?
Once a year.
Do you offer any incentives/extra credit for participating in math team events?
No.
What other things do you do to get your strongest students to participate?
Nothing…yet.
Are your present day mathletes as strong as they were in the past?
11) Do you have a PEER TUTORING program where your strong students can work as math tutors? Describe:
We have high school students who help the middle school students in an after school peer tutoring center. I don’t know that the HS volunteers are necessarily top math students.
12) Do you track (or can you guess) what percent or numbers of your GRADUATES go on to major in mathematical fields? In science?
Do you know if any of your strongest math graduates went on to teach math?
13) What other SUGGESTIONS do you have for serving our strongest students?