Equitable access to advanced math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:URM kids need algebra1 in 6th grade more than anyone else, ensuring URMs are more than likely to enter and succeed in engineering and science majors. There is solid proof that algebra1 in 6th ensures student takes atleast two years of calculus in high school itself.

Equity activists, especially the non-URM foxes, feel insecure letting URMs learning more math than they do.

1. you need algebra by 7th to take 2 years of calculus in HS - and you could actually do it with algebra in 8th if you double up in HS.

2. you don't need 2 years of calculus in HS to enter and succeed in engineering/science majors.

-engineer

And this is why parents are absolutely nuts, pushing for early math that doesn't necessarily matter based on made up assumptions, and potentially at the expense of kids who might get by well enough or "mimic " the teacher's demonstrated steps, but end up lacking in higher level understanding in the more complex classes down the road.

https://www.mathnasium.com/math-centers/littleton/news/algebra-too-soon-1816080540

If my kid needs more acceleration, I'm going to push for it. It's not my problem or my fault that other parents will then try to push their unqualified kids into early Algebra. It's not my kid's responsibility to be held back for the benefit of others. Math is the one subject where there's no benefit and potentially some down side to having a kid sit in a classroom where they've already mastered the material. There are a lot of diagnostics out there showing exactly which math instructional level is appropriate for any kid. It's not exactly rocket science to follow the levels given in the diagnostics.

If the goal is getting more URM or economically disadvantaged kids into 7th grade Algebra, then FCPS is handling elementary school math completely wrong. In FCPS with AAP, the kids effectively are only compressing 8 years of math into 7 years, which isn't much acceleration at all. Then, they're expected to skip 8th grade math to do Algebra in 7th. It would make more sense for bright kids to skip levels or compress levels much earlier if they've already mastered the material, and then spend more time with pre-algebra

But this requires parental support which not all are fortunate to have.

It takes less parental support to compress K-5th grade math than it does to skip pre-algebra. While I'm not a fan of the edu-tainment math apps in general, they could be used to let bright, disadvantaged kids follow a self-paced curriculum rather than be held back by everyone else. After a point, these kids could be folded back into a higher grade level class. Alternatively, at the end of each year, they could take the kids who earn high scores on the end-of year test and then give them the end-of-year test for the following grade. Any kids who earn high scores for that test should be given the option to skip a year of math. Either way, bright URMs and FARMS kids who belong on an Algebra in 7th path would likely have better outcomes if they skipped or compressed a level earlier, but essentially took M7H in 6th grade, rather than skipping M7H altogether.

DC is taking M7H in 6th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:URM kids need algebra1 in 6th grade more than anyone else, ensuring URMs are more than likely to enter and succeed in engineering and science majors. There is solid proof that algebra1 in 6th ensures student takes atleast two years of calculus in high school itself.

Equity activists, especially the non-URM foxes, feel insecure letting URMs learning more math than they do.

1. you need algebra by 7th to take 2 years of calculus in HS - and you could actually do it with algebra in 8th if you double up in HS.

2. you don't need 2 years of calculus in HS to enter and succeed in engineering/science majors.

-engineer

And this is why parents are absolutely nuts, pushing for early math that doesn't necessarily matter based on made up assumptions, and potentially at the expense of kids who might get by well enough or "mimic " the teacher's demonstrated steps, but end up lacking in higher level understanding in the more complex classes down the road.

https://www.mathnasium.com/math-centers/littleton/news/algebra-too-soon-1816080540

If my kid needs more acceleration, I'm going to push for it. It's not my problem or my fault that other parents will then try to push their unqualified kids into early Algebra. It's not my kid's responsibility to be held back for the benefit of others. Math is the one subject where there's no benefit and potentially some down side to having a kid sit in a classroom where they've already mastered the material. There are a lot of diagnostics out there showing exactly which math instructional level is appropriate for any kid. It's not exactly rocket science to follow the levels given in the diagnostics.

If the goal is getting more URM or economically disadvantaged kids into 7th grade Algebra, then FCPS is handling elementary school math completely wrong. In FCPS with AAP, the kids effectively are only compressing 8 years of math into 7 years, which isn't much acceleration at all. Then, they're expected to skip 8th grade math to do Algebra in 7th. It would make more sense for bright kids to skip levels or compress levels much earlier if they've already mastered the material, and then spend more time with pre-algebra

But this requires parental support which not all are fortunate to have.

It takes less parental support to compress K-5th grade math than it does to skip pre-algebra. While I'm not a fan of the edu-tainment math apps in general, they could be used to let bright, disadvantaged kids follow a self-paced curriculum rather than be held back by everyone else. After a point, these kids could be folded back into a higher grade level class. Alternatively, at the end of each year, they could take the kids who earn high scores on the end-of year test and then give them the end-of-year test for the following grade. Any kids who earn high scores for that test should be given the option to skip a year of math. Either way, bright URMs and FARMS kids who belong on an Algebra in 7th path would likely have better outcomes if they skipped or compressed a level earlier, but essentially took M7H in 6th grade, rather than skipping M7H altogether.

DC is taking M7H in 6th grade

Really? Where and how? The only path I know of for this to happen is if a 5th grader accelerated into 6th grade AAP math fails to meet the Algebra benchmarks.