10 key questions for middle schools
Looking for middle school? Don't do it without getting the answers to these questions!
By GreatSchools Staff

1) How many minutes of math instruction do they get per day?
This may be obvious, but the answers can vary between 45 and 90 minutes depending on the commitment of the school to focusing on math. Does more hours mean higher performance? Not necessarily. (It may mean the kids are coming to the school insufficiently prepared for the middle school math curriculum. And in Finland, where the math scores are particularly high, there isn't a huge outlay of time on drilling math.) However, if your child needs extra time to absorb math material or she is behind, added "time on task" may be a great advantage to her. Whatever the answer, it will give you a sense of how important math is to the overall curriculum.
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