Craziness of Compacted Math!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For myself I did not find out that my daughter was in Compacted Math until late August, there was a miscommunication. But I will say now that she is in it, thank goodness! It is that or else she would be bored beyond belief. I have twins in 2nd grade and I will push for one of them to get into it (I presume he will) since he already dislikes school and finds it "boring", especially math. It is for this reason that I assume some parents want their children selected.

+1. MY DC finds the current 3rd grade math homework to be boring, and finishes in 2 minutes. So I assume that DC could qualify for CM. However, if there are tons of kids that are even more advanced than my DC, there would presumably not be room for my DC. So this is my concern. I am not worried about my DC being better than the rest. Only that DC is challenged rather than bored.

So how does this work - they only take the top say 30 kids? Not all the ones that qualify? Why couldn't they have two classes of compacted math if they had enough kids? Sorry I'm ignorant on this subject. We have a second grader.

[Anonymous]

Its everyone that qualifies. Varies by school but at our upcounty high SES elementary its around 20% of the kids. We have an overcrowded school and its one class. I think things get dicey when its not enough for one class, especially now with budget cuts.

Its supposed to be a low number and these are the kids that may take Calculus in 11th grade and AP stats in 12th.

I agree w/ PP that seems like obsession here is parental competitiveness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For myself I did not find out that my daughter was in Compacted Math until late August, there was a miscommunication. But I will say now that she is in it, thank goodness! It is that or else she would be bored beyond belief. I have twins in 2nd grade and I will push for one of them to get into it (I presume he will) since he already dislikes school and finds it "boring", especially math. It is for this reason that I assume some parents want their children selected.

+1. MY DC finds the current 3rd grade math homework to be boring, and finishes in 2 minutes. So I assume that DC could qualify for CM. However, if there are tons of kids that are even more advanced than my DC, there would presumably not be room for my DC. So this is my concern. I am not worried about my DC being better than the rest. Only that DC is challenged rather than bored.

So how does this work - they only take the top say 30 kids? Not all the ones that qualify? Why couldn't they have two classes of compacted math if they had enough kids? Sorry I'm ignorant on this subject. We have a second grader.

Theoretically any kid who qualifies should be able to take it, even if it means adding a class or teacher. It seems to work that way in some schools, but not in those where kids have to go to a nearby middle school to take it.
Achieving proficiency of the materials taught more quickly than other students is only one of the criteria for selection. The others appear to be more subjective. They are supposedly looking for kids who think about math at a higher, more complex level. But the aren't teaching at a higher more complex level. They are teaching the same curriculum math as other kids are taught. They just move through it more quickly. So IMO any kid who learns more quickly should have access to it.

[Anonymous]

In my child's school, they discouraged kids from applying to MS magnet programs if not in compacted. Funny because one magnet is Eastern which is about humanities, so math scores shouldn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my child's school, they discouraged kids from applying to MS magnet programs if not in compacted. Funny because one magnet is Eastern which is about humanities, so math scores shouldn't matter.

Interesting you mention that. At Clemente they mentioned that all the kids in the math/science magnet came from compacted math. I wonder if they exclude kids that aren't in compacted or its just because kids that got into into the magnet program are obviously good at math so would be in the compacted class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parental frustration comes from the fact that the child's math path for the rest of their time in MCPS is being decided based on a mysterious evaluation done when the kid is 8 years old. Now, in some clusters, they apparently will skip kids up into the advanced pathway in middle school. But in many clusters, the kid's math path is set at the end of third grade.
When I was a kid, the last chance for acceleration didn't happen until the end of 7th grade.

This is actually not a fact. It is an exaggerated fear not rooted in reality.

What is a fact: in my kid's middle school, sixth-grade kids were skipped up (to IM) and seventh-grade kids were skipped up (to Algebra I).

[Anonymous]

What happens to the kids in lower elementary magnet schools who were doing accelerated math as early as 1st grade? Do they have to retest at 3rd?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my child's school, they discouraged kids from applying to MS magnet programs if not in compacted. Funny because one magnet is Eastern which is about humanities, so math scores shouldn't matter.

Which is funny because Blair SMAC has a whole class of kids who took 8th grade algebra..no acceleration at all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parental frustration comes from the fact that the child's math path for the rest of their time in MCPS is being decided based on a mysterious evaluation done when the kid is 8 years old. Now, in some clusters, they apparently will skip kids up into the advanced pathway in middle school. But in many clusters, the kid's math path is set at the end of third grade.
When I was a kid, the last chance for acceleration didn't happen until the end of 7th grade.

This is actually not a fact. It is an exaggerated fear not rooted in reality.

What is a fact: in my kid's middle school, sixth-grade kids were skipped up (to IM) and seventh-grade kids were skipped up (to Algebra I).

This is good to hear. They should probably send home a compacted math information and FAQ sheet at the beginning of 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is good to hear. They should probably send home a compacted math information and FAQ sheet at the beginning of 3rd grade.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/math/compacted/

[Anonymous]

The trouble with not getting into compacted math is that if your kid is a fast learner, they are stuck in a class that teaches at a v...e...r...y.........s....l.....o......w pace. They get bored and frustrated and feel like they are wasting time. That is the problem for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The trouble with not getting into compacted math is that if your kid is a fast learner, they are stuck in a class that teaches at a v...e...r...y.........s....l.....o......w pace. They get bored and frustrated and feel like they are wasting time. That is the problem for my child.

The v...e...r...y.........s....l.....o......w pace gets you to Algebra I in 8th grade and AP Calculus A/B in 12th grade for grade-level math. How much faster should the pace for grade-level math be? AP Calculus B/C in 12th grade? Multivariable calculus in 12th grade?

[Anonymous]

Compacted math definitely keeps a bright kid challenged but here's my perspective:

My child was in the GT program for two years and I pulled her out of compacted math because it was becoming very frustrating for her and I felt she was spending too much time on her math homework (I felt she was missing out on "kid time"). Fast forward one year (she is now in 6th) and she complains how bored she is in regular Math. The work is really easy. She's right. So, we had to choose between really easy or really hard (for her). Since math isn't her passion, I am comfortable with the decision. Sad that she is bored but I think it was a better call than a year of frustration (she has been placed in an advanced math next year, which I am fine with, though I have a hunch it is advanced in name only since it is not algebra).

It's unfortunate there is no middle ground. Good luck to OP's child (and others).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happens to the kids in lower elementary magnet schools who were doing accelerated math as early as 1st grade? Do they have to retest at 3rd?

I would assume so, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parental frustration comes from the fact that the child's math path for the rest of their time in MCPS is being decided based on a mysterious evaluation done when the kid is 8 years old. Now, in some clusters, they apparently will skip kids up into the advanced pathway in middle school. But in many clusters, the kid's math path is set at the end of third grade.
When I was a kid, the last chance for acceleration didn't happen until the end of 7th grade.

This is actually not a fact. It is an exaggerated fear not rooted in reality.

What is a fact: in my kid's middle school, sixth-grade kids were skipped up (to IM) and seventh-grade kids were skipped up (to Algebra I).

did you bother to read the rest of the comment where I said that in some clusters kids do get skipped ahead in middle school? And the fact is also true that it does not happen in our cluster.