AIBU poor teaching is to blame for DD dropping two predicted grades during yr 9

[RainbowMaths]

Just had the end of year 9 report and DD has drooped two predicted grades since this time last year.
IN the past various parents have muttered about the teacher but I've ignored them and told DD to get her head down and push on.

But AIBU to think that dropping two grades is a school problem rather than a student problem. How do I support DD? Complain to the school? Find a tutor? How can we turn this around?

It's only in maths everything else on track....

Have you spoken to the school and to your DD about it?

I doubt its a teacher problem. Progress isnt linear, students arent robots, often ability/ progress doesnt match sats results if drilled for sats.

Work on the bits that need it, look at onlime maths etc, ask where she needs to work. I certainly woildnt be complaining to the school!!

I think that taking the attitude that someone is to "blame" is likely to get the schools back up and not be very productive.

If I were you I'd speak to a member of the management team to voice concerns about your daughters maths grade and ask for their input in remedying the situation. If you are not happy with what they have to say and feel they don't have a grip on the situation then I would look at paying for a tutor.

Have all her peers also dropped two grades?

Not enough information.

Does the teacher have anything to say about what's going on? Does DD feel as if she's struggling? Does she find the teacher difficult to follow (and does anyone else find this too)?

Do you/anyone else in the family have good enough maths to have a look at what DD's doing and see if you can figure out where she's slipping?

They only have a couple of years worth of data to base predictions upon. Maybe last year's cohort were over predicted and the forecasts have been reviewed to take those results into account.

YABU to have not assessed the situation and complained when others were discussing it, but become interested as soon as your own DD is affected.

Aside from that, it depends on the subject. Her performance is likely to remain static unless the subject gets significantly harder as they proceed through the course. It could also be that as they get nearer to Year 11, the marking becomes stricter to overprepare them for their exams.

Unless your DD can assess the quality of teaching and can say it's insufficient (in which case you ought to look into a tutor - complaining to them will have no benefit), carry on as normal.

Have all the children dropped two grades?

If the whole class has dropped two predicted grades then the school don't need you to tell them there's a problem - they will already know! And if it's just your daughter (or her and a few others) then there may be an issue with the teacher but that's not the whole picture.

By all means speak to the school but not with an attitude left me that in the OP. A tutor might help, but if your daughter's attitude to maths as a subject is poor (e.g. if she has convinced herself she's "bad at maths") then this needs fixing to improve her learning whether that's in school or with a tutor.

Like others have said - if all the children have dropped two grades, yes, that could be a teacher problem. But if it's just your dd, no, teacher not to 'blame'. Silly way of looking at it anyway, focus on what you can do support rather.

If everyone in the class, or a majority of them, have dropped 2 grades then I'd be questioning the school regarding the teaching. But if not then your daughter needs to take responsibility for get own learning and get on with it.

speak to a member of the management team to voice concerns about your daughters maths grade and ask for their input in remedying the situation.

^This

Have all the children dropped two grades?

^and this.

You are responsible for your own
Child. Support her more at home if you want to see an improvement

I find very often it can become a witch hunt. One child blames the teacher and then every parent/child does the same.

I think your attitude is all wrong.

I've had children go down in my classes because they've had colleagues in previous years who've told them they're above target in y8 whilst handing in work that would fall short of current y6 standards.

Equally, I've had children dip in my class because in spring term we did Shakespeare and they found it difficult, but by July on a class novel they were flying again. Learning isn't linear. Students don't master everything at a set speed.

Regarding teaching, yes poor teaching can be an issue. I've seen it, coached weak teachers and have been the colleague who gets given a y11 group who've had a terrible y10 to get them back where they should be. It does happen.

However, what also happens is a teacher who is perhaps less effective overall (but not rubbish) struggles to teach a class because the students don't work, they opt out, blame the teacher, are deliberately awkward as a class (so the teacher struggles to teach the ones who do want to learn).

A whole class can drop due to poor teaching. A whole class can drop due to really nasty pack mentality of actively doing all they can to prevent the teacher teaching (usually with excuses like 'we only asked questions because we didn't understand' when the reality is interrupting every 5 seconds saying they don't get it which prevents the teacher teaching). They go home, get their parents angry, parents call school complaining, students know they are backed so become more rude.

I've seen all of these situations by the way.

I don't honestly believe at the moment you know enough to make a judgement either way and I've had meetings with parents and very sheepish students after acquiring these classes that highlights the students are often not the faultless victims.

To move forward, if you want her catching up then a tutor is probably the most effective way to get progress tightened up. Depending on who DC gets next year I would keep a close eye on her maths, and then speak to the teacher at the first occasion you have any concerns.

How has your DD done in maths over this past year? I would look back at the year's reports, comments from parents' evening and marks for homework, assesssments etc to see if you can work out how this drop has come about. I would have expected the school to express concern if she hadn't been working according to their expectations. I would be annoyed if you have had no indication of a deterioration in her work until the end of year.

Predicted grades in Y8? You might as well have wiped your arse with them. Honestly, this is part of the bind into which endless data reporting and requirements to show linear progress have placed teachers.

I had a girl come into my GCSE class a year or two ago, predicted a high GCSE grade. On assessment using the actual exam timings, actual papers and actual mark scheme, the poor girl dropped three
GCSE grades from where her previous teacher had placed her (with teachers before that grading in a similar pattern: outstanding progress). I checked my marking, I took it blind to my HoD and she checked my marking, and we were absolutely confident the student wouldn’t come out with better than a 5 at GCSE.

Whose fault was that? Mine? Her parents thought so, until I explained very clearly that she hadn’t actually got worse at the subject. You don’t just forget how to write. She had never been able to do it, and the previously predicted grades were bunkum.

It is a joke.

My son is a fairly new secondary maths teacher. I bet he can't wait to get the blame for every failure of his students....

How much homework does your dd do? Any revision for exams? Learning issues? Previous teacher enhancing grades to look better? Different learning styles? I don't think it's going to be entirely the teacher's fault. There are bad teachers, but when did it become all the teachers fault? Sometimes pupils don't/can't learn. It doesn't matter how much effort the teacher puts in, if the pupil is resistant to learning.
Ds1 was unable to read all the letters of the alphabet aged 7, but got a level 2 in ks1 sats. Obviously the teachers lied about his ability. I ended up teaching him to read after school.

Sometimes a lowering of grades is the mark of a good teacher!! Ie not inflating the grades to appease a pupil/parent.

Has the OP answered if everyone in the class has dropped two grades?

I agree that it’s not an issue with the teacher unless most of the students have also dropped in their grades.

I had a terrible Maths teacher in year 8. He spent the whole school year on a ‘build your own board game’ project with us... not a mathematical board game, mind you, just any old board game. Thankfully he left the school and in year 9 we got a new Maths teacher, she did a fantastic job and had to teach us all we’d missed out on in year 8 as well as preparing us for the eventuality of GCSE’s.

I still failed my Maths GCSE (I’m discalculic and dyslexic so struggled) but wouldn’t blame her for it. When I got to college I opted to take it again and with it being a small group in the class, got a lot more one on one tutoring and passed.

Is there anything else that could be contributing to the drop in grades? I noticed a lot of personality changes in year 9 that lead to students being more distracted in class or disruptive. Not saying your DD is either but with those elements in a class it makes learning a lot harder as the teachers have to balance out teaching and reigning in those who don’t show much interest in learning.

Thank you everyone. AIBU is bloody useful sometimes!

I have n't spoken to the school or DD yet. Just trying to get my head round what's normal or unusual and how to move forward.

I'm not keen on gossip and dislike the whole word of mouth reviews from parents who never actually see what goes on inside a classroom.
DD has said she is not been keen on this teacher, apparently the teacher does n't like questions or invite the students to speak up when they don't understand so it could be a learning style clash with teacher & pupil.

I suspect the school won't release the data sets so I can crunch the stats on their staff!

At the moment I don't know if DD will moved down a set and / or have the same teacher next year.

Thankyou@LolaSmiles for the view from your side of the desk, I'm not going to go in all guns blazing, we just need to work out the right way to support DD to get a decent grade.