Latest news with #Math
The Hindu
5 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Govt. Tamil teacher eases language learning for students
Did you know that when you pronounce 'nandri', your tongue has to sit in between the teeth for 'n' sound? 'It's all in the pronunciation. Children are not taught the right way to pronounce when writing,' said M. Kanagalakshmi, a Tamil teacher in Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School, Shenoy Nagar. She has been teaching Tamil in the simplest form to enhance students' reading ability based on 23 years of research. For her research, the UK-based Croydon Tamil Sangam has decided to honour the teacher in the UK Parliament. She has also been invited to participate in the ceremony to unveil the statue of Thiruvalluvar at Oxford university. When students completing elementary reach her class in Class 6, she says, they really do struggle to read. 'They have trouble identifying the letters. This scenario wasn't so terrible before Covid, but recently, many students suffer. So I inevitably take about 10-15 days teaching the basics. From there it has been smooth sailing to cover the rest of the syllabus,' she said. The teaching method is based on her research, which teaches the students of the many names of the curves in the Tamil letter. Once the names are learnt, it's only a matter of repeating and practicing to understand the writing. 'Once they are familiar with this practice, the reading becomes simple. Students then pick up books from all genres to enjoy reading and further write independently,' she said. Based on her research titled 'Problems and Solutions in Tamil Reading Ability', she has taught many students the Tamil language in under 45 days. A native of Thoothukudi, Kanagalakshmi adds that the child learns four new words when learning to write the letter A. They learn 'slanting' 'line', 'in between' and 'sleeping' when writing the letter 'A'. 'But this is not the case when learning the Tamil letters. They could've learnt it if it was incorporated in teacher training,' she added. The words such as padukkaikeetru (sleeping line), saivukeetru (slanting line), irattaikombu among others which could be used to trace and write letters. Driven by the need to make learning Tamil easier with proper methods, the 52-year-old started making books, workbooks with videos on every Tamil letter and their pronunciation. Entirely self-funded, she came out with QR codes in the books so that first generation learners can access the videos to learn. Tamil and Math have three books each. 'It's not difficult to learn Tamil. However, research on teaching methods for the elementary level is missing which makes children lose the opportunity to learn at a crucial age,' she added.
The Herald Scotland
6 days ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Be sure to oil your doors...or this is bound to happen
Education Correspondent John Mulholland provides us with the following vignette, which illustrates the challenges faced by teachers... Teacher: 'Now that I have explained the meaning of the word 'aftermath,' would someone like to give me a sentence containing the word 'aftermath'?' Pupil: 'My timetable on a Friday is a disaster because I get two periods of English after Math.' 'How ridiculous,' says John. 'Everyone in Scotland should know it's Maths.' Fighting talk WE'RE discussing those muddling modes of language known as malapropisms. Derek Blakey worked with a lady famous for her unique turn of phrase. She once revealed that while watching a TV documentary about the Second World War, she was impressed by the heroism of the famous fighting force, the Gherkins. Says Derek: 'One thing they did do, was get us out of a pickle.' Read more: Finding yourself in one of Glasgow's less than salubrious watering holes Forging a friendship ENJOYING a sip of an alcoholic beverage in an Edinburgh hostelry, reader Sheila Davis overheard two ladies in deep conference at a nearby table. Said one to the other: 'She's what I call an AI person.' 'What d'you mean?' asked her confused companion. 'You know,' said the first lady. 'Totally fake.' Dead cruel AN unholy confession from reader Roddy Ferguson, who says: 'If my grandmother knew how much I spent on her funeral, she'd be rolling over in her ditch.' World affairs INTERNATIONAL diplomacy is sadly in short supply nowadays. Though we are delighted to report that there are still some enclaves of sophisticated statecraft, in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden, no less. Reader Brian Clark and his wife were at a dinner party in that delightful neck of the woods the other evening. After the food had been duly scoffed, the chap of the house stood up and said to his guests: 'Let me take you to the United Nations.' 'What?' said a confused Brian. 'Come on,' continued mine host, 'it's in my living room.' Brian's confusion immediately evaporated upon being guided to the room in question, where he was, indeed, confronted by a fully operational UN. A well-stocked drinks cabinet containing... German beer, French wine and Scotch whisky. Candy-coated crash-out THE working world can be harsh. Peter Wright from West Kilbride says: 'I was fired from my very first job as a quality controller at M&M's. I kept rejecting the Ws.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What's next for Epic Charter School after layoffs, resignations?
Families and educators at Epic Charter School now face a summer of uncertainty as the charter school system downsizes its staff, facilities and course offerings. A leadership change and a state investigation have piled on top of the cuts. The virtual charter school's superintendent, Bart Banfield, resigned Monday, days after Epic laid off 357 teachers and administrators. Its deputy superintendent of finance, Jeanise Wynn, resigned April 11. 'There hasn't been much transparency about why and what are we doing,' Epic teacher and parent Sarah Kitterman said. 'What actions are we taking to make sure this changes and we don't do this again?' Kitterman, of Edmond, said Epic lost programs that were difference-makers for students. Her own children benefited from a now-eliminated ELA+ program that offered bonus reading classes. Students won't get that extra English language arts instruction without the program, she said, and it's unclear how Epic will repeat the 'incredible' learning gains that ELA+ produced. A similar Math+ program has been reduced to grades 6-12 only. The closure of Epic's Blended Learning Centers is a loss, too, Kitterman said. The centers, which offered in-person instruction in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, often had waiting lists. Students with disabilities especially sought a place at the learning centers, said Kitterman, a special education teacher. 'Does that mean that we're going to have an overload of students on our rosters now?' she said. 'We can't serve those students the same way that they were being served. So where do those students go?' Epic announced it would give students from the learning centers priority in another face-to-face instructional option, Comet Academy. Also gone are Epic's options for full-time in-person instruction five days a week, its school meal services, and all of its Chinese and Latin courses. Other services, like Advanced Placement courses, have been outsourced to other entities, some now costing a fee. 'These changes are part of our ongoing reorganization to better serve the 30,000 students statewide who choose Epic for their education, and to position the state's largest public virtual charter school for strength and success in the years to come,' the school told families in an email last week. Members of Epic's school board spoke little of the school's financial situation Thursday in their first meeting since the layoffs and Banfield's departure. The board, which is scheduled to meet again Tuesday, approved a new treasurer, assistant treasurer and encumbrance clerk for Epic, who will join the new chief financial officer, Michael Flory. The school board has yet to approve a budget for the 2025-26 school year, which must be done before the next fiscal year begins on July 1. The Statewide Charter School Board, a state agency that oversees Epic, is now investigating the school's finances. After its enrollment skyrocketed to over 60,000 children in 2020, Epic has steadily lost students and, as a result, state funding. An influx of federal pandemic aid funds also came to an end in September. To make matters worse, Epic administrators significantly miscalculated when crafting their budget for the 2024-25 academic year. Enrollment came in 4,000 students short of what administrators expected, prompting a round of layoffs in October that cost 144 jobs. The cuts continued this month when Epic slashed 83 teaching positions and 274 administrators. Banfield soon followed out the door. 'At Epic, we often say, 'The only constant is change,'' Banfield wrote in his resignation letter, which Oklahoma Voice obtained. 'Over the course of this school year, it has become clear to me that it is time for a new chapter. With deep gratitude, I am formally submitting my resignation. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Board of Education, the Epic staff, and most importantly, the hundreds of thousands of families who have chosen Epic as their school of choice since 2011. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you over the past 11 years. I wish you the very best. Go Comets!' Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Justin Hunt will serve as interim superintendent while the board searches for a candidate to hire permanently. 'I appreciate the trust and respect, and (I'm) looking forward to moving into next school year for the 30,000 kids that need us and choose us as a school option,' Hunt said during Thursday's school board meeting. As for Kitterman, she plans to return for her fourth school year teaching at Epic, and her three children will continue to attend, she said. Until this point, Kitterman has felt like a valued employee, she said, but the lack of transparency around the layoffs and cuts put that sense of value in doubt. 'I plan to stay as long as Epic is open,' Kitterman said. 'We've loved it, so that's my hope. It's just so scary.' Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@ Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Epic Charter School downsizing staff, facilities, course offerings
Boston Globe
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump says Harvard is teaching ‘remedial mathematics.' Is there any truth to that?
Even with her previous calculus experience, she said, the Harvard course was far from an easy A. 'I'm glad that I took a class that pushed me,' Richardson said. Advertisement In recent months, amid the White House's ongoing battle with Harvard, the Trump administration has used that class to question the university's academic rigor. In what has become a familiar refrain, Education Secretary Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'I want Harvard to be great again,' Trump said in the Oval Office last month. 'Harvard announced two weeks ago that they're going to teach remedial mathematics. Remedial, meaning they're going to teach low grade mathematics like two plus two is four. How did these people get into Harvard if they can't do basic mathematics?' Advertisement Richardson said she laughed when she heard the remedial math comment because 'MA5 is the exact same class [as MA]. It just meets five times a week' as opposed to four. According to an online course description of MA5, the extra day of instruction time 'will target foundational skills in algebra, geometry, and quantitative reasoning that will help you unlock success in Math MA.' Harvard has offered for decades. Even MA5's format is not entirely new. Five days of instruction was previously required for all students taking Math MA in 2018. 'If you look at academic support and a college trying to help their students, and you think that's unnecessary or it's embarrassing that they have to provide that kind of support, then it's coming from a place of ignorance,' said Richardson. 'You have no understanding of how, not just college, but how learning works. You can't learn without help.' All Harvard freshmen take a placement exam in mathematics prior to their arrival on campus. Based on how they score, the university suggests which course they should be placed into. Math MA5, MA, and its companion course, MB, make up Harvard's most basic introductory calculus courses known as the M series. MA5 was introduced last year by Harvard to combat pandemic learning losses, which saw students show up to campus with gaps in their math knowledge, especially in early high school courses like algebra, as a result of virtual learning. 'When this first came out about us teaching remedial math, I was like, 'Well, this is news to me and I wouldn't even know how to do it,'' said Advertisement Only 20 students took MA5 this past academic year according to Kelly. The course was taught across two sections, each with 10 students, Kelly said, all of whom have declared majors like economics or biology that necessitate a strong foundation in calculus. 'One thing that's been insulting to me this whole time is the narrative that the students we're teaching and that we're working with don't belong here, because they 100 percent belong here,' said Kelly, who has personally instructed some of the students who took MA5. 'I love working with them. They're going to go off and do great things and I know it.' Remedial math courses in higher education are typically defined as 'non credit bearing courses that cover middle school and high school content below that of college algebra,' said The controversy started a few months ago when a social media post about the course from an educational nonprofit CEO was picked up by conservative influencers. Advertisement 'If Harvard students are struggling with some of this foundational math and they're having to put extra time and reorganize classes to make it work, what does that say about the state of math deficits right now in America?' he explained, adding that he 'wasn't trying to put any spin on it' by using the word 'remedial' in his post. 'I was just trying to make it succinct,' he said. Still, that didn't stop conservatives from latching onto both the remedial characterization and the Crimson article as evidence that Harvard has let its admissions standards slip in pursuit of leftist ideology and hitting racial diversity quotas. In April, 'I'm certainly concerned that anyone at Harvard would need to have this sort of remediation,' Garrett, a former tenured professor at Bakersfield College, a community college in California, said in an interview with the Globe. 'It's disheartening to see Harvard abdicate their mission and choose instead to prioritize less-prepared students and effectively have to water down instruction.' Advertisement Garrett dismissed pandemic learning loss as 'a false explanation' for Harvard reviewing 'basic' concepts from algebra and geometry with students. Instead, he said, Harvard's choice to eliminate standardized testing as a condition for application weakened the students they've admitted. Harvard, like many other universities, said assertions about an academic downturn at the university are falsehoods. Every 10 years, the commission conducts a multi-year, peer review of institutions it accredits, he said, in order to ensure they are worthy to be degree-granting colleges and universities. 'The students getting into Harvard are doing the most rigorous academic work in the world, so to suggest that Harvard students need remedial education is not really a serious argument,' Schall said, pointing to Julian E.J. Sorapuru can be reached at
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
APS budget boosts school-level funding by $45M, cuts central office costs
The Brief The Atlanta Board of Education approved a $1.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2026, focusing on classroom instruction and foundational learning while reducing central office costs. The budget includes a $45 million increase in direct school-level funding and cuts 135 central office positions, saving $25 million to be redirected to schools and classrooms. The budget aims for long-term financial stability by eliminating a $15 million general fund transfer to the School Nutrition Program and reducing reliance on reserve funds by 86%. ATLANTA - The Atlanta Board of Education has approved a $1.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2026, embracing a "back to basics" approach aimed at closing a financial deficit while preserving key investments in teachers, literacy, and school safety. The budget, passed during the board's regular meeting on Monday night, reallocates resources to support classroom instruction and foundational learning while trimming central office costs and duplicative programs. The backstory The newly adopted budget includes a $45 million increase in direct school-level funding and an additional $11 million targeted for core classroom instruction. Resources will be concentrated at the elementary level to bolster early learning. Cuts made in the current year have allowed the district to fast-track the adoption of new textbooks and updated learning materials. Funding for professional development in English Language Arts and Math will be maintained, reinforcing the district's emphasis on instructional quality. A major component of the new budget is a reduction of 135 central office positions, resulting in $25 million in savings. Officials said those funds will be redirected to schools and classrooms. The district is also working to limit utility spending and apply zero-based budgeting to its signature and turnaround programs. Duplicated funding for programs such as Atlanta Virtual Academy and Phoenix Academy is being eliminated to free up additional funds for core services. Employee benefits remain a significant cost driver, with more than $26 million in increases tied to retirement system contributions and state health benefits. The budget fully funds a 5% increase in Teachers' Retirement System rates and increases of 7% and 20% for certified and classified health benefits, respectively. The budget eliminates a $15 million general fund transfer to the School Nutrition Program and fully funds an $8.8 million step increase for all district employees. APS also reported an 86% reduction in its reliance on reserve funds, a move officials said points to improved financial sustainability. A new facilities master planning process is underway to address long-term infrastructure needs across the district's 87 learning sites. Atlanta Public Schools serves approximately 50,000 students across neighborhood, partner, charter, and alternative schools. What they're saying "This budget reflects a focused and deliberate approach, leaning into what's working and strategically abandoning what's not," said Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. "We are maximizing resources in ways that directly propel our students forward, while simultaneously being diligent stewards of taxpayer dollars." "The ABOE's priority is to ensure that every dollar is used effectively to support student success," said Katie Howard, chair of the board's Budget Commission. "This budget, which reduced central office spend and put more money towards schools, reflects our educational goals and priorities as well as positions us to further improve as we focus on student outcomes." The Source Atlanta Public Schools provided the details for this article.
