Foot a Little Off the Gas Pedal in Maryland

  

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In November, Montgomery County schools, the largest school system in Maryland, decided after long study to dial back on its practice of accelerating elementary and middle school students briskly through math levels and topics.

It seems the practice had become quite aggressive, and concern grew about gaps and faults in students’ fundamental understanding of math. Maybe a sort of Peter Principle of math at work here.

The decision is of course controversial. You can read about it here in an excellent Washington Post article. One expert cited is William Schmidt, a Michigan State University professor of education and statistics, who says he has never understood the constant push for acceleration in math, and that students would be better served by moving slowly and with more understanding through math, and arriving at college truly ready for college-level math.

It must be hard, in a high-powered place like Montgomery County, to take a stand against the thinking that earlier and faster is always better. But it sounds to me like they are taking a good faith stab at it.

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