Got an email saying my kid was going to his grade level math class

[Anonymous]

OP-I would use this as an opportunity to have a conversation with your kid's teacher about their math strengths and weaknesses. When my kids were in ES, about 60-65% kids were placed into compacted math but the % is very different in many other schools--I'm at a school where parents push kids into it even if not ready. I'm not saying you should push to get into compacted math (your kid's teachers know where your kid will learn best). But you might ask if there are ways you can support your kid to strengthen math skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its fine. If he does well in math next year they'll likely put him in compacted thereafter. My kids were pushed into compacted math in 4th and struggled / needed tutors to keep up with the minority of math class geniuses. There's usually only about 5 of those in the whole class and the rest are regular kids. But you know, MCPS gets more funding if they can show they've got more advanced students, so they push the compacted. Your kid is lucky they're just getting normal math which should teach at a steady pace and will be easier to remember / learn and apply.

You would think the funding would go to the struggling students??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks and yes he’s going into 4th. The letter said that it would provide information on other curricula but it did not. Should I care about this? I’m perfectly happy with my average kid.

If you feel your kid needs to take Algebra in 7th otherwise let them take their time.

I think some compacted math kids take algebra in 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its fine. If he does well in math next year they'll likely put him in compacted thereafter. My kids were pushed into compacted math in 4th and struggled / needed tutors to keep up with the minority of math class geniuses. There's usually only about 5 of those in the whole class and the rest are regular kids. But you know, MCPS gets more funding if they can show they've got more advanced students, so they push the compacted. Your kid is lucky they're just getting normal math which should teach at a steady pace and will be easier to remember / learn and apply.

You would think the funding would go to the struggling students??

MCPS doesn’t get more funding for having kids in compacted math. These classes exist because there are students who need and benefit from them. Plenty of funding and time goes into supporting struggling students, but they are not the only students in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I could ne’d it over again, I would keep my kid in regular math in ES and start with acceleration in MS. Mine is in AIM now it moves super fast after skipping a bunch of content in compacted math. We have been supplementing to address gaps, of which there are many.

Many middle schools now have advanced classes for all so this is hard to do.

This is demonstrably not true for math. The MS math pathway (which you can find on pretty much every MS math department page) includes at least 3 levels of 6th grade math. One is Math 6, which is your basic on-grade level math, and two courses that are accelerated (i.e., AMP6+, and either AMP7+ or AIM depending on the school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its fine. If he does well in math next year they'll likely put him in compacted thereafter. My kids were pushed into compacted math in 4th and struggled / needed tutors to keep up with the minority of math class geniuses. There's usually only about 5 of those in the whole class and the rest are regular kids. But you know, MCPS gets more funding if they can show they've got more advanced students, so they push the compacted. Your kid is lucky they're just getting normal math which should teach at a steady pace and will be easier to remember / learn and apply.

You would think the funding would go to the struggling students??

Of course it goes to struggling students, it gets distributed throughout the school where there are needs. Jesus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its fine. If he does well in math next year they'll likely put him in compacted thereafter. My kids were pushed into compacted math in 4th and struggled / needed tutors to keep up with the minority of math class geniuses. There's usually only about 5 of those in the whole class and the rest are regular kids. But you know, MCPS gets more funding if they can show they've got more advanced students, so they push the compacted. Your kid is lucky they're just getting normal math which should teach at a steady pace and will be easier to remember / learn and apply.

You would think the funding would go to the struggling students??

MCPS doesn’t get more funding for having kids in compacted math. These classes exist because there are students who need and benefit from them. Plenty of funding and time goes into supporting struggling students, but they are not the only students in school.

Actually it does - indirectly, because those kids perform better on the MAP testing which is directly connected to funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its fine. If he does well in math next year they'll likely put him in compacted thereafter. My kids were pushed into compacted math in 4th and struggled / needed tutors to keep up with the minority of math class geniuses. There's usually only about 5 of those in the whole class and the rest are regular kids. But you know, MCPS gets more funding if they can show they've got more advanced students, so they push the compacted. Your kid is lucky they're just getting normal math which should teach at a steady pace and will be easier to remember / learn and apply.

You would think the funding would go to the struggling students??

MCPS doesn’t get more funding for having kids in compacted math. These classes exist because there are students who need and benefit from them. Plenty of funding and time goes into supporting struggling students, but they are not the only students in school.

Actually it does - indirectly, because those kids perform better on the MAP testing which is directly connected to funding.

How is MAP testing connecting to funding? Are you saying that schools with higher MAP scores get more funding per student? That doesn't sound right. It seems like Title I schools and focus schools get more funding per pupil, and they tend to have lower scores across the board.