NY Times article on Middle School Algebra

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Me again, poster who write this, you said what I did. Sorry

[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

asians are probably way above 24 percent...so what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Zero benefit to accelerate kids by 3 years who could merely “handle it”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

STOP LYING PP. You already know the VMPI attempted to eliminate most, if not all, advanced math in HS in 2021:




Not to mention:

- FCPS is currently piloting the “Equity Cubed” or E3 elementary math curriculum, which claims to offer the highest level math to every student (whether they are prepared or not) but then reduces all advanced/ accelerated math opportunities for top students to an occasional “pull out” once in a while, instead of a dedicated class.

The “pull out method” does not work.

Do a DCUM search on E3 aka - “Equity Cubed.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

STOP LYING PP. You already know the VMPI attempted to eliminate most, if not all, advanced math in HS in 2021:




Not to mention:

- FCPS is currently piloting the “Equity Cubed” or E3 elementary math curriculum, which claims to offer the highest level math to every student (whether they are prepared or not) but then reduces all advanced/ accelerated math opportunities for top students to an occasional “pull out” once in a while, instead of a dedicated class.

The “pull out method” does not work.

Do a DCUM search on E3 aka - “Equity Cubed.”

“NOT ALL COLLEGE MAJORS NEED CALCULUS !”

[Anonymous]

Ignore PP, we already went through debunking that on another recent thread with the same graphic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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!

Starts with a lie about not "offering a chance to study it"

The real problem is that ES kids aren't offered intensive math intervention (+2 hrs of school each day) to compensate for lack of education at home.
When families don't prioritize education at home, students need an alternative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

Ignore this liar. She is the notorious and nasty “equity troll” of DCUM.

Don’t let her gaslight you with her lies.

I'll do one better. I'll ignore this entire dumb thread.

See ya.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And there are kids who make cutoffs, know about it and bc of "site based management" are not allowed to take it. There are kids who are actually gifted (and not accelerated) and we do them and the future of our country a shame not to recognize this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

STOP LYING PP. You already know the VMPI attempted to eliminate most, if not all, advanced math in HS in 2021:




Not to mention:

- FCPS is currently piloting the “Equity Cubed” or E3 elementary math curriculum, which claims to offer the highest level math to every student (whether they are prepared or not) but then reduces all advanced/ accelerated math opportunities for top students to an occasional “pull out” once in a while, instead of a dedicated class.

The “pull out method” does not work.

Do a DCUM search on E3 aka - “Equity Cubed.”

Lies.

This has been debunked countless times.

VA DOE was never eliminating advanced math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

STOP LYING PP. You already know the VMPI attempted to eliminate most, if not all, advanced math in HS in 2021:




Not to mention:

- FCPS is currently piloting the “Equity Cubed” or E3 elementary math curriculum, which claims to offer the highest level math to every student (whether they are prepared or not) but then reduces all advanced/ accelerated math opportunities for top students to an occasional “pull out” once in a while, instead of a dedicated class.

The “pull out method” does not work.

Do a DCUM search on E3 aka - “Equity Cubed.”

“NOT ALL COLLEGE MAJORS NEED CALCULUS !”

That meant offering additional rigorous math options. NOT eliminating calculus.

So many RWNJ lies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

STOP LYING PP. You already know the VMPI attempted to eliminate most, if not all, advanced math in HS in 2021:




Not to mention:

- FCPS is currently piloting the “Equity Cubed” or E3 elementary math curriculum, which claims to offer the highest level math to every student (whether they are prepared or not) but then reduces all advanced/ accelerated math opportunities for top students to an occasional “pull out” once in a while, instead of a dedicated class.

The “pull out method” does not work.

Do a DCUM search on E3 aka - “Equity Cubed.”

“NOT ALL COLLEGE MAJORS NEED CALCULUS !”

https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/flashback-friday-clueless-doctor-sleeps-through-math-class-reinvents-calculusand-names-it-after-herself

"This is probably a good lesson for anyone - if you're a doctor, not a mathematician (dammit Jim!), and you think you've invented a new mathematical model for something basic like finding the area under a curve, you should probably run it by a mathematician before you publish it. She'll tell you that yes, your idea of using the area of lots of tiny rectangles to approximate the overall area under the curve is a very good one. In fact, it's called the trapezoidal rule, and it's part of the Newton-Cotes formulas. "

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

STOP LYING PP. You already know the VMPI attempted to eliminate most, if not all, advanced math in HS in 2021:




Not to mention:

- FCPS is currently piloting the “Equity Cubed” or E3 elementary math curriculum, which claims to offer the highest level math to every student (whether they are prepared or not) but then reduces all advanced/ accelerated math opportunities for top students to an occasional “pull out” once in a while, instead of a dedicated class.

The “pull out method” does not work.

Do a DCUM search on E3 aka - “Equity Cubed.”

“NOT ALL COLLEGE MAJORS NEED CALCULUS !”

That meant offering additional rigorous math options. NOT eliminating calculus.

So many RWNJ lies.

Thanks for posting this infamous and ridiculous VMPI chart, which our lefties like to deny and pretend it never existed.

It's worth recalling how ridiculous this initiative was. To make their points that not "everybody needs calculus" they had made a Youtube video that had - I'm not making this up - video footage of industrial robots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.”

Good thing that zero people in VA have proposed to eliminate advanced math or GT programs.

STOP LYING PP. You already know the VMPI attempted to eliminate most, if not all, advanced math in HS in 2021:




Not to mention:

- FCPS is currently piloting the “Equity Cubed” or E3 elementary math curriculum, which claims to offer the highest level math to every student (whether they are prepared or not) but then reduces all advanced/ accelerated math opportunities for top students to an occasional “pull out” once in a while, instead of a dedicated class.

The “pull out method” does not work.

Do a DCUM search on E3 aka - “Equity Cubed.”

“NOT ALL COLLEGE MAJORS NEED CALCULUS !”

That meant offering additional rigorous math options. NOT eliminating calculus.

So many RWNJ lies.

Thanks for posting this infamous and ridiculous VMPI chart, which our lefties like to deny and pretend it never existed.

It's worth recalling how ridiculous this initiative was. To make their points that not "everybody needs calculus" they had made a Youtube video that had - I'm not making this up - video footage of industrial robots.

I’ve posted this screenshot and many others.

Are you going to argue that everyone does need calculus?