Math sequence in DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Deal was phasing out double-blocking, so that the highest math will be Geometry in 8th.

This is a good thing. My kid did the 8th grade Algebra 2 sequence at Deal and then went on to a top DC private school and found out that they had learned very little math.
It was a mess and they ended up having to drop down a course after a month of school. A friend had the same experience.

Frankly, the DCPS math teaching in general kind of sucks. Most kids who transfer to private or Catholic schools for 9th are placement tested on arrival and end up repeating courses.

I'm generally a fan of DCPS (and continued to send my younger kids there) but beware of the Deal math acceleration. They will push kids through without actually teaching them anything (while giving them straight HIGH A's).

I don’t hear this happening much at the Catholic schools. My kid didnt double up on Algebra II (finished at geometry), but had no problem placing in to Alg II at SJC.

I think double blocking itself might be part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Deal was phasing out double-blocking, so that the highest math will be Geometry in 8th.

That still allows these students to take Calc BC by 11th and AP Stats or Multivariable by 12th (or AB then BC by 12th).

This is the path my advanced math kid is on. He could have double-blocked at Deal, but we didn’t see the point. And now that he’s a junior, I’m glad there will be only one year where he has to do DE for math. I’m glad Deal is getting rid of double-blocking; it always felt like it was much more about making a subset of parents happy than about what’s actually best for students in terms of math instruction.

Sounds like those very parents are on this thread. The acceleration seems to have worked to get kids into those privates despite the fact it wasn’t best for actual learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Deal was phasing out double-blocking, so that the highest math will be Geometry in 8th.

That still allows these students to take Calc BC by 11th and AP Stats or Multivariable by 12th (or AB then BC by 12th).

This is the path my advanced math kid is on. He could have double-blocked at Deal, but we didn’t see the point. And now that he’s a junior, I’m glad there will be only one year where he has to do DE for math. I’m glad Deal is getting rid of double-blocking; it always felt like it was much more about making a subset of parents happy than about what’s actually best for students in terms of math instruction.

Sounds like those very parents are on this thread. The acceleration seems to have worked to get kids into those privates despite the fact it wasn’t best for actual learning.

I’m not sure how valuable the acceleration actually is in private/magnet admissions. The pendulum seems to be swinging back away from extreme math acceleration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in elementary school and is pretty good at math. There are no pull outs or advanced math in his dcps elementary. She’s in 3rd grade. When do I need to make sure she’s on the right track to take advanced math classes—is it middle school?

Yes, middle school. In 6th, the kids take a test and then are tracked into either Math 6th or Math 7th (ie, the top kids start with 7th grade math).

Then, the 7th math take Algebra in 7th and geometry in 8th. Some kids are tracked to take Algebra II by 8th (at least at Deal).

All this is for Deal FYI…other schools may not have the teachers to do the above.

This is the same for Jefferson MS. My 8th grader is taking geometry this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Deal was phasing out double-blocking, so that the highest math will be Geometry in 8th.

That still allows these students to take Calc BC by 11th and AP Stats or Multivariable by 12th (or AB then BC by 12th).

This is the path my advanced math kid is on. He could have double-blocked at Deal, but we didn’t see the point. And now that he’s a junior, I’m glad there will be only one year where he has to do DE for math. I’m glad Deal is getting rid of double-blocking; it always felt like it was much more about making a subset of parents happy than about what’s actually best for students in terms of math instruction.

Sounds like those very parents are on this thread. The acceleration seems to have worked to get kids into those privates despite the fact it wasn’t best for actual learning.

I’m not sure how valuable the acceleration actually is in private/magnet admissions. The pendulum seems to be swinging back away from extreme math acceleration.

Given that the private schools don't accelerate their own students past geometry in 8th, I doubt that alg 2 is required for acceptance.

[Anonymous]

It’s the whole idea that those kids are the “top of the class” that matters in private admissions. Esp if unhooked. And then the same parents complain their child had to step down in math when they could have chosen not to accelerate so much. Why not just say no to the offer to accelerate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in elementary school and is pretty good at math. There are no pull outs or advanced math in his dcps elementary. She’s in 3rd grade. When do I need to make sure she’s on the right track to take advanced math classes—is it middle school?

Yes, middle school. In 6th, the kids take a test and then are tracked into either Math 6th or Math 7th (ie, the top kids start with 7th grade math).

Then, the 7th math take Algebra in 7th and geometry in 8th. Some kids are tracked to take Algebra II by 8th (at least at Deal).

All this is for Deal FYI…other schools may not have the teachers to do the above.

This is the same for Jefferson MS. My 8th grader is taking geometry this year.

Anyone know if this is how it works at Eliot Hine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Deal was phasing out double-blocking, so that the highest math will be Geometry in 8th.

This is a good thing. My kid did the 8th grade Algebra 2 sequence at Deal and then went on to a top DC private school and found out that they had learned very little math.
It was a mess and they ended up having to drop down a course after a month of school. A friend had the same experience.

Frankly, the DCPS math teaching in general kind of sucks. Most kids who transfer to private or Catholic schools for 9th are placement tested on arrival and end up repeating courses.

I'm generally a fan of DCPS (and continued to send my younger kids there) but beware of the Deal math acceleration. They will push kids through without actually teaching them anything (while giving them straight HIGH A's).

I don’t hear this happening much at the Catholic schools. My kid didnt double up on Algebra II (finished at geometry), but had no problem placing in to Alg II at SJC.

SJC is not an academic powerhouse. It's a great school but academics are pretty average--very similar to DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s the whole idea that those kids are the “top of the class” that matters in private admissions. Esp if unhooked. And then the same parents complain their child had to step down in math when they could have chosen not to accelerate so much. Why not just say no to the offer to accelerate?

We have said no with our subsequent kids!! They are on-level for math. We didn't know better with our first kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Deal was phasing out double-blocking, so that the highest math will be Geometry in 8th.

This is a good thing. My kid did the 8th grade Algebra 2 sequence at Deal and then went on to a top DC private school and found out that they had learned very little math.
It was a mess and they ended up having to drop down a course after a month of school. A friend had the same experience.

Frankly, the DCPS math teaching in general kind of sucks. Most kids who transfer to private or Catholic schools for 9th are placement tested on arrival and end up repeating courses.

I'm generally a fan of DCPS (and continued to send my younger kids there) but beware of the Deal math acceleration. They will push kids through without actually teaching them anything (while giving them straight HIGH A's).

I don’t hear this happening much at the Catholic schools. My kid didnt double up on Algebra II (finished at geometry), but had no problem placing in to Alg II at SJC.

SJC is not an academic powerhouse. It's a great school but academics are pretty average--very similar to DCPS.

Sounds like SJC may be better at evaluating incoming freshmen than some other schools where kids have to step down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Deal was phasing out double-blocking, so that the highest math will be Geometry in 8th.

This is a good thing. My kid did the 8th grade Algebra 2 sequence at Deal and then went on to a top DC private school and found out that they had learned very little math.
It was a mess and they ended up having to drop down a course after a month of school. A friend had the same experience.

Frankly, the DCPS math teaching in general kind of sucks. Most kids who transfer to private or Catholic schools for 9th are placement tested on arrival and end up repeating courses.

I'm generally a fan of DCPS (and continued to send my younger kids there) but beware of the Deal math acceleration. They will push kids through without actually teaching them anything (while giving them straight HIGH A's).

I don’t hear this happening much at the Catholic schools. My kid didnt double up on Algebra II (finished at geometry), but had no problem placing in to Alg II at SJC.

SJC is not an academic powerhouse. It's a great school but academics are pretty average--very similar to DCPS.

That’s not helpful…others who went to Gonzaga also didn’t have issues retaking math. None of the WCAC schools are academic powerhouses, but perfectly strong.

[Anonymous]

If the school is so bad that students can accelerate without learning, why would it be better to put the kids on an even lower expectations path by not accelerating? The answer has to come from somewhere else (like outside enrichment).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the school is so bad that students can accelerate without learning, why would it be better to put the kids on an even lower expectations path by not accelerating? The answer has to come from somewhere else (like outside enrichment).

I'm not sure acceleration at Deal is uniformly bad. Several 10th graders in the Calc BC class at JR last year scored a 5 in the exam and many of them were at Deal.

[Anonymous]

For BASIS DC, the MS track advanced math track starts in 5th grade and goes through 8th: Pre-Algebra, Algebra and Geometry I, Algebra and Geometry II, and College-Level Precalculus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the school is so bad that students can accelerate without learning, why would it be better to put the kids on an even lower expectations path by not accelerating? The answer has to come from somewhere else (like outside enrichment).

I'm not sure acceleration at Deal is uniformly bad. Several 10th graders in the Calc BC class at JR last year scored a 5 in the exam and many of them were at Deal.

Many of several? Like two?