Why do so few private schools offer accelerated math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t necessarily buy the private math is harder. It might be it might not. My kids thought math at their private school was plenty challenging but had no way to compare.

How far and fast do you want your kid to go? I think a number of privates here go beyond multi variable as part of their normal accelerated track and some have independent study beyond that. For science it’s the usual AP classes.

Where the privates tend to lag is in the science and math competitions. I don’t think they encourage that or facilitate independent research like some of the magnets.

More kids, more classes. Public will always have the incentive to offer more. If that’s your thing then stay with public but it doesn’t seem that where the privates are is all that lacking for most students.

It is not.

[Anonymous]

I don't think its really deeper but remember, they generally only accept kids within the same range, usually smarter kids so there is less need to differentiate. Also, huge difference if they only have 150-200 middle schoolers vs. a school that has 1000 middle schoolers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid entered 9th grade at a Big3 this fall from public as a super accelerated math kid--took algebra in 6th. We quickly found that despite having all As in math (Algebra 1, geometry, Algebra 2), she didn't really know much math.
The Big3 math was so much deeper and more difficult than what she was used to in public. After a month we dropped her down a level (from honors precalc to honors algebra 2) and she is doing really well (second year of algebra 2)

Now, some of this may be pandemic related and your mileage may vary but in *our* experience, the public school "acceleration" was a mile wide and a foot deep.

We do the private summer math classes as prep, not for credit and they are very rushed and did not have as much as the public school classes, especially in Geometry. Its not necessarily deeper. Its just different. The only advantage is that many of the privates do more traditional teaching and use textbooks.

[Anonymous]

Unless taking linear algebra or differential equations as a senior is not accelerated in the OP's mind, I don't know what she is talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid entered 9th grade at a Big3 this fall from public as a super accelerated math kid--took algebra in 6th. We quickly found that despite having all As in math (Algebra 1, geometry, Algebra 2), she didn't really know much math.
The Big3 math was so much deeper and more difficult than what she was used to in public. After a month we dropped her down a level (from honors precalc to honors algebra 2) and she is doing really well (second year of algebra 2)

Now, some of this may be pandemic related and your mileage may vary but in *our* experience, the public school "acceleration" was a mile wide and a foot deep.

BS my kids are extremely math oriented we did Big 3 and public there is zero comparison Public wins hands down full stop.

Parent of MIT and Stanford

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t necessarily buy the private math is harder. It might be it might not. My kids thought math at their private school was plenty challenging but had no way to compare.

How far and fast do you want your kid to go? I think a number of privates here go beyond multi variable as part of their normal accelerated track and some have independent study beyond that. For science it’s the usual AP classes.

Where the privates tend to lag is in the science and math competitions. I don’t think they encourage that or facilitate independent research like some of the magnets.

More kids, more classes. Public will always have the incentive to offer more. If that’s your thing then stay with public but it doesn’t seem that where the privates are is all that lacking for most students.

It is not.

If you think the certainty that private school math is harder than public school math is dumb, you do yourself no favors thinking the opposite is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid entered 9th grade at a Big3 this fall from public as a super accelerated math kid--took algebra in 6th. We quickly found that despite having all As in math (Algebra 1, geometry, Algebra 2), she didn't really know much math.
The Big3 math was so much deeper and more difficult than what she was used to in public. After a month we dropped her down a level (from honors precalc to honors algebra 2) and she is doing really well (second year of algebra 2)

Now, some of this may be pandemic related and your mileage may vary but in *our* experience, the public school "acceleration" was a mile wide and a foot deep.

BS my kids are extremely math oriented we did Big 3 and public there is zero comparison Public wins hands down full stop.

Parent of MIT and Stanford

We did the opposite and found private more difficult and comprehensive.

Parent of Cal Tech and Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid entered 9th grade at a Big3 this fall from public as a super accelerated math kid--took algebra in 6th. We quickly found that despite having all As in math (Algebra 1, geometry, Algebra 2), she didn't really know much math.
The Big3 math was so much deeper and more difficult than what she was used to in public. After a month we dropped her down a level (from honors precalc to honors algebra 2) and she is doing really well (second year of algebra 2)

Now, some of this may be pandemic related and your mileage may vary but in *our* experience, the public school "acceleration" was a mile wide and a foot deep.

We do the private summer math classes as prep, not for credit and they are very rushed and did not have as much as the public school classes, especially in Geometry. Its not necessarily deeper. Its just different. The only advantage is that many of the privates do more traditional teaching and use textbooks.

Gee a summer school class doing an entire year in ten weeks feels rushed? I wonder why?

[Anonymous]

I’m sure it depends on the private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you might find this article interesting: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/03/the-math-revolution/426855/

GREAT Article and thanks for posting it ! The BEAM Summer program at Bard and the Russian School in NYC sound great.

Good points on starting with logic in 2nd/ 3rd Grade

I also really liked this excerpt from the Atlantic piece:

From 2005 to 2007, school officials in Broward County, Florida, concerned that poor kids and English-language learners were being under-referred to gifted programs, gave all second-graders, rich and poor, a nonverbal reasoning test, and the high scorers an IQ test. The criteria for “gifted” status weren’t weakened, but the number of disadvantaged children identified as having the capacity for accelerated learning rose 180 percent.

[Anonymous]

Maybe for MLK Day this year we can administer a logic test to every 2nd grader in DCPS , like the Bard Program referred to in the Atlantic article, then take all those kids who test high and bring them 1-2 new really talented math teachers to their school

It would be a great kick in the pants just to see the data

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid entered 9th grade at a Big3 this fall from public as a super accelerated math kid--took algebra in 6th. We quickly found that despite having all As in math (Algebra 1, geometry, Algebra 2), she didn't really know much math.
The Big3 math was so much deeper and more difficult than what she was used to in public. After a month we dropped her down a level (from honors precalc to honors algebra 2) and she is doing really well (second year of algebra 2)

Now, some of this may be pandemic related and your mileage may vary but in *our* experience, the public school "acceleration" was a mile wide and a foot deep.

We do the private summer math classes as prep, not for credit and they are very rushed and did not have as much as the public school classes, especially in Geometry. Its not necessarily deeper. Its just different. The only advantage is that many of the privates do more traditional teaching and use textbooks.

Gee a summer school class doing an entire year in ten weeks feels rushed? I wonder why?

They claimed they covered the same material but kids weren't even taught to use a compass or protractor during geometry. It was not impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid entered 9th grade at a Big3 this fall from public as a super accelerated math kid--took algebra in 6th. We quickly found that despite having all As in math (Algebra 1, geometry, Algebra 2), she didn't really know much math.
The Big3 math was so much deeper and more difficult than what she was used to in public. After a month we dropped her down a level (from honors precalc to honors algebra 2) and she is doing really well (second year of algebra 2)

Now, some of this may be pandemic related and your mileage may vary but in *our* experience, the public school "acceleration" was a mile wide and a foot deep.

BS my kids are extremely math oriented we did Big 3 and public there is zero comparison Public wins hands down full stop.

Parent of MIT and Stanford

We did the opposite and found private more difficult and comprehensive.

Parent of Cal Tech and Stanford.

Apparently I’m not worthy of an opinion because my kids are in average schools.

Parent of VCU and Elon

[Anonymous]

Who can they adequately pay to teach that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that culturally, a lot of private schools are run by humanities types who prize the humanities and arts over math and science. And until pretty recently, most parents either didn't care or were like that, too.

I attended a few boarding school information sessions last year, almost none of which mentioned math or science, and in answer to a question about accelerated math, an admissions rep said, "well, we aren't as concerned about kids learning a lot of calculus as we are at kids being able to participate in sports and theater and be their whole selves..." I thought it was interesting, as a parent who is actually pretty interested in her kid learning calculus.

Yeah, me too. Do you mind sharing which schools said this sort of thing? Considering boarding.