Catholic school or FCPS AAP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with many Catholic schools is that there’s NO differentiation. The low IQ kids are kept in with the regular classes and drag down and slow down the entire class. Sad.

This isn’t true. Those kids all get push in or pull out help. They don’t slow down the class. The ones who are above get enrichment in certain subjects or leveled math.

Also, kids who need extra help aren’t necessarily low IQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with many Catholic schools is that there’s NO differentiation. The low IQ kids are kept in with the regular classes and drag down and slow down the entire class. Sad.

This isn’t true. Those kids all get push in or pull out help. They don’t slow down the class. The ones who are above get enrichment in certain subjects or leveled math.

Also, kids who need extra help aren’t necessarily low IQ.

PP above. I’m speaking about St. Louis and St. Mary’s, which is the context of the thread. Both are good schools.

[Anonymous]

Some Catholic schools do offer differentiation. (It may vary by school.) They definitely require certain grades and test scores to take the advanced math. My 3 very different kids all took different math options in MS.

[Anonymous]

The point of that article from Cambridge isn't 8th grade algebra specifically. It's the fact that many public school systems, including FCPS, are now at least partly opposed to the idea of the smartest, luckiest, most privileged and prepared kids getting further and further ahead. Because of political goals and professional incentives.

Private and religious schools, by contrast, are relatively more committed to helping each and every student reach their full God-given potential. Private schools get paid by individual families, so they have a different set of incentives than public schools that get paid by governments.

FCPS has lots of great administrators and teachers. And they have AAP programs that in many cases are better than the advanced options offered by private schools. My point is just that FCPS is less committed to helping the best students separate from the pack than they used to be. That doesn't mean FCPS isn't great. It just means that today's AAP isn't run, celebrated, or supported the way it was 20 or 30 years ago. And so the relative benefit of choosing AAP over private is smaller than it was 20 or 30 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point of that article from Cambridge isn't 8th grade algebra specifically. It's the fact that many public school systems, including FCPS, are now at least partly opposed to the idea of the smartest, luckiest, most privileged and prepared kids getting further and further ahead. Because of political goals and professional incentives.

Private and religious schools, by contrast, are relatively more committed to helping each and every student reach their full God-given potential. Private schools get paid by individual families, so they have a different set of incentives than public schools that get paid by governments.

FCPS has lots of great administrators and teachers. And they have AAP programs that in many cases are better than the advanced options offered by private schools. My point is just that FCPS is less committed to helping the best students separate from the pack than they used to be. That doesn't mean FCPS isn't great. It just means that today's AAP isn't run, celebrated, or supported the way it was 20 or 30 years ago. And so the relative benefit of choosing AAP over private is smaller than it was 20 or 30 years ago.

Why does god give some children more potential than others?

[Anonymous]

He doesn't. All children have equal potential scores in all academic subjects, unless they are given unfair advantages. That's why AAP programs have had to change in recent decades. The old AAP programs unfairly compounded the benefits of early academic success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He doesn't. All children have equal potential scores in all academic subjects, unless they are given unfair advantages. That's why AAP programs have had to change in recent decades. The old AAP programs unfairly compounded the benefits of early academic success.

Anyone with more than one kid can tell you that's ridiculous.

Yes privilege, parents' education level, etc play a role but at the end of the day not every kid has the same aptitude for every thing.

[Anonymous]

Aptitudes are just the result of unfair luck. Either nature or nurture. Just because a kid has smart parents or gets read to at bedtime or gets a fancy pre-school does not mean that he or she has the "right" to move faster through the curriculum. Instead of privileged kids getting to rush ahead, they should have to slow down, let everyone else catch up, and then everyone can accelerate together.