VA math changes - ways to speak out
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Anonymous
People are outraged because they don't understand the changes. They are speculating and coming up with all sorts of doomsday scenarios. |
Anonymous
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Email your school board members: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/school-board-members
Email your state delegate and state senator: https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/ Feel free to copy/edit. This is just a starting point: The VMPI website uses abstract terms without a concrete understanding of the practical implications for our school district. Parents need your help to get clear answers from the reps at VMPI. Perhaps with your position, you would be able to help get clear answers to the following: 1-the program calls for detracking and "heterogeneous" classrooms. What are the practical applications honors math tracking in elementary and middle school? 2-With the VMPI in place what is the maximum track a student can fulfill in high school in both science and math? 3-How will this affect the International Baccalaureate high schools in FCPS? The standards are set internationally. Will students still be able to achieve this diploma in IB high schools. 4-How many AP classes would a student be able to take in math and science with the VMPI in place? How is that different from the current standard? Please remember that many students count on these classes to defray the cost of college. I appreciate your time and attention. |
Anonymous
Someone sent an e-mail and received a reply from Tina that they are eliminating tracking. It is not speculation, nor that they are eliminating algebra and geometry and replacing them with integrated math 9 and integrated math 10. |
Anonymous
| I suggest contacting the school board, and seeing if they will bring a resolution opposing the changes, and confirming they will continue to track and offer acceleration. I don't think they are allowed to offer additional classes, but they can let kids continue to test up to higher levels, and separate the classes by ability. |
Anonymous
The speculation is around the course options & specific path for AP Calculus & IB. The doomsday scenario that everyone will suffer without tracking is also speculation. |
Anonymous
I definitely heard nothing about this before last month. I am outraged because I have listened to the posted webinars. |
Anonymous
If they change this at the state level I am not sure the SB can do this. Calls and emails need to go to the state level. |
Anonymous
They gave the list of classes to be available, and it is pretty obvious with algebra in 9th and geometry in 10th. I enquired about the pathway to taking calculus, specific courses. I have not gotten a response yet. People have already seen this in elementary school, how these group projects work. They have enough evidence not to believe the hype. There was a Railside study that implemented the elimination of tracking and EMP classes. The school eventually dropped the EMP and scores improved. |
Anonymous
The state is changing the classes and the SOLs. The county can certainly dictate curriculum while giving SOLs, and assign kids to classes, giving teachers a little flexibility. They can also assign kids forward in classes, though perhaps they would then be forced to take the lower level SOLs. The biggest problem might be teaching the weaker class at the perhaps higher level SOL, but that will always be a problem. |
Anonymous
Citation from legit source? And we still haven’t seen the path for AP calculus so just speculating.... |
Anonymous
The railside study is the one that's been discredited |
Anonymous
Not by a legitimate source. |
Anonymous
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I'd watched the general audience-targeted webinar videos and found them light on specifics so I watched this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siS8jlTcUzo that was for teachers.
It has more specifics about how the 8-10 Essential Concepts would replace Alg 1-Geo-Alg 2 and, in theory, it seems fine if they are planning *as they said* to have students in a position to take pre-calc in 11th, calc in 12th. However, I still think they are completely fooling themselves if they think they can keep up the pace to cover the essentials of alg 1/geo/alg 2 for students to be ready if they insist on heterogeneous classrooms and groups. And the teachers know it too - they start with polling teachers about the idea that it's bad to "isolate" lower performers in separate groups and were disappointed that most of the audience disagree that it's a bad thing. And then when they supposedly are soliciting feedback all they ask about is what "excites" you about this idea. Zero solicitation about what concerns you. Reads to me as they don't want any constructive feedback to improve the plan, probably why they aren't going to pilot this on a small scale first. |
Anonymous
Besides the sources, I checked out the high school itself. It looks like it reimplemented the integrated math model in 2017-2018, so they clearly dropped it prior to that. Don't know about tracking. I took a look at the assignments for AP Calculus AB at that school. The first one with problems it says the teacher will pick 3-6 problems to grade(out of about 20), and it will be the same for each student. Given an arbitrary graph, f(x), and picking an arbitrary point, (x,y), on the graph, we can draw/sketch a tangent line. Provide strategies or steps to figure out the slope of the tangent line. NO NEED TO TURN IN ANYTHING; JUST HAVE YOUR GROUP'S IDEA READY TO PRESENT ON FRIDAY! [ASYNCH] FlipGrid Video Submission For your GROUP A or GROUP B assignment/explanation, please record a short video with your cell or your webcam explaining your strategy! Final Assignment You are to write a 1-2-page, double-spaced reflection paper on your experiences from this AP Calculus course so far. These experiences are not limited to just the academic ones within the classroom walls. You may share any personal experiences, challenges, and successes that you have encountered during this school year. This is a paper to summarize your personal and academic growth in the world of mathematics, seeing that you have successfully made it through one semester of the most rigorous mathematics course that San Lorenzo High School has to offer DURING A FRICKIN' PANDEMIC! You may also include any feedback on the course, as each AP Calculus class helps mold the course for the upcoming semester. Grammar, spelling, and syntax will all be evaluated in the grading of this paper. The expectation of the quality of this paper will be near a college-level standard of writing, so please submit the finest literary masterpiece that you have ever written for any high school math course. [EXTRA CREDIT] 1) Listen to the song in the YouTube link 2) In the attached Google Doc, write two paragraphs (3-5 sentences each): a) - What is the meaning of this song? Use specific examples from the song, if you can, to prove your point. b) - Does this song apply to you in your life/school/family? Explain how it does or does not. [EXTRA CREDIT] Black History Month In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document: a) First half of the page: Give me a short biography about your most inspirational member or members of the African-American community (past or present). b) Second half of the page: Tell me how or why this person has impacted your own personal life. [EXTRA CREDIT] Women's History Month In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document: a) First half of the page: Give me a short biography about your a female inventor (past or present). b) Second half of the page: Tell me how or why this person's invention has impacted your own personal life - OR - b) Second half of the page: Tell me how this person has impacted your own personal life. [EXTRA CREDIT] Autism Awareness Month In the attached Google Doc, type a one-page document: a) First half of the page: Give me a short history about autism in the US. (when was it discovered, when was it classified as a disorder, what work is being done for it today?) b) Second half of the page: Tell me about a time where you interacted with a person who may have had intellectual disabilities. Were you nice, or were you mean? Would you have done anything differently if you could go back? OR...maybe YOU have a diagnosed or undiagnosed intellectual disability - Do you feel like it impacts your daily life? What strategies have you used to cope with it? Created by John Giang: Friday, April 2 11:47 AM [SYNCH QUIZ] Chapter 4.1 Group Quiz It does look like they tried to do derivatives all thru February, and are now rushing on the integrals, but it's not clear. |
Anonymous
That's crazy. I took algebra in 6th grade growing up in CT. Are gifted students just supposed to sit there and stare out the window? |