tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11712764.post1977303907090640495..comments2023-12-26T01:53:37.129-07:00Comments on 'Burque Babble: America's Do We Really Have A Choiceâ„¢? A Non-Math Teacher's Uninformed Non-Reportjscotkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09824360655778237168noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11712764.post-33719993607047001832009-05-17T22:11:00.000-06:002009-05-17T22:11:00.000-06:00Was looking for online reviews of America's Choice...Was looking for online reviews of America's Choice programs and saw this blog. Love the "mudunclear" description. <br /><br />Before I make my comments, I want to just say that Johns Hopkins U. has done some nice comparisons of "research based" (gag) programs for math and language. Results are at www.bestevidence.org. <br /><br />I am a MS math teacher. Or at least I used to be. Now, I am not sure what I am exactly aside from an overpaid babysitter and a pawn in a very costly game of making some folks "successful" at the cost of our students, our teachers, and the taxpayers.<br /><br /><br />My school adapted RampUp mid-year this year. A couple days were lost to testing students for the program, and catching up with those absent during testing. Then came the disruption of student schedules being shuffled with some limbo time between testing and shuffling as we waited for our new classes to be formed. Then came the training---I think a total of 10 days, with more that we were supposed to have, but I could not justify being away from my students that long. <br /><br />Pros of the program: The "concept book" is nice---students can almost self teach from it, and it has examples of how to solve a variety of problem.<br />Presentation is good. Simple, straight to the point. Not cluttered. A predictable flow of activities. Teacher's guide shows student book.<br /><br />Cons: Does not follow the same sequence as the APS curriculum map for MS mathematics, so the kids are screwed when they take the <br />A2L tests. I asked mutltiple times at training sessions, inservices, etc. how to resolve that issue since A2L results are being used for summer school, AIPs and placement. No answers. <br />More "mudunclear" guidance from APS as to what grade levels to use it with. 6 and 7? 7 and 8? Aren't we heading toward consistancy within the district? <br />Materials management is an issue with check out and return of not just one textbook, but 8 mini-books plus the concept book. Navigator is even more cumbersome with cards and keychains to keep track of.<br />Scheduling for Navigator will be "interesting" since it is done as 4 week mini classes geared to certain groups of students missing a particular concept. Who is going to be doing the moving of the kids so they are getting what they really need?<br /><br />Another concern is that some of the same district higher level folks who "selected" this have now left or are leaving APS to work for.......America's Choice. I have not always taught, and where I used to work that would have been callled conflect of interest.<br /> <br />Training (one figure I saw said the cost per teacher for 9 days of training was $3,300) was expensive, and a waste of money because issues that needed to be addressed by the district regarding implementation of the program were not answered. I wish I could make $3,300 in 9 days! Last I knew, the Abq. America's Choice offices are near Old Town, behind St. Claire Winery.<br /><br />Last thing I want to speak out on is that when they start looking at district scores and whether various programs provided higher levels of success, I do hope that someone will be looking at the fact that most schools did try to inrease length of math periods. ANY curriculm is going to do better when you give it more time!<br /><br />That's all folks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com