LCPS Curriculum and Instruction committee 3/10 meeting about advanced math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[quote=Anonymous

DP. But that's what all the fussing is about. LCPS significantly restricted Algebra 1 in 6th grade. Posters are very upset about having to delay until 7th grade.

The delay is more likely to 8th grade. About half of kids in some schools were taking algebra in 7th grade. The prealgebra in 6th grade is maybe 5%.
I have heard they were recommending kids for algebra even if they were not in prealgebra in 6th grade, but I don't know the numbers.
LCPS staffer has a goal of eliminating prealgebra for 6th grade as well, and tracking in general.

Has there been a decline in the share of 7th graders taking Algebra 1 this year or are you anticipating that may happen next year?

I'm anticipating it to happen next year as the numbers in prealgebra is around 5%, when before it was about 50%, though the class was not called pre-algebra then.

There is not a direct equivalent to Math 6/7 (the previous prerequisite to Algebra in 7th grade.) Students now take Foundation of Algebra in 6th and anyone with an A final grade is welcome to take Algebra in 7th. Taking “Pre-Algebra” in 6th is not required and is honestly probably worse because it is mostly filled with 7th graders who didn’t get A’s in Foundation of Algebra.

[Anonymous]

Is the current Foundations of Algebra same as the previous(2020-2021) Foundations of Algebra?
Prealgebra only existed this year, so I assumed the previous Foundations was renamed Prealgebra and they changed Foundations to be something a little easier.
The claim was made in April/May last year to the school board that teachers were complaining the advanced kids were not good enough, didn't have prealgebra. County staff said this was the reason for the change and that it had nothing to do with VMPI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the current Foundations of Algebra same as the previous(2020-2021) Foundations of Algebra?
Prealgebra only existed this year, so I assumed the previous Foundations was renamed Prealgebra and they changed Foundations to be something a little easier.
The claim was made in April/May last year to the school board that teachers were complaining the advanced kids were not good enough, didn't have prealgebra. County staff said this was the reason for the change and that it had nothing to do with VMPI.

I’m not sure. But math teachers at our MS told me this week that if my rising 6th grader gets an A in Foundations she can take Algebra 1 in 7th if we want. Whether or not we do that depends on how difficult the A was to achieve. My older child did Algebra in 7th without issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I kind of see where LCPs is going with the math , but as usual they are leaning towards too extreme.

I have a 10th grader who is finishing up AP BC calc. He started with Algebra 1 in 6th grade with a full class of 6th graders. He is now one of only TWO Children who have managed to not drop out over the years. A 90% fail rate is pretty bad. It is very clear that parents have pushed their kids beyond their abilities and wasted everyone’s time.

For 11th grade he’s taking multi variable calc. For this there is ONE class in the entire county offered at woodgrove and the rest of the students have to log into the online live class. Even then the county only has demand for one full classroom.

Tracking your child in Algebra 1 in 6th grade statically sets them up for failure. I only suggest this if your child is truly gifted in math. Like savant level. What LCPs and Virginia should do is require rigorous testing that doesn’t allow for a waiver.

Tracking starting with Algebra 1 in 6th grade is not just a matter of having a smart hardworking child. It’s the equivalent of expecting your child to be a D1 athlete. You have to factor in true god given gifts to make it work.

Both my son and the other student will probably be the kid who gets into Harvard or MIT.

My son also took algebra 1 in 6th grade, and geometry this year, 7th grade. His cohort of students is 8, and he and his close friends scored over 500 on the sol and finished the course with an A+. Next year, he will take algebra 2/trig at the high school I teach at. The high school students often complain the 8th graders ruin the curve. Talented students shouldn’t be denied the ability to accelerate. The gifted program is a joke, and all LCPS truly has to offer is accelerating students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of see where LCPs is going with the math , but as usual they are leaning towards too extreme.

I have a 10th grader who is finishing up AP BC calc. He started with Algebra 1 in 6th grade with a full class of 6th graders. He is now one of only TWO Children who have managed to not drop out over the years. A 90% fail rate is pretty bad. It is very clear that parents have pushed their kids beyond their abilities and wasted everyone’s time.

For 11th grade he’s taking multi variable calc. For this there is ONE class in the entire county offered at woodgrove and the rest of the students have to log into the online live class. Even then the county only has demand for one full classroom.

Tracking your child in Algebra 1 in 6th grade statically sets them up for failure. I only suggest this if your child is truly gifted in math. Like savant level. What LCPs and Virginia should do is require rigorous testing that doesn’t allow for a waiver.

Tracking starting with Algebra 1 in 6th grade is not just a matter of having a smart hardworking child. It’s the equivalent of expecting your child to be a D1 athlete. You have to factor in true god given gifts to make it work.

Both my son and the other student will probably be the kid who gets into Harvard or MIT.

My son also took algebra 1 in 6th grade, and geometry this year, 7th grade. His cohort of students is 8, and he and his close friends scored over 500 on the sol and finished the course with an A+. Next year, he will take algebra 2/trig at the high school I teach at. The high school students often complain the 8th graders ruin the curve. Talented students shouldn’t be denied the ability to accelerate. The gifted program is a joke, and all LCPS truly has to offer is accelerating students.

Yeah but it’s a pain to staff A2T in middle school, and same thing for MV Calc in High school. Especially when the group of kids it affects is so tiny. Algebra in 7th is still accelerated (and technically double accelerated.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of see where LCPs is going with the math , but as usual they are leaning towards too extreme.

I have a 10th grader who is finishing up AP BC calc. He started with Algebra 1 in 6th grade with a full class of 6th graders. He is now one of only TWO Children who have managed to not drop out over the years. A 90% fail rate is pretty bad. It is very clear that parents have pushed their kids beyond their abilities and wasted everyone’s time.

For 11th grade he’s taking multi variable calc. For this there is ONE class in the entire county offered at woodgrove and the rest of the students have to log into the online live class. Even then the county only has demand for one full classroom.

Tracking your child in Algebra 1 in 6th grade statically sets them up for failure. I only suggest this if your child is truly gifted in math. Like savant level. What LCPs and Virginia should do is require rigorous testing that doesn’t allow for a waiver.

Tracking starting with Algebra 1 in 6th grade is not just a matter of having a smart hardworking child. It’s the equivalent of expecting your child to be a D1 athlete. You have to factor in true god given gifts to make it work.

Both my son and the other student will probably be the kid who gets into Harvard or MIT.

My son also took algebra 1 in 6th grade, and geometry this year, 7th grade. His cohort of students is 8, and he and his close friends scored over 500 on the sol and finished the course with an A+. Next year, he will take algebra 2/trig at the high school I teach at. The high school students often complain the 8th graders ruin the curve. Talented students shouldn’t be denied the ability to accelerate. The gifted program is a joke, and all LCPS truly has to offer is accelerating students.

Yeah but it’s a pain to staff A2T in middle school, and same thing for MV Calc in High school. Especially when the group of kids it affects is so tiny. Algebra in 7th is still accelerated (and technically double accelerated.)

Several schools has a large number taking Algebra 2. Eagle Ridge probably would have had a class in school if they had their fourth house built. Maybe not since they send students to high school for other subjects anyways, but they had enough students for a class in school. Stone Hill has multiple classes, and Brambleton has many. Harper Park has a class in school with double digits.

[Anonymous]

As a teacher in LCPS and a parent of a gifted student, the county should offer more opportunities and accelerated classes for these students. Gifted children are “exceptional” just like students with special needs (and some even twice exceptional).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of see where LCPs is going with the math , but as usual they are leaning towards too extreme.

I have a 10th grader who is finishing up AP BC calc. He started with Algebra 1 in 6th grade with a full class of 6th graders. He is now one of only TWO Children who have managed to not drop out over the years. A 90% fail rate is pretty bad. It is very clear that parents have pushed their kids beyond their abilities and wasted everyone’s time.

For 11th grade he’s taking multi variable calc. For this there is ONE class in the entire county offered at woodgrove and the rest of the students have to log into the online live class. Even then the county only has demand for one full classroom.

Tracking your child in Algebra 1 in 6th grade statically sets them up for failure. I only suggest this if your child is truly gifted in math. Like savant level. What LCPs and Virginia should do is require rigorous testing that doesn’t allow for a waiver.

Tracking starting with Algebra 1 in 6th grade is not just a matter of having a smart hardworking child. It’s the equivalent of expecting your child to be a D1 athlete. You have to factor in true god given gifts to make it work.

Both my son and the other student will probably be the kid who gets into Harvard or MIT.

My son also took algebra 1 in 6th grade, and geometry this year, 7th grade. His cohort of students is 8, and he and his close friends scored over 500 on the sol and finished the course with an A+. Next year, he will take algebra 2/trig at the high school I teach at. The high school students often complain the 8th graders ruin the curve. Talented students shouldn’t be denied the ability to accelerate. The gifted program is a joke, and all LCPS truly has to offer is accelerating students.

Yeah but it’s a pain to staff A2T in middle school, and same thing for MV Calc in High school. Especially when the group of kids it affects is so tiny. Algebra in 7th is still accelerated (and technically double accelerated.)

The argument that "it's a pain" is not a sufficient reason for LCPS to fail to meet the educational needs of ALL of its students. A lot of things in any workplace are inconvenient but still need to get done for one reason or another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher in LCPS and a parent of a gifted student, the county should offer more opportunities and accelerated classes for these students. Gifted children are “exceptional” just like students with special needs (and some even twice exceptional).

More accelerated classes? Such as? I assume you don’t mean algebra in 5th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher in LCPS and a parent of a gifted student, the county should offer more opportunities and accelerated classes for these students. Gifted children are “exceptional” just like students with special needs (and some even twice exceptional).

More accelerated classes? Such as? I assume you don’t mean algebra in 5th.

I have heard of this happening at one middle school in Loudoun.
I presume they mean at other middle schools things like language classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher in LCPS and a parent of a gifted student, the county should offer more opportunities and accelerated classes for these students. Gifted children are “exceptional” just like students with special needs (and some even twice exceptional).

More accelerated classes? Such as? I assume you don’t mean algebra in 5th.

What does LCPS offer after Calc BC? Some of these high schools might have enough to teach a class in house, but it's not clear if they have the faculty to teach it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher in LCPS and a parent of a gifted student, the county should offer more opportunities and accelerated classes for these students. Gifted children are “exceptional” just like students with special needs (and some even twice exceptional).

More accelerated classes? Such as? I assume you don’t mean algebra in 5th.

What does LCPS offer after Calc BC? Some of these high schools might have enough to teach a class in house, but it's not clear if they have the faculty to teach it.

I think most of the kids who would be taking classes beyond Calc BC are going to wind up at the Academies of Loudoun.

[Anonymous]

Not every student wants to go to AOL, nor does AOL have the capacity to admit all qualified students that want to go. The best and brightest are not necessarily at AOL or TJ. Some phenomenal students are at their home schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher in LCPS and a parent of a gifted student, the county should offer more opportunities and accelerated classes for these students. Gifted children are “exceptional” just like students with special needs (and some even twice exceptional).

More accelerated classes? Such as? I assume you don’t mean algebra in 5th.

What does LCPS offer after Calc BC? Some of these high schools might have enough to teach a class in house, but it's not clear if they have the faculty to teach it.

I think most of the kids who would be taking classes beyond Calc BC are going to wind up at the Academies of Loudoun.

Not true. My kids middle school, majority who would be taking classes beyond Calc BC are not going to Academies of Loudoun or TJ, though they may end up admitted in 10th grade.

[Anonymous]

So I just had some questions and I felt like this would help. I'm an 8th grader at a middle school in LCPS. I went into sixth grade doing Foundations of Algebra and was recommended to skip Pre-Algebra and go straight to Algebra 1 in 7th grade, which is what I did. I then took the online course for Geometry over the summer and I'm now in Algebra 2 in 8th grade. For context, im Indian; my parents push me alot harder. Obviously, I didn't really have a choice when choosing my math courses, but I don't mind. I'm confused on how my highschool math years will go, especially if I get into ACL. I definitely won't get into TJ though as I'm pretty sure I'm not smart enough. Can anyone help me?