It is not about the credit. FCPS "responsibility" is to enable each child to reach their full potential in all subjects, but in this case we are focusing on math. By and large advanced math is watered down at FCPS. Perhaps because they cannot find qualified teachers. Fine then set-up appropriate dual enrollment programs. Prepare students to thrive in college, not to just get admitted and have to take remedial math courses to catch up to better prepared students. People used to move to Fairfax County for the public school system. Those days if not already gone are surely short in number. |
I had Algebra 1 in 7th grade 50 years ago in a small town in PA, so really FCPS hasn't advanced beyond that standard. Ended Senior year with MV Calc. The world is passing FCPS by, fortunately San Francisco and other backward moving systems will help keep FCPS on top. |
It just seems strange that people would openly support removing it as an option, even though it already exists and has existed for 20 years in FCPS. Why take it away? |
Who said FCPS is removing this option? My child is in a pilot program for E3 and nothing is changing for 5th grade math and beyond. E3 math is supposed to prepare MORE children to be ready to work at the current 6th grade level as 5th graders. These students will take the IOWA and if they qualify with that score and their SOLs, they can choose to do 7th grade Algebra. Nothing is changing with that. The goal of E3 is to get even more children ready for 8th grade Algebra, and especially a more diverse group. Studies show that beginning math tracking in 3rd and 4th grade leave out certain demographics and I think they are hoping that waiting just another year or two to begin firm tracking will create a more diverse population taking Algebra in 8th grade. |
Students may find it harder to qualify for 7th grade Algebra under the new path than the prior one, because they will have a shorter, more compacted acceleration. The goal of starting acceleration in third grade was to take a more gradual path that would generate deeper understanding. However, the earlier accelerated start doesn't catch kids who develop later, as you note, so there are benefits from delaying from that perspective. The decision when to accelerate involves trade-offs. |
Take a look here - https://www.fcps.edu/academics/graduation-requirements-and-course-planning/high-school-course-sequencing/mathematics looks like Algebra 1 in 8th grade. |
That’s the *minimum* requirements for the diploma types. |
OK, so you are hoping they continue this - https://rockyrunms.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/MATHEMATICS%20ACADEMIC%20SEQUENCE%20OF%20COURSES%202018.pdf |
I think it'd be best if they don't offer acceleration until 7th to have algebra 1 in 8th. But I'm not actively pushing for that. |
I don't think that's a change. Some students who qualify for 7th grade Algebra 1 will simply move that 5 year option one to the left and have a 6th year. They don't designate it by grade level on purpose, simply call it "year 1". For some kids "year 1" is in 7th. |
Unfortunately they are not teaching the 5th grade curriculum in 4th for e3. So kids will not be prepared for 6th grade math the following year. If they were teaching 5th grade math in 4th, then they wouldn’t need e3. they could just teach everyone the current advanced math curriculum. |
Ok, that's a strong and dismissive statement. Here is some data for you. Between 2008 and 2022, 441 FCPS 6th grade students took the Algebra I SOL, or 34 per year on average. Assuming a rounded 15,000 students per grade, that's 0.23%, or less than 1 out of 400 students. Of these 441 students, 440 passed the SOL. 413 passed at the "advanced level". By comparison, state-wide pass rates across all grades in the same SOL have never exceeded 75% and for advanced are typically below 10%. Moving on to 7th graders taking the Geometry SOL and 8th graders taking the Algebra II SOL, you will find similarly perfect pass rates and near perfect advanced pass rates. These students whom you so casually dismiss as "racing to nowhere" do, in fact, go somewhere. They go on to become successful scientists and engineers. |
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The plan is to get rid of that year of calculus as well. VMPI would have required students to learn precalc on their own, though they claimed it would be part of their plans. |
What SOLs will current E3 fourth graders take next year in fifth grade -- the Grade 5 SOL or the Grade 6 SOL? If the latter, are schools planning to compact both 5th and 6th grade content into 5th grade next year? |