Numerical News
How much is enough?
Right after winter break I gave students a Mid Year assessment to measure their retained knowledge through 9chapters. The test didn’t count toward their grade, but it provided me, and your students, with valuable information. It told me which concepts students are mastering and retaining. The test results told me which concepts need extra attention in class because enough students didn’t prove mastery over the concept. The test results showed each student’s individual strengths and weaknesses at that point in time.
Based on individual test results students were asked to watch some lessons within digits and complete a reinforcement packet. Based on the results of the packet students were asked to come see me during study center for individual help. Some students took the opportunity to grow more seriously than others. Some students now have a better understanding of the material than they did when they took the Mid Year Assessment, but some students still haven’t mastered the material.
As a teacher I have to ask, “How much additional student effort/work is enough to insure mastery? How much time should your student devote to mastering 6th grade math?”
As a parent I can certainly empathize with thesequestions. As a teacher I can understand the frustration that increasing student demands cause. So how much work is enough? How much time should a child spend outside of school working on math concepts that the student hasn’t mastered?
Increasingly we are told that American/Ohio schools are failing and that students aren’t prepared for college, or careers, upon high school graduation. We are told that students do not have a mastery of fundamental math skills, let alone more complex levels of math. We are compared to other countries who year after year, decade after decade, score higher on standardized tests. If America scores lower, we are told, we must expect more from our teachers, our curriculum, and our students. I’ll allow others to argue whether these statements are valid, but these beliefs drive a lot of what happens in education.
I see the demands placed on my own children from their schools and know that their curriculum is much more rigorous and much more demanding then when I was their age. I know the Dublin City Schools curriculum is much more rigorous and demanding then when I was in 6th grade. So how much work is enough? How much should your student work at home, if they haven’t mastered fundamental math skills? My answer; “I don’t know”.
I can tell you that math will never be easier than it is today. Each year your student is in math, the curriculum will get more complex and more time consuming. The homework assignments will get longer. If your child hasn’t mastered the basic math concepts covered from Kindergarten through 6th grade before they leave 6th grade, then your student will find math more challenging than necessary.
Most of my students tell me that on most nights they spend less than 30 minutes on math homework. This is deliberate on my part because I get to see them do their “homework”. I get to help them with their homework and catch a lot of the problems before they become entrenched so mastery comes more quickly.
Unfortunately short-term mastery doesn’t guarantee long-term mastery. I believe that 15 minutes extra invested per night now to help insure mastery can produce massive benefits later. Some students might need more time, some less. So how much work is enough is up to each family. You know what is best for your child and my suggestions are only intended to inform and hopefully help.
Feel free to email me, if there is a topic you would like me to write about in a future Numerical News.