Posted by James, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Jul 7, 2010 at 2:35 pm

Some of the MVWSD schools offer Stanford EPGY Math from Kindergarten.

Posted by Parent, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Jul 7, 2010 at 4:36 pm

I believe Title I schools can get Stanford EPGY at a reduced price. Otherwise, it's pretty expensive. So schools that don't receive Title I funds (Huff, Bubb, Stevenson PACT) probably don't have it. Also, I think this is used for kids who are ADVANCED in math, to give them more challenge, not for the kids who struggle.

Graham used the Foothill MAP program this past year. The teachers were trained by the Foothill instructors in how to use it. It will be interesting to see if it made a difference in proficiency rates when the test scores come out later in the summer. Same with Crittenden and the JustMATH program. Hope they worked.

Posted by OMV Mom, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 7, 2010 at 4:55 pm

MVWSD did run a pilot during the 2009-2010 school year to extend the MAP program into the regular school curriculum for students struggling with math at Graham Middle School. Many students who transfer into our District at some point may have missed a key concept because it was taught at a different time in their prior district or school. With MAP, students proceed at their own pace and don't move forward until they have mastered each concept. Students take responsibility for their own learning and are motivated by their own success. MAP helps get kids up to speed and plug holes in their understanding of the fundamental math concepts that build on each other. The students, math teachers and administration at Graham all seemed very pleased with the success students enrolled this program achieved last year.

Development of the MAP curriculum used during the regular school year was funded in part by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce's Shop Local program. Especially with all the state budget cuts, it takes a village to make sure all of our kids succeed! Many thanks to our local merchants and our dedicated MVWSD teachers and staff!

Posted by Greg, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Jul 7, 2010 at 10:05 pm

Claiming our poor math skills are "because they were not living in the United States or because of language barriers" is a load of baloney.

The average, California born, kid in the high school cannot reliably handle fractions and percentages. Many can't even handle integer arithmetic. If it were all about language barriers, our English speaking kids would be numerically fluent. They are not.

Posted by James, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Jul 7, 2010 at 11:09 pm

I think EPGY starts very basic with counting symbols and basic geometry shapes and progresses thru middle school math. All the students in our school have accounts. It would be good if EPGY were multilingual for the early grades ELL students, but it's just English.

Posted by Francis, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Jul 8, 2010 at 8:08 am

"Students take responsibility for their own learning and are motivated by their own success."

This is such BS and part of the problem. The teacher should be doing this.

Posted by worksheets, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 8, 2010 at 9:11 am

agreed Francis...in MAP students complete endless worksheets until they are "perfect" and teach themselves the concepts off of the brief written instructions at the top of each page. There is very little connection to the real world. They are only motivated to finish for the sake of finishing. Time will tell.

Posted by James, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Jul 8, 2010 at 11:43 am

Motivation is an interesting problem, our school runs a competition with EPGY recognizing those with the most correct answers. I have wondered about using these $100 cellphone based tablet computers that are coming that could provide immediate rewards by unlocking games, mp3 downloads, etc. after one has completed an EPGY session.

Posted by Parent, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Jul 8, 2010 at 3:03 pm

EPGY stands for "Educational Program for Gifted Youth," so I don't think it is designed for kids who are struggling. James -- what school are you at? Landels? They've used it for years, but as I say - they are a Title I School and Stanford gives those schools a huge discount. A few years ago Graham's GATE kids could sign up for EPGY accounts, but they still cost quite a bit of money for parents to sign up. They got discounts, but it was not free.