AAP vs. Private

[Anonymous]

FCPS just reduced the vigor of AAP math this year.

They did this by explaining the E3 math curriculum from a pilot to county-wide (including reducing the AAP curriculum).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS just reduced the vigor of AAP math this year.

They did this by explaining the E3 math curriculum from a pilot to county-wide (including reducing the AAP curriculum).

FCPS is seeking to “narrow the racial achievement gap” - from the top down, by lowering the rigor of math in AAP.

I would go private if I had a child in elementary today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, FCPS now has a defined reading and writing curriculum, so parochial schools no longer have an edge there. Nor do other privates.

This isn’t necessarily true. Just because there is a defined curriculum doesn’t meant that is as good as private/parochial. A lot of the teachers are skeptical. The jury will be out for while on this.

Of course teachers think their own curated LA curriculums are better - but high school teachers attest that they aren't. Kids are not learning to read and write. So Benchmark is better.

Private schools buy curriculums too. So they are neither better nor worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS just reduced the vigor of AAP math this year.

They did this by explaining the E3 math curriculum from a pilot to county-wide (including reducing the AAP curriculum).

Liar

[Anonymous]

AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS just reduced the vigor of AAP math this year.

They did this by explaining the E3 math curriculum from a pilot to county-wide (including reducing the AAP curriculum).

Liar

That was is not a lie, as I heard it from school official. E3 math curriculum was piloted in a handful of FCPS schools but this year it is in every school. This info is from the spring AAP orientation that we attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

This is sad because the one thing that public schools had over private schools was STEM, but now that STEM has gotten so important the private schools are spending more time and effort to get all the students good at it, and public schools are lowering standards so everybody can meet the standards for STEM (now they can say that all the kids are qualified so you can pick whoever you want, because they're all equally qualified).

It's not dead yet because they still allow kids to accelerate but STEM rigor in FCPS is dying. Hopefully parents fight back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS just reduced the vigor of AAP math this year.

They did this by explaining the E3 math curriculum from a pilot to county-wide (including reducing the AAP curriculum).

Liar

Read it for yourself, here's a comparison of standards from SY 2023-2024 and standards from 2024-2025: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1226968.page#28331524

There's some impact from VDOE's modifications to the math standards for 2023, but most is FCPS changing the pacing guide for 3rd grade advanced math. You can see VDOE's contribution here: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75/1226968.page#28375721

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

This is sad because the one thing that public schools had over private schools was STEM, but now that STEM has gotten so important the private schools are spending more time and effort to get all the students good at it, and public schools are lowering standards so everybody can meet the standards for STEM (now they can say that all the kids are qualified so you can pick whoever you want, because they're all equally qualified).

It's not dead yet because they still allow kids to accelerate but STEM rigor in FCPS is dying. Hopefully parents fight back.

Yeah STEM is more important than ever. Private schools respond by increasing rigor to prep[are their students for college and public schools reduce rigor to close the achievement gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

I feel like this is not correct. My kids are all doing math far beyond what I was doing in FCPS in the same grades. There is no way they are lowering “math rigor”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

I feel like this is not correct. My kids are all doing math far beyond what I was doing in FCPS in the same grades. There is no way they are lowering “math rigor”.

Objectively between last school year and this school year they changed the 3rd grade math standards to accelerate significantly less. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1226968.page#28331524

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

I feel like this is not correct. My kids are all doing math far beyond what I was doing in FCPS in the same grades. There is no way they are lowering “math rigor”.

Objectively between last school year and this school year they changed the 3rd grade math standards to accelerate significantly less. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1226968.page#28331524

Is this why my third grader is complaining about not being challenged in math class? (We have a meeting with the aart teacher this week)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

I feel like this is not correct. My kids are all doing math far beyond what I was doing in FCPS in the same grades. There is no way they are lowering “math rigor”.

Objectively between last school year and this school year they changed the 3rd grade math standards to accelerate significantly less. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1226968.page#28331524

Is this why my third grader is complaining about not being challenged in math class? (We have a meeting with the aart teacher this week)

Possibly? Or possibly because your 3rd grader is really so far ahead they would still be bored under the old standards too. But if my kids were still in the system I'd be livid on behalf of my 3rd grader because there's really not much there to the new standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

I feel like this is not correct. My kids are all doing math far beyond what I was doing in FCPS in the same grades. There is no way they are lowering “math rigor”.

Far less math rigor now. Previously, a 3rd grader in AAP would learn that 1/2 = 0.5. Now, they have to wait until 4th grade to learn the existence of decimal equivalent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP has been lowering math rigor for years. If you can afford it, consider private schools. For low-income families, explore affordable afterschool math enrichment programs.

I feel like this is not correct. My kids are all doing math far beyond what I was doing in FCPS in the same grades. There is no way they are lowering “math rigor”.

Far less math rigor now. Previously, a 3rd grader in AAP would learn that 1/2 = 0.5. Now, they have to wait until 4th grade to learn the existence of decimal equivalent.

I assume PP was not in 3rd grade FCPS last year though. If PP was not in GT (or whatever it's predecessor was called) in the 90s or whenever then yeah, if they have a kid in 4th or later that kid is probably doing more advanced math. Only if PP has a 3rd grader would they see what's happening.

And it's clear from the lack of outcry on this topic that most people really don't care. Either their kids are older or they don't have a vested interest in AAP for whatever reason.