MCPS math acceleration

[Anonymous]

There has been some discussion on this board about MCPS slowing down math acceleration, and I'm just wondering.
My DS did a Montessori kindergarten this past year and entered 1st grade at a public school this fall.

I knew it would be unreasonable to expect the school to accelerate him in math as much as we would like them to, but it just makes me sad to see him lining up numbers in order, when he already knows single- and some double-digit multiplication. His math skill was assessed at 2nd grade at kindergarten, and I suspect he is ready for 3rd grade math at this point.

At least they put him in a 2nd grade math with other 1st graders who are advanced in math. But I am wondering if this is the best we can do.
Any advice or suggestions?
We haven't talked to the school yet. We don't want to come off like snobs or anything, but he just doesn't seem to be challenged enough.

TIA!

[Anonymous]

Have you checked the curriculum on the MCPS website? The math program is a lot more than the basic math skills we learned in first and second grade and you might feel more comfortable. Also, I have not seen a slowing in MCPS math acceleration at all. In fact in our ES, in one of the grades, there is no on grade level instruction offered at all because all of the kids tested above that grade's curriculum. Some kids are working two grade levels ahead. The problem with where you are is that it's too probably too early in the school year for your son to have proven himself capable of handling math more than one grade level ahead. In MCPS there is a philosophy of not holding kids back, so they aren't likely to push him ahead to the point where he fails and then has to drop back a grade.

One thing that you will see I think quarterly is an assessment of where your child is performing in math. In that assessment, they are tested at grade level material and then again at above grade level material. Once you start getting these, you will be able to see how he is doing and whether you need to advocate for something more.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like they are trying to place him appropriately--they tested him at 2nd grade level, and he's doing 2nd grade math. As the pp said, the school may not know him well enough yet to know whether that's enough acceleration or not.

FWIW, to help you think about whether the placement is a good one, my 2nd grader (doing 3rd-grade math) is bringing home math papers where they're adding two- and three-digit numbers, and they are also working on rounding two-digit numbers.

Last year, the 1st graders (doing 2nd-grade math) also did a lot of work on measuring, using coins, telling time, etc.

[Anonymous]

At our school (new this year) Kindergarteners are all doing Kindergarten math..supposedly going more in debth and enriching the concepts for children who are all reday familiar with the basics rather than accelerating. My children are "grandfathered" into the accelerated classes. Too soon to see how satisfied (or un) the younger parents are. Call the school.

[Anonymous]

13:28 -- Thank you for the detailed info on how MCPS works. This was very helpful. Yes, I do think they are in the process of getting to know him. I was just concerned how long this is going to last before they find out where he is at. I feel a little better now that we will see more measurable results on a quartely basis, and I hope they continue to test him so he is not held back.

13:36 -- He was tested in kindergarten and at this time his math skills were assessed at 2nd grade. (The school has this report.) During the summer, he attended a math camp doing multiplication, which was intended for rising 3rd graders, and he did well there. (The school doesn't know this.) So this is why we think he is llikely not challenged enough.

[Anonymous]

One thing I will add to this as well is that a large part of the math curriculum is not numerical computation. I think a lot of us with accelerated kids look at what they can do numerically as the basis of where they should be. Numerical computation is only a part of the math curriculum.

I've never pushed for more than 1 grade ahead (even though DS could do that numerically) b/c I don't want him to miss those other important parts, like measurement and geometry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13:28 -- Thank you for the detailed info on how MCPS works. This was very helpful. Yes, I do think they are in the process of getting to know him. I was just concerned how long this is going to last before they find out where he is at. I feel a little better now that we will see more measurable results on a quartely basis, and I hope they continue to test him so he is not held back.

13:36 -- He was tested in kindergarten and at this time his math skills were assessed at 2nd grade. (The school has this report.) During the summer, he attended a math camp doing multiplication, which was intended for rising 3rd graders, and he did well there. (The school doesn't know this.) So this is why we think he is llikely not challenged enough.

Ask specifically what he was assessed for -- did they test how much of 1st grade math he knew and he knew a lot so they put him in second? Did they assess how much of second grade math he knew or did they stop w/ 1st grade assessments? If your school is working on the "current but soon to be old" curriculum, then they should easily be able to tell you what percent of the incoming assessment he passed and in what categories (i.e. he scored 60% of the incoming 1st grade assessment, but didn't get any of the time-telling unit questions right). The answers to these questions will enable you to have a polite informed discussion with the teacher about placement. You can also provide information about what he did over the summer. Did the summer class have a workbook, outline or list of topics covered? Share it. You should specifically ask how many classes of on grade level, one year above grade level, etc. the school has. Do they even have a class for first graders doing 3rd grade math? Do they have a class for first graders doing second grade math w/ 3rd grade acceleration (this means they are teaching 2nd and 3rd grade at the same time and those kids who do well on both sections on tests will be skipped as if they passed 3rd grade also).

In some of these decisions, your preference tips the balance. For example, when my daughter came to MoCo from DCPS she tested around 50% of the incoming 3rd grade curriculum. But, the standard for skipping ahead is 70% of the curriculum you want the kid to skip, so they put her in 3rd grade math. I talked to them, shared her grades and teacher comments from previous schools, cognitive testing ability 99.9%, and made the point that at 50%, either she would be bored and I would have to give her more work at home, or she could be skipped and I would have to help her fill in the gaps at home. She was skipped, made a B the first quarter and the rest As. Two years later she was skipped in math again (at the school's suggestion this time) and she still seems to be doing fine.

Again, you have some discretion, given the limits of the assessment data. (If your child got 20% on the assessment, you will have a really hard time arguing for a higher placement.) If you don't want your kid accelerated, you can say that too.

If your school is piloting the new "elementary integrated curriculum" then the above might not apply. It seems at our school that incoming assessments keyed to the new curriculum are not yet available, nor are they typical progress reports broken down by skill category that a parent might normally see. I was told by a teacher (and Weast has written in a memo) that, for example, many of the second grade math indicators are now 1st grade math. What this means in terms of the traditional math pathway articulation and acceleration is unclear to me.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks PP, for the thoughtful advice. This gave me a lot of insight into what may or may not be going on in the assesment process.
If and when we decide to talk to school, we will be better informed about what data we need to look at. When we talked to the math teacher, we were told that he got all the 1st grade contents so he was bumpted to 2nd grade math. I do not know if they gave him 2nd grade material in the assessment, nor do I know whether this school accelerates kids up to 2 grades above grade level. These are questions we will have to ask if we decide to talk to them. The teacher did say that they are in the process of getting the new curriculum but didn't know what it was going to be like. It sounds like the new curriculum is more challenging. I wonder when and how they are going to let us know about it... Will it be announced on the MCPS website?... Interesting.

The computation vs. measurement/geometry perspective was also helpful. I think we will wait and see how he does in the latter areas for the next few weeks.