Teacher says dc can’t use ‘more advanced’ answers

[Purplyoctopus]

dc is in year 7 & is being marked down for putting ‘extra’ information on their schoolwork where their previous (very academic) school taught them beyond the ks2 curriculum they know how to answer questions in a more advanced manner than what is expected at year 7.

This is especially a problem in maths where dc will use a more complicated way to answer a question because it’s faster and still correct.

But teacher wants them to put all of their workings and use the more basic methods they teach in year 7 to find the same answer and has explained that one day dc will indeed be answering these questions in the way they are already doing them but not until later in secondary school. I find this so so daft. Aibu to say carry on as you are to dc as they need to know it for future anyway or am I missing something?!

What do you mean being downgraded? I have the same problem with my eldest but he’s not downgraded. If the answer is right then it’s right (specially in maths).

Like others have said, it's not just about getting the right answer. It's about understanding the question, following the instructions, and doing what is required. He is required to use a particular method in his working out, therefore he will not gain marks if he does not use that particular method. He can use whatever method he likes in his own time.

Showing method is important for GCSE etc I agree with your son that there’s more than one method in maths and he shouldn’t be penalised for using a method that still gets the correct answer eg long multiplication rather than chunking
If the question says using X method then he needs to suck it up to get full marks

He is being marked down as he used the wrong method. The purpose of the question isn't the answer but its an opportunity to show that you listened to the teacher and followed this particular way to find it.

Move school.

The teacher sounds a little rigid, but they're clearly not going to suddenly start marking differently just because you've said, "Carry on as you were, dear."

I think your child needs to think of them as different techniques and not "basic" and "more advanced". A lot of the things he considers as "more advanced" in Year 7, will not help him when he gets onto more complicated maths - he'll need to understand things from first principles.

Maybe because they are marked against a mark scheme that uses the year 7 maths skills? If they are using a different method and then get the answer wrong, they would get 0 marks whereas if they used the method and it was partially correct they might gain 1 or 2 marks.

What type of maths questions are they? Can you give some examples?

It's not correct to say he is being marked down. That implies the correct answer gives him full marks and then marks are being taken away. He's not being marked down, he's just not getting marks for the parts of the question he is answering wrong.

Class tests and homework are one thing, but exams are standardised. There will be strict marking criteria. If his advanced technique isn't on it, he won't get marks for using it. He needs to understand what is expected of him at this level. That is what his teacher is trying to tell him.

I think you might have to give examples.

For example, say they're asked to produce an exhaustive table to count ways of doing something, and your DC finds an algebraic way of counting.

Yes they've solved the problem using more sophisticated methods.
But they haven't got practice of/demonstrated that they can sort through options logically in such a way as to make sure nothing is left out. Which may be a useful skill in say more advanced proof work.

When my eldest was in Yr7, I would sometimes wonder why they were doing something in what seemed an illogical way, only for it to become obvious the next week as they built on it to do something more complicated.

Like you wouldn't need column addition to do 47+5, but its actually easier to use it for 19457+305

my best friend back in school was crazy smart in maths. She did it the same way the teacher taught, but she only noted down very few steps because the rest she calculated in her head. Teacher didnt accept it and she had to note down all steps for full marks 🤷🏻‍♀️

Have you had this conversation with the teacher yourself?

Can you give an actual example as I can’t think what could be a more advanced way of doing something if a simpler method

What you really want, in an ideal world, is for your DC to demonstrate quickly that they can do it the longhand way, be excused lots of practice exercises if they've clearly grasped the concept and method, make sure they understand how it's doing the same as the quick way they learned before, and then be given more challenging problem solving or open ended work by the teacher so they're actually learning something too.

Do the instructions say to use the less advanced option?

E.g. an exam might say "solve using X method" or it might just say "solve"?

If the work says the latter I would say the teacher needs to be more precise. If it's the former, it's a lesson in playing the game by the rules. Exams are a game, you don't make the rules and you always lose by not playing by them.

There are times when the rules are unfair and it's worth fighting them, even at school. But exams you can't, so there's no benefit to bothering.

If your DC is advanced in Maths and they're racing through the content, could they show both? So teacher can mark to the mark scheme and DC can show they have the ability to use set of building blocks "A", but also so they can keep practicing building blocks "B"?

Most mathematical methods can be used for multiple tasks. So for example method X can solve problems A, B, and C, and method Y can solve problems C, D, and E. So if method X is being taught in class, and the problem is C, it can actually be inappropriate to use method Y, even though that "works".

Also, OP, if your DC is advanced in maths, then good for them, but the teacher will already have noticed that. There is no great need for them to be constantly demonstrating their more advanced knowledge. You might encourage them to use any extra time that they might have because they find the maths easier than their classmates to (a) double-check their working so they are turning their mastery of method X into full marks every time, and (b) help others who don't find it as easy. It's not a competition, and as PP have said, part of being a good student is being able to complete the assignment correctly, especially in an exam situation.

They are showing working but they aren’t the ones taught in year 7, they are more advanced.

But he needs to show that he has understood and can use the method he has been taught in this class. Doesn't matter if he thinks his way is better, it's not what he's been asked.

Does my example of factorising a quadratic vs solving with the Quadratic Formula (bottom of p1) fit?

Factorising is often easier, and when it works this method makes clear why you have found the roots or zeroes of the quadratic equation. The QF always works but it is not at all transparent why the numbers resulting from this relatively complicated formula are the roots of the equation. In this sense, the simpler method gives deeper understanding

This is how i read your OP.
They aren't just writing down 132.4.

Agree the teacher sounds either incompetent or lazy and I'd be annoyed the school isnt "setting the challenge for the child" which is the BS catchphrase all the primary schools parroted at me when we viewed them.

Your child is broght he shoud be challenged not held back.

I'm really intrigued what the question is at year 7 that he’s using more advanced techniques to solve? Eg is he using trigonometry to solve a Pythagoras question? If so the likely issue is that he will sometimes need to use Pythagoras so it is important he learns how to use it correctly

An important point!

Maths teacher of many decades; I’m intrigued to know which year 7 topics ate being taugjt.