Algebra 1 MCAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So just got the MCAP results for Algebra 1 and 94% of kids failed to meet expectations. Overall not a surprise since they only covered 40% of the Algebra curriculum. But passing this test is a requirement for high school graduation. Does anyone know how the county plans to address this? Is everyone just getting a waiver? Or will kids have to take the exam again?

For kids in Algebra 1 last year or this year, they don't have to pass the MCAP, just take it and pass the class. Here's the official wording from this document:

High school students who were enrolled in an ELA/L 10, Algebra I or High School Science course last year and take the shorter Early Fall assessment will not be required to pass the assessment to meet Maryland’s graduation requirements. Additionally, during the 2021-2022 school year, students enrolled in an ELA/L 10, Algebra I, Biology or Life Science, or Government course will be required to take, yet not required to pass, the current assessments for graduation. Students must pass the respective course.

So there will be 2 yrs worth of graduates with poor Algebra skills. Lovely.

I'm making my 8th grader take Algebra again over the summer. DC got an A in the class last year, but failed to meet expectations. As the PP stated, not surprising since they didn't cover a lot of the material last year.

Total cluster f*.

FWIW, I highly recommend finding an Algebra class that is not the MCPS one.

We found an online Algebra class and it was SO much better. Another friend other her kid up with a Math tutor and they use a workbook, etc.

I could be wrong, but I bet the summer Algebra will be more of the same MCPS nonsense - superficial run through of ideas with very little practice.

Landon, Sidwell and a few of the privates do 6 week summer classes that we do as an additional review. They use textbooks.

[Anonymous]

Agree with this PP.

Find a class that provides a textbook. It made a huge difference for my kid.

My kid had gotten an A in her MCPS Algebra class but they didn’t even get through so much of the material. It was a joke with the decreased class time.

I agree with the other PP who says that kids need a strong foundation in Algebra to move on to the other math classes. Get your kid into a good Algebra class because MCPS is doing our kids a disservice by giving them As even when they have not mastered the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with this PP.

Find a class that provides a textbook. It made a huge difference for my kid.

My kid had gotten an A in her MCPS Algebra class but they didn’t even get through so much of the material. It was a joke with the decreased class time.

I agree with the other PP who says that kids need a strong foundation in Algebra to move on to the other math classes. Get your kid into a good Algebra class because MCPS is doing our kids a disservice by giving them As even when they have not mastered the material.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with this PP.

Find a class that provides a textbook. It made a huge difference for my kid.

My kid had gotten an A in her MCPS Algebra class but they didn’t even get through so much of the material. It was a joke with the decreased class time.

I agree with the other PP who says that kids need a strong foundation in Algebra to move on to the other math classes. Get your kid into a good Algebra class because MCPS is doing our kids a disservice by giving them As even when they have not mastered the material.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

I’m the PP you responded to. Thank you for taking the time out to post a helpful remark.

If MCPS did a great job teaching your child Algebra, I am truly happy for you. That’s great!

Based on the MCAP Algebra results that I am seeing, there were a LOT of kids who fell through the cracks.

I was simply offering my kid’s experience - a textbook was beneficial for her and the MCPS class offered at her middle school was missing large chunks of information.

YMMV, of course. That should go without saying.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know: Is it a state mandate to include MCAP in GPA? Or is it an MCPS decision. I am not a fan of counting a random test from the state/Pearson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with this PP.

Find a class that provides a textbook. It made a huge difference for my kid.

My kid had gotten an A in her MCPS Algebra class but they didn’t even get through so much of the material. It was a joke with the decreased class time.

I agree with the other PP who says that kids need a strong foundation in Algebra to move on to the other math classes. Get your kid into a good Algebra class because MCPS is doing our kids a disservice by giving them As even when they have not mastered the material.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

I’m the PP you responded to. Thank you for taking the time out to post a helpful remark.

If MCPS did a great job teaching your child Algebra, I am truly happy for you. That’s great!

Based on the MCAP Algebra results that I am seeing, there were a LOT of kids who fell through the cracks.

I was simply offering my kid’s experience - a textbook was beneficial for her and the MCPS class offered at her middle school was missing large chunks of information.

YMMV, of course. That should go without saying.

A textbook is really helpful. We do a summer class and purchase the textbook to use for the next school year. The issue last year was the reduced class time and no homework. This year they are back to normal class time but there is no homework and in math, you need that repetition. Our teachers have done a great job within the limitations MCPS has provided but the curriculum is terrible and the lack of practice/homework is terrible but that's what many parents wanted. There was not a large chunk of information missing for our child last year so maybe that is school/teacher specific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with this PP.

Find a class that provides a textbook. It made a huge difference for my kid.

My kid had gotten an A in her MCPS Algebra class but they didn’t even get through so much of the material. It was a joke with the decreased class time.

I agree with the other PP who says that kids need a strong foundation in Algebra to move on to the other math classes. Get your kid into a good Algebra class because MCPS is doing our kids a disservice by giving them As even when they have not mastered the material.

DCUM maxim: what works for my kid works for everyone's kid!
And its corollary: what doesn't work for my kid doesn't work for anyone's kid!

What at least two of us are saying is that the curriculum/lack of homework is terrible, we know it and we supplement outside of MCPS. So, technically MCPS does work because our kids got outside help. We prep every summer.

[Anonymous]

I had my kid repeat Algebra this year.

I have not seen an official transcript but my old kids Algebra test result shows up on his internal transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids were required to take the exam this year, but not pass it.

We were told not to worry about it if the kid doesn’t do well.

Well wait until your kid is in Honors Algebra 2. That is already a hard class for most kids even when things were "normal". MCPS is really doing alot of kids a big disservice here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids were required to take the exam this year, but not pass it.

We were told not to worry about it if the kid doesn’t do well.

Well wait until your kid is in Honors Algebra 2. That is already a hard class for most kids even when things were "normal". MCPS is really doing alot of kids a big disservice here.

X100 I'm going to have my kid take Algebra over the summer again before they start Alg 2 in 9th next fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So just got the MCAP results for Algebra 1 and 94% of kids failed to meet expectations. Overall not a surprise since they only covered 40% of the Algebra curriculum. But passing this test is a requirement for high school graduation. Does anyone know how the county plans to address this? Is everyone just getting a waiver? Or will kids have to take the exam again?

For kids in Algebra 1 last year or this year, they don't have to pass the MCAP, just take it and pass the class. Here's the official wording from this document:

High school students who were enrolled in an ELA/L 10, Algebra I or High School Science course last year and take the shorter Early Fall assessment will not be required to pass the assessment to meet Maryland’s graduation requirements. Additionally, during the 2021-2022 school year, students enrolled in an ELA/L 10, Algebra I, Biology or Life Science, or Government course will be required to take, yet not required to pass, the current assessments for graduation. Students must pass the respective course.

So there will be 2 yrs worth of graduates with poor Algebra skills. Lovely.

I'm making my 8th grader take Algebra again over the summer. DC got an A in the class last year, but failed to meet expectations. As the PP stated, not surprising since they didn't cover a lot of the material last year.

Total cluster f*.

FWIW, I highly recommend finding an Algebra class that is not the MCPS one.

We found an online Algebra class and it was SO much better. Another friend other her kid up with a Math tutor and they use a workbook, etc.

I could be wrong, but I bet the summer Algebra will be more of the same MCPS nonsense - superficial run through of ideas with very little practice.

Oh, I'm not using MCPS material. I got a workbook, and my older DC is going to tutor the younger. Thankfully, the older DC is *very* strong in math (AP BC calc -- straight As all thru school, 800 Math SAT). This DC also stated Khan Academy is good. So, that's what we are going to do. MCPS math during VL sucked. It wasn't all that great prior to VL but VL certainly made it worse.

They'll be doing this over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids were required to take the exam this year, but not pass it.

We were told not to worry about it if the kid doesn’t do well.

Well wait until your kid is in Honors Algebra 2. That is already a hard class for most kids even when things were "normal". MCPS is really doing alot of kids a big disservice here.

X100 I'm going to have my kid take Algebra over the summer again before they start Alg 2 in 9th next fall.

Instead of repeating Algebra, why not have them do a prep class in Algebra 2?

[Anonymous]

My DD dropped from Honors Algebra 2 to regular and that has been a big help. Her teacher has time to review the concepts that were rushed in her first algebra class. Depending on the grade, repeating Algebra 1 would also probably be a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids were required to take the exam this year, but not pass it.

We were told not to worry about it if the kid doesn’t do well.

Well wait until your kid is in Honors Algebra 2. That is already a hard class for most kids even when things were "normal". MCPS is really doing alot of kids a big disservice here.

X100 I'm going to have my kid take Algebra over the summer again before they start Alg 2 in 9th next fall.

Instead of repeating Algebra, why not have them do a prep class in Algebra 2?

Because Alg 1 is the foundation for higher level math. A weak foundation in Alg 1 will hurt not just in the higher level math classes, but also in physics.

[Anonymous]

Instead of wasting time and money on something like the anti-racist audit, they need to pour their effort and money into getting these kids to just grade level. Absolutely appalling.