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Monday, September 25, 2006
Math Whizzes Need Attention Too!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eileen Dodd’s interesting story about a 15-year-old boy headed to Cal Tech after 8 years at North Gwinnett High School reminded me of a chat I had in a middle school office with some frustrated parents.
I was at this highly regarded middle school to interview a spelling bee champion. The student had an unexpected math test to finish, so I waited in the office, eager to squeeze in a few minutes of reading…until I started eavesdropping (I’m a reporter!) on a conversation among four parents waiting to speak with the principal.
Their seventh-grade students were taking Algebra I. What would they take in eighth grade? The parents wanted them to take geometry. BUT… they wanted the course offered at the middle school, as they weren’t comfortable with the deal the principal was offering, shuttling their children to the nearby high school to take the course. With 12 or so seventh-graders making an A or B in Algebra I, the parents thought the principal should form a class and find a teacher.
Their argument was - you know where this is going - WHY SHOULD ALL THE RESOURCES GO TO THE STRUGGLING KIDS? “MATH GEEKS” DESERVE ATTENTION TOO!
You be the principal. How would you handle this request?
(Note: Some Georgia middle schools do offer eighth-grade geometry, but this school at that time did not… Another note: I originally had the kids taking Algebra II. That’s wrong. They were taking Algebra I, and geometry would have been next in the sequence. Sorry for the confusion. )
