Montgomery Township High School Science Program

My son is a freshmen this year, and I see that he understands physics and can solve very complicated problem for high-school level, but he is nevertheless struggling in the physics class. I am professor of physics at Rutgers University, and I have many years of experience in teaching physics at the college level, and in my opinion the teaching of physics in Montgomery high-school is at best poor. The idea of teaching physics to freshman students is a good, but its implementation is awful. Teachers are not teaching well, they do not explain the concepts well. I can spend 5 minutes with my son and explain him the concept so that he immediately understands, and he can then apply this knowledge to the real world problems. However, in the classroom he is trying to discover himself, which is clearly not working. He does not understand what the question is, and what he should find. This is not because of the lack of his understanding, or intellect, on the contrary, the subjects are presented so poorly, that can confuse anybody. The tests are very hard for high-schoolers, especially given the level of instructions they received. And even when student solve the problem mostly correctly, the teacher takes off points because it was not solved in the way the teacher wanted. Specifically, if the numbers are not inserted into the equation from the very beginning, and the student is working with the variables to solve the problem, he/she looses several points. At the college level, students will be encouraged to work with variables, and not specific numbers, hence I believe that Montgomery high-school is not preparing students well for the colege. And not to mention how many students will never study science because of their high-school experience. I think Montgomery should teach physics with traditional method, and teachers should teach, rather than observe students experimenting. The teachers should be better educated, and should give instructions much more clearly and pe

This is a terrible program. I've NEVER heard one student or parent say anything positive about this curriculum. Get rid of this. Causes more harm than good.

I believe the physics first program teaches high school freshmen how to fail in science NOT succeed. It's terribly confusing, most of the students DON'T even have the appropriate mathematical foundation to understand the principals of physics. Plus I believe the teachers are NOT passionate about the program and cannot or DO NOT want to teach this to the freshmen students. Most students are NOT only completely frustrated with the curriculum BUT also with their physics teachers WHO don't want to teach this subject. Students are frustrated and physics teachers are burnt OUT. Get rid of this program from the freshmen curriculum. My freshmen son, greatly dislikes high school because of physics.

Let's think of the MENTAL well being of the children. When kids are asked to achieve at a level beyond their developmental capability they are set up for failure. It's time the schools uses their heart to set children up for success. Numbers, data, competition.... all that is irrelevant ; as developing confident kids is and a community of support and love is what matters most.

Please reconsider removing physics as the required science program for freshman.

I have lived long enough in Montgomery to see that the students lack a solid math foundation to correctly handle the content of Physics First program, the instruction they receive varies dramatically from teacher to teacher and the student’s anxiety just keeps incrementing with the lack of guidance, complete resources and feedback as to the areas where they have failed.

The Physics First experiment has failed. Let's allow the students to work up to physics as juniors or seniors after they have had a suitable basis for the advanced concepts in the class.

my children graduated years ago - physics freshman year was a disaster then - and apparently still is. Change is definitely needed!!

I would appreciate you taking the time to truly listen and work together to come up with a program that residents are happy with. We are the tax payers and should have a say in our child's education. Especially if something isn't working

I agree with the statements expressed.

I am concerned about the 'Physics First' curriculum. As a person who has had to take all the science classes in high school as well as biology major in college and medical school graduate, I know that learning things in a certain order can make all the difference. I had to take physics in high school and college and having the math and science build from freshman to senior year made all the difference. trying to teach physics prior to learning higher math is a disaster

Why teach a subject before the underlying Math principles are taught? My child had to teach himself the Math on the fly!

I would like to see the Ohysics first program discontinued.

Agree 100%. Also, success in the class seemed to be entirely dependent on the quality and experience of the instructor.

STEM- 100% focus for our future.

Our students are not leaving highschool prepared for college science!!!

My children are still in VES and LMS, so we haven't gotten into the MHS curriculum yet. But we've lived in the district for many years and I've followed the Physics First debate closely. As a computer science/math major/minor in college, I can't imagine asking a freshman in high school to take Physics before mastering higher level math. It should absolutely be reserved for upperclassmen with the appropriate math background.

I have a daughter in Physics this year and another in 7th grade. I have watched my 9th grader struggle with this class as the concepts are not being taught as much as they are requiring the students to discover the answers on their own or as a group. Since most students don’t have the math theory behind them, they are resorting to memorizing formulas and processes without understanding why they use one over the other. Additionally, the textbook is not helpful for homework/test prep as as it is not used in the classroom. I enjoyed Physics when I took it in High School and I was hoping my 9th grader would have the same experience as she does enjoy knowing how and why things work they way they do. This is not the case at all. She is just trying to hang on until the end of the course. I feel re-sequencing of the science courses as well as the implementation of a more balanced approach to teaching/instruction, needs to happen immediately. I am also disappointed with the survey results for the higher level science courses. I was hoping there would be a huge improvement as they progressed in the science department.

http://www.mastersportal.eu/articles/868/switzerlands-potential-in-higher-education.html Switzerland has the best education in the world. It is not about working students to death and stressing them out to achieve high scores. Robots can handle stress not humans. Let's go back to being normal and to basics. Biology should be first or earth science.

It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result. For over a decade, I have heard constant concerns, significant issues, and extreme dissatisfaction in regards to the MHS Science program. Now, I am living it with my freshman. MTSD must re-evaluate and change the MHS Science program immediately: sequence of study, implementation of the inquiry based instructional model, instruction, assessment, and evaluation. Our children need this insanity to stop.