Title I Math: Is this good or bad?

[SKL]

My 6yo dds go to a Lutheran school (1st grade). It's small as schools go; there are only 23 first-graders this year. And it's a high-standards school, which proudly publishes its exceptional test scores etc. I always assumed there would be no special help available for kids who struggle in this school.

 

A few months ago, I asked my 6yo dd's teacher whether it were possible for an 8th grader to give my dd some after-school help with math (which I would gladly pay for). She said she'd look into it, and I didn't hear another word about it.

 

Today I learned that she's referred my daughter for Title I math tutoring on Mondays and Tuesdays. She's one of a group of 5 first-graders who (starting today) go to a separate room for tutoring. I asked my dd what the rest of the class was doing while she goes off for math tutoring, and she said this occurs during the math lesson taught by the classroom teacher.

 

On one hand, I'm glad my dd will be given some small-group help. (One-on-one would be better, but can beggars be choosers?) I'm glad the teacher has acknowledged that another approach is needed, as my dd doesn't seem to be able to take instruction from her teacher. On the other hand, I'm concerned that she'll miss the big picture stuff, as the teacher introduces new concepts on Monday each week (or so she told me). Half of me wonders if the teacher is just trying to get rid of an annoyance (the need to repeat math instruction to a child who seems to not listen). The other half of me says, how much worse can it get anyway? At least I have access to the math curriculum online, so I can work with her at home if she seems to be falling behind.

 

And then I wonder further: am I now "tracking" my child? She's not dumb; math is her worst subject, but she scored at the 50th %ile on the ITBS (math section) last spring. She can perform computations just fine, but hasn't caught on to math reasoning (Singapore style) yet. It seems to me like a temporary problem. Is Title I the appropriate solution to a temporary problem? Is that what it's designed to address? I honestly don't know.

 

Does anyone here have any experience or thoughts on this matter?

[Nart]

Title 1 gives federal money to low income students enrolled in both public AND private schools as a way of trying to help those students progress academically. Your local school district must have a significant number of students who receive free and/ or reduced lunch (around 60% of schools in the US are Title 1 schools). The federal government has the local school calculate/estimate how many low income students are enrolled in private schools and then requires the local district to use some funds for private school students. Technically the student at the private school receives the money not the private school. Since the local school district doesn't know who is low income at the private school, they work with the administrators of the private school to identify academic needs and to pick students who may benefit (regardless or not if the student is low income).

 

I would ask who is teaching the math group? I would assume the public school hired the teacher but you should ask. Has the teacher taught Singapore Math or is he or she familiar with the program. Is the teacher going to follow the same lesson plan as the classroom teacher?

[SKL]

Should I ask for a meeting with the Title 1 teacher?

[SKL]

I would ask who is teaching the math group? I would assume the public school hired the teacher but you should ask. Has the teacher taught Singapore Math or is he or she familiar with the program. Is the teacher going to follow the same lesson plan as the classroom teacher?

 

I have the name of the tutor, and she sent a letter saying she's done 8 years of Title 1 and this is her 2nd year at my kids' school. This is the first year that my kids' school is using Singapore (so I don't think their classroom teacher is an expert in it either). I doubt many other schools in the system used it before that.

 

Today, the teacher sent my dd's incompleted math work from last week to be completed with the tutor. I don't know if this is how it will be going forward.

 

I will see what I can find online about this teacher and this program.

[Uff Da!]

nm

[AnIslandGirl]

Extra help is always a good thing!

Are you able to schedule an informal conference with the new teacher? Just to touch base and to see what skills you can be working on at home to help solidify new or emerging math concepts. Sometimes just being on the same page with a teacher is enough to turn this into a great experience for your daughter!

[SKL]

I'm such a doof, I forgot to make a copy of the letter I just signed and sent in. Now I don't have the Title 1 teacher's contact info. I could not find her on the Internet yesterday. Bah.

 

I have received so many recommendations, for those c-rods. I looked at them once before, but they didn't seem right for us (we were not "behind" then). Now I will look again. I apparently missed something the last time.

[Uff Da!]

FYI- As far as the c-rods go, I would be like this :confused1: :willy_nilly: :confused1: without Rosie's videos. Make sure you check those out while you are considering.

[SKL]

What Winter said. Math manipulatives at home are worth their weight in gold, and adding the activities to have the student understand as well as time for free play makes them platinum.

 

I don't think your child is 'tracked' at this point, other than tracked out of the 'high group', or that batch of students that everyone thinks has the 'math gene' but is more likely profoundly gifted and will be wanting algebra in sixth grade, but I don't think that's a great loss. I've known children who have spend Grade 1 and 2 in Reading Recovery and ended up in the Honors English program in 7th. Some students need a different mode of instruction when they are young, different than what the teachers use in the whole classroom setting. If your child can arrive in grade six knowing fractions, she will be in the top 25% on a nationwide ranking.

 

 

I like the way you think. I am thinking similarly. I've pretty much come to terms that my dd isn't gonna be a math whiz, but I don't think she's behind as much as the other kids are older and/or ahead. And also, if at least 5/23 of the kids in her class were referred to the tutor, it's not as if that makes one an outlier.

 

Last Saturday, I worked with the girls on counting change. They have not covered this in school yet, but it keeps coming up on these "minute" worksheets they do, and I'm getting tired of seeing the mess. Anyhoo, it really clicked with Miss Title 1 and she was pretty happy about it. Kept asking to do more. So there's hope for us, LOL.

 

I was looking at the qualifications for Title 1 and it says the kids are selected based on who's likely to not meet state standards. I checked out our state standards and it seems to me that my kid is at least 2/3 of the way toward meeting them for this school year. But again, the school she's in has a particular population of kids. I guess I should feel lucky because in public school, there would be other kids taking the Title 1 slots.

[MomatHWTK]

I would consider any time spent away from the uptight teacher a blessing. Hopefully the tutor is actually nice and doesn't leave candy laying around. ;)

[SKL]

I would consider any time spent away from the uptight teacher a blessing. Hopefully the tutor is actually nice and doesn't leave candy laying around. ;)

 

My dd seemed proud to have something that she got to do and her sister didn't, LOL.

 

Good point about the candy. ;)

[Heathermomster]

DS attended private school for years and was only pulled out of class for reading helps. I had to push to get reading helps. The school in question accepts no federal tax dollars. Whenever a private Christian school offers helps without the parent insisting, I think that's a step in the right direction.

 

Naturally, you should speak with the teachers so that you can coordinate efforts and understand their plan of attack. It might be good to discover what the math helps actually are. If they are drilling and killing without any hands-on, multi-sensory instruction, being pulled from the classroom may actually hurt more than assist your DD.

[kiwik]

I agree. A break from that insane teacher may do wonders for the kid.

[North Coast School]

DD is in Title 1 reading support at public school and it has been good to have her get some one on one time with a teacher aide. We have seen some improvement in her reading, though not as much as we had hoped when we put her in school at the beginning of the year. We homeschooled last year and realized that she might have some special needs, so put her in school for help with that. We may end up taking her out of school again next year if we don't see more improvement.

[nellecv]

I teach Title 1, so I can speak from how it works at my school. I work on the same concepts with my kids that the teacher is going over with the rest of the class. However, while the classroom teacher spends a considerable amount of time calling kids up to the board, all my time is focused on 4 or 5 students. I can see how they're doingon every problem, and give them more chances to answer and ask questions. Title 1 groups change several times throughout the year, so kids are not "tracked." Often students have one weaker area that they need help on or they've missed something along the way that's causing them to struggle. There are kids who repeatedly turn up in Title 1 groups, but it's because of a genuine need, not because they've been labeled.