I happened to write to the teacher to thank her for helping him to love math again and I told her how minute math back in 2nd grade had turned him off and made him lose his confidence. Five days later, she gives the class four math minutes tests to be counted toward the final grade... I'm so frustrated. I thought they'd be beyond the minute math by now.
I share your frustration.
The timing of the teacher administering minute math mere days after your note to her, raises a question in my mind as to whether this was coincidental. Do you know any parent whose student was in this teacher's 7/8 class last year... could you casually ask them if minute math was a graded component of last year's class? Does your school have an online grade book? If it does, can all graded tasks be viewed? If they can, do the teachers pre-load the tasks for the term, or do tasks appear at random times such as the day they occur or after-the-fact? Is minute math listed as a graded task in the grade book?
While some are tireless advocates for all kids
including gifted kids to learn to the best of their abilities, there are some who are intent on closing the achievement gap (or excellence gap) by undermining gifts and talents. Additionally, there are some teachers earning advanced degrees and performing research experiments on their unsuspecting students. Not saying either of these things are occurring here, but it is something which parents may want to keep in the back of their minds.
Should I expect ds to be faster?
Gaining speed in math may be impacted by the low average processing speed you mentioned. As a separate issue, gaining confidence and skill in test-taking ability may be key.
Just curious, have you looked online for one minute math exercises? I found an online test which was friendly in that it only graded what I completed, and gave me positive feedback (as opposed to marking any blank/unfinished problems as incorrect).
(link-
http://www.webmathminute.com/)
Wish I had better answers to share with you.
