Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland: Jerome Dancis

Showing posts with label Jerome Dancis. Show all posts

Monday, January 27, 2014

Dancis: Do not rush students into Algebra in Grade 8

Is PISA [Program for International Student Assessment] valid? The question rarely asked. Answer: NO!

It's Finland Beware – NOT Beware of Finland. Finnish engineering students have difficulty with fractions and simple algebraic expressions.
"What does [how students answered the questions on] the International PISA Math Test Really Tell Us?" is the title of my article," which appeared in American Association of School Administrators Journal of Scholarship and Practice. See Pages 31-42 at
http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Publications/Journals/AASA_Journal_of_Scholarship_and_Practice/JPS-Winter2014-FINAL.pdf

What does PISA Math Really tell us? Students need instruction in multi-step Arithmetic word problems.

What does PISA Math not tell us? Students need instruction in Arithmetic and Algebraic calculations. Students need the opportunity to develop "number sense".

For these reasons, do not rush students into Algebra in Grade 8.

Jerome Dancis, PhD

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Dr. Dancis questions Secy Duncan on middle school math

Education Secretary Arne Duncan at the Brookings Institute on C-Span Video. See Dr. Jerome Dancis' question to him on middle school math instruction at minute 19 to 22 on the video.

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Principles

Formed in 2002, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.

E-mail: parentscoalitionmc AT outlook.com

What The Washington Post said about the Parents' Coalition

The coalition might be the best-known parent advocacy group in the region. Its members represent several constituencies, including parents of special education and gifted education students and fiscal watchdogs. The group's defining victory came this school year when the school system scaled back the fees charged to families for course materials.

Coalition leaders have drawn attention to the misuse of funds collected from students for activities, the broadcast of a commercial radio service on school buses and, with their "Weast Watch" blog, the travel habits of Weast and his lieutenants.

The Washington Post, June 4, 2009

Jerry Weast on the Parents' Coalition

"Along the way, you’ve had a challenging relationship with the Parents’ Coalition, the network of citizen activists who use the political process and other means to hold MCPS accountable.

The thing people accuse me of is listening, but not hearing. I hear, but I do not always agree. I am sorry that the world is faster than it was 10 years ago. I did not do that. [But] if we do not keep up, then our kids will be behind. We have to stop whining and get real."

Bethesda Magazine, March-April 2011