NY Times article on Middle School Algebra

[Anonymous]

The Algebra Problem: How Middle School Math Became a National Flashpoint - reports that in San Francisco, "The city is now back to where it began: Middle school algebra — for some, not necessarily for all — will return in August."

Congratulations to San Francisco!

Closer to home, in a VA middle school, I'm happy to report that our local 8th grade Geometry teacher (whose class our accelerated 7th grader attended this year) can now look back at 19 years of having 100% of her MS students pass the Geometry SOL at their first attempt. Congratulations to her for "lifting them toward society’s most high-status and lucrative professions" (a quote from the NYT article I linked), and to all hardworking students who love math!

[Anonymous]

"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

Yep but those gaps are directly related to the home not the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

What about Asian American students? They are always left out.

I'm originally from the Bay Area, and when I heard what SF did, I just shook my head.

I think there are too many kids taking Algebra in 7th who probably shouldn't (and I include my one DC in that), but there are many who benefit from it ( my other DC who is now a dual CS/math major in college).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

Yep but those gaps are directly related to the home not the school.

Even within the home, one kid may be advanced and the other not. Why constrain the advanced kid for the sake of the other kid's feelings? And I say this as a parent of such kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

School districts around the country have GT programs that begin between 2nd-4th grade and are used to determine eligibility for advanced math placement. Parents in FCPS are so myopic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

So the majority of kids of ALL races aren't doing Algebra in MS yet we're worked up that there's a 12 percentage point gap between the minority % of white kids taking it and the minority % of black/latino kids taking it? MOST kids aren't taking it in MS so why sweat this? It's not like black/latino kids are the rare exception and almost everyone else in the country is doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

School districts around the country have GT programs that begin between 2nd-4th grade and are used to determine eligibility for advanced math placement. Parents in FCPS are so myopic.

Other districts have small GT programs, FCPS has a massive slightly advanced program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

School districts around the country have GT programs that begin between 2nd-4th grade and are used to determine eligibility for advanced math placement. Parents in FCPS are so myopic.

Other districts have small GT programs, FCPS has a massive slightly advanced program

And that's a bad thing, how?

SMH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

School districts around the country have GT programs that begin between 2nd-4th grade and are used to determine eligibility for advanced math placement. Parents in FCPS are so myopic.

Other districts have small GT programs, FCPS has a massive slightly advanced program

To add a data point, in our district the so-called "gifted" program is entirely separate from math assessment. Unfortunately, we don't select students for accelerated math until 6th grade. When math assessment is done it is done strictly without the involvement of GT teachers (it's done by actual math teachers). So although math should be a focus of gifted education, in our practice, it is not.

Moreover, if you look at the kids who were "identified" in Math + English in the lower elementary years via CoGAT and various screening tests and teacher observations, only a fraction of them actually show the necessary performance at the placement tests when it counts in 5th grade. The vast majority of gifted students doesn't make the cutoff for 6th grade Algebra, and many "gifted" kids don't even get selected for 7th grade Algebra, either. (Although a majority does.) Conversely, there are some in these classes who did not get "identified" in their lower elementary years but do have the performance to show. This shows that strong gifted programs must provide constant support and acceleration even in the lower elementary years if they wish to achieve the results society and, in Virginia at least, law makers expect from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

School districts around the country have GT programs that begin between 2nd-4th grade and are used to determine eligibility for advanced math placement. Parents in FCPS are so myopic.

Other districts have small GT programs, FCPS has a massive slightly advanced program

And that's a bad thing, how?

SMH

Pulling the smartest 20% ensures those who remain won't even be taught at grade level. It's a great service for those who get it and a message to leave for private to those who don't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

School districts around the country have GT programs that begin between 2nd-4th grade and are used to determine eligibility for advanced math placement. Parents in FCPS are so myopic.

Other districts have small GT programs, FCPS has a massive slightly advanced program

To add a data point, in our district the so-called "gifted" program is entirely separate from math assessment. Unfortunately, we don't select students for accelerated math until 6th grade. When math assessment is done it is done strictly without the involvement of GT teachers (it's done by actual math teachers). So although math should be a focus of gifted education, in our practice, it is not.

Moreover, if you look at the kids who were "identified" in Math + English in the lower elementary years via CoGAT and various screening tests and teacher observations, only a fraction of them actually show the necessary performance at the placement tests when it counts in 5th grade. The vast majority of gifted students doesn't make the cutoff for 6th grade Algebra, and many "gifted" kids don't even get selected for 7th grade Algebra, either. (Although a majority does.) Conversely, there are some in these classes who did not get "identified" in their lower elementary years but do have the performance to show. This shows that strong gifted programs must provide constant support and acceleration even in the lower elementary years if they wish to achieve the results society and, in Virginia at least, law makers expect from them.

Brings to mind the gifted kid joke

"I dressed up as a gifted kid for Halloween. Just wore my usual clothes. When neighbors asked who I was supposed to be, I sadly shook my head, sighed, and replied, 'I was supposed to be a lot of things...'"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

Yep but those gaps are directly related to the home not the school.

Even within the home, one kid may be advanced and the other not. Why constrain the advanced kid for the sake of the other kid's feelings? And I say this as a parent of such kids.

Same: I have one child going to TJ and another who is in our base school.

Am I supposed to decline one child’s spot at TJ and hobble his educational future, just to appear “equitable” to my other child ?

DEI is toxic, racist in practice, and ultimately destructive.

[Anonymous]

Here is more history on California’s misadventure in banning Algebra I prior to 9th grade for “equity” reasons. In 2021, the state released a draft of the California Mathematics Framework, whose authors were promising to open up new pathways into science and tech careers for students who might otherwise be left behind. Here is what happened:


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/california-math-framework-algebra/675509/


It is a horrible mistake to try to “close the racial achievement gap from the top down” by eliminating advanced math and getting rid of G&T programs. And yet, NYC, Seattle WA, and the state of California have eliminated advanced and accelerated programs in the name of “equity.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found.
“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

Not a problem in FCPS, we make the gap obvious in third grade

School districts around the country have GT programs that begin between 2nd-4th grade and are used to determine eligibility for advanced math placement. Parents in FCPS are so myopic.

Other districts have small GT programs, FCPS has a massive slightly advanced program

To add a data point, in our district the so-called "gifted" program is entirely separate from math assessment. Unfortunately, we don't select students for accelerated math until 6th grade. When math assessment is done it is done strictly without the involvement of GT teachers (it's done by actual math teachers). So although math should be a focus of gifted education, in our practice, it is not.

Moreover, if you look at the kids who were "identified" in Math + English in the lower elementary years via CoGAT and various screening tests and teacher observations, only a fraction of them actually show the necessary performance at the placement tests when it counts in 5th grade. The vast majority of gifted students doesn't make the cutoff for 6th grade Algebra, and many "gifted" kids don't even get selected for 7th grade Algebra, either. (Although a majority does.) Conversely, there are some in these classes who did not get "identified" in their lower elementary years but do have the performance to show. This shows that strong gifted programs must provide constant support and acceleration even in the lower elementary years if they wish to achieve the results society and, in Virginia at least, law makers expect from them.

And there are kids who make the cutoff for Algebra in 6th grade and their schools don't tell the parents so the kids don't take it. There are other kids that maybe didn't make the CoGAT cutoff but are ready for Algebra 1 in 6th grade but their schools don't do anything about it. Algebra 1 in 6th grade is not a focus for teachers in FCPS so they are not trying to identify kids. Don't get me wrong, I don't thin we need hundreds of kids taking Algebra 1 in 6th grade but FCPS does not look for the kids who could handle it in most of their schools.