Not being in Math 4/5?

[Anonymous]

I hate to say this, but I have to wonder if there has been some gender or racial bias in who was selected for testing. Why the heck didn't they just give the same test to every kid?

Really. If you think your snowflake should have been tested then talk to your principal, but it's not that hard to identify the kids who seem ready for more challenging math. I'm not a teacher, but the difference in abilities was pretty clear to me after volunteering in math just a handful of times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:54: 5th grade parent here. The first year of the selection, the test was given at home schools, but the decision was made a the MCPS level, looking at the test scores.

Different schools administered the test differently. Some schools administered to all children, some schools selected students based on their schoolwork. Some schools administered the first two portions to students and then decided, based on results, who should take remaining portions. The testing wasn't all at one time.

I was surprised at how low the MCPS score was on the test for kids to be accepted into the class. Don't know if they changed that for the 2nd year.

Personally, I've been underwhelmed with the compacted implementation. It crunches 3 years of the curriculum into 2, but it doesn't seem to dig deeper. My son is "fine" with most of it b/c he doesn't have to wait around as much to move on to the next concept. But he's not inspired by it. He's much more engaged with math at the dinner table, where his older brother loves to show off the latest thing he learned in Algebra.

Sources were teachers at our school, parents at other schools and GT listserv parents who were comparing notes at the time.

And for the person who asked about going both faster and deeper, yes, I do expect that. My son spent dinner tonight eye-rolling over how long they are reviewing and the types of problems they are reviewing. There's a reason these children are in this class. They need more challenge. Faster doesn't necessarily give that. Faster just lets them not have to wait around for other kids to learn what they got the first time. That's not a judgment about "on-grade" level kids, which I certainly was with math. I have two math-wired kids, and they need something more interesting. I know it's available. His 3rd grade teacher gave him some great stuff before compacted began.

[Anonymous]

Part of the testing for compacted math includes verbal (at least in my DC's school) where the teacher will ask you to verbally explain how you got the answer or something like that. If a kid is not good at verbally explaining something, then it's possible the kid's score reflects this and so the kid doesn't get into compacted math. I think this part of the test is dumb. Some people just have a hard time finding the right words.

FWIW - my DC is in compacted math.

[Anonymous]

My DS is in 5th grade CM taught at middle school. My experience has been that it is a dream come true. There are only 11 kids in the class. His home school class has 29 kids. All of the kids in CM are smart and the teacher can give extra problems. DS loves it, has met kids from other ES and does not complain at all about getting up early. At home school, he finishes his homework, has time to read, and sometimes helps in the younger grades classes. He definitely would not be this engaged at grade level class having to wait for the very slowest kids. It is a shame more kids are not in it because they would benefit and certainly be able to do the work but it worked out well for DS.

[Anonymous]

PP-- btw, this year a 4th grader was added to this 5th grade CM class. Apparently he is even too advanced for 4th grade Compacted Math. Which DS says that the kid is that smart! But I bet not too many people know that this is an option. So again, how lucky is my DS that he gets to work on group problems with kids like this from different elementary school!

[Anonymous]

I'm a pp. I'm so disappointed this part of the MCPS math program seems to be handled so differently across the county. At my child's school, the compacted math class is the largest math class in the grade (close to 30 kids), so direct juxtaposition to the above. It also doesn't seem to be any more inspiring or engaging for my kid - I think it seems the same as his math classes from prior years (obviously the material must be taught at a quicker pace, but it is taught in the same way - dull, with a lot of worksheets and then an occasional "advanced thinking" problem that while interesting and challenging, it usually has nothing to do with what they are learning, so I could just pull those out of a math challenge book.

[Anonymous]

Part of the testing for compacted math includes verbal (at least in my DC's school) where the teacher will ask you to verbally explain how you got the answer or something like that. If a kid is not good at verbally explaining something, then it's possible the kid's score reflects this and so the kid doesn't get into compacted math. I think this part of the test is dumb. Some people just have a hard time finding the right words.

FWIW - my DC is in compacted math.

+1000 DS has expressive language disabilities and dysgraphia. His teacher did not select him to be tested for compacted math because he obviously struggles to explain math or anything else verbally. Luckily, we had IQ, aptitude and academic test results from going outside to get an IEP for the other issue. He is off the charts for mathematical reasoning, math skills, spatial etc. I had to send a letter to the principal to get him tested. He ended up with the highest score of all the kids tested. Luckily, the tester did not require him to explain his thinking in written sentence essay form. She allowed him to explain using diagrams and broken sentences. His compacted math teacher was blown away by his abilities and loved having him in the class. He's the kid no teacher wants in reading, writing and other subjects because he can't do the writing and they have to make all these accommodations for the weird stuttering kid. It break my heart because he is so unique and brilliant in his own way.

The class still wasn't accelerated enough for his abilities but they taught it differently. He loved it. There was far more flexibility for kids to show a better way to approach math than just regurgitating the 2.0 crap. It did wonders for his confidence but if I didn't have the outside testing he wouldn't have had the opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Compacted math is the right level for my child. I think that the problem is not with cm for the pp- it's that her son is more advanced and the county doesn't provide anything extra for him (my child also has almost 30 kids in his class an it is too many).

[Anonymous]

PP here/ No the problem was that if we had not already had outside testing to prove his math ability then we would never had the opportunity to even take the test because he isn't a verbal kid.

I'm OK that compacted math wasn't that accelerated or fully met his academic need. It was different enough and let him solve problems his way to make him happy. It was enough to give him one small sliver of enjoyment at a school that values "verbal" over all else.

My complaint is that the teacher originally fought having him get the opportunity to be tested. He scored higher than the other kids and did great in the class. Lesson to be learned that teacher's don't always know best and parents have to be proactive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here/ No the problem was that if we had not already had outside testing to prove his math ability then we would never had the opportunity to even take the test because he isn't a verbal kid.

I'm OK that compacted math wasn't that accelerated or fully met his academic need. It was different enough and let him solve problems his way to make him happy. It was enough to give him one small sliver of enjoyment at a school that values "verbal" over all else.

My complaint is that the teacher originally fought having him get the opportunity to be tested. He scored higher than the other kids and did great in the class. Lesson to be learned that teacher's don't always know best and parents have to be proactive.

Sorry I was actually referring to the poster who talked about her child eye rolling about the review. The review is fine for my child- i think her child is very advanced, even for cm.

[Anonymous]

I'm PP with the eye-roller, and yes, it's likely that even CM is too easy for him and he needs more than the county is willing to give. I fought for him (even testifying at BOE) in the earlier grades when they first eliminated acceleration and then finally gave up. He did, too. He's at HGC, and his math class is another really large one (nearly 30). It was actually the class he complained the most about last year (too loud, unruly, class was behind, etc.).

I offered to let him work independently at home, but he's now afraid of going ahead of school and being even more bored there. It's really sad that MCPS doesn't find a systematic way to engage kids like him so that they don't get turned off. Fingers crossed that he gets into the Takoma magnet and math improves in middle school.

[Anonymous]

2.0 dropped standards in elementary school by 1-2 years. Compacted math is not a stretch for most students because the general curriculum is so remedial.

MCPS is dropping math skills and concepts out of the curriculum. Don't believe for a second that what they call Algebra covers all the concepts in private or other counties Algebra. I don't see why they would change their game when they gut high school math. I wouldn't be worried about your child going to far and struggling in Calculus because the MCPS version will be basic addition/subtract with a Calc label slapped on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2.0 dropped standards in elementary school by 1-2 years. Compacted math is not a stretch for most students because the general curriculum is so remedial.

MCPS is dropping math skills and concepts out of the curriculum. Don't believe for a second that what they call Algebra covers all the concepts in private or other counties Algebra. I don't see why they would change their game when they gut high school math. I wouldn't be worried about your child going to far and struggling in Calculus because the MCPS version will be basic addition/subtract with a Calc label slapped on.

Well, that is a very tidy explanation. The fact is that Curriculum 2.0 actually advances math by a year compared to the previous curriculum (Algebra I in 8th grade, Calculus in 12th grade under Curriculum 2.0; Algebra I in 9th grade, no calculus in high school under the previous curriculum). But you explain this away by saying that Algebra I isn't actually Algebra I -- what is your evidence for this, by the way? -- and AP Calculus isn't actually AP Calculus. (How did MCPS manage this with AP Calculus, by the way? Did they pay off the College Board somehow?)

[Anonymous]

FYI there's AP calc AB, AP calc BC, AP Physics requires good calc skills, AP stats. If you have a good teacher and learn the material you'll be better off than taking it in a large lecture hall covering prereq calc for a variety of majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I hate to say this, but I have to wonder if there has been some gender or racial bias in who was selected for testing. Why the heck didn't they just give the same test to every kid?

Really. If you think your snowflake should have been tested then talk to your principal, but it's not that hard to identify the kids who seem ready for more challenging math. I'm not a teacher, but the difference in abilities was pretty clear to me after volunteering in math just a handful of times.

Wrong. PP may be on to something. At DCs school 65% of the kids in CM5 are boys. This strongly suggests that there is gender bias in the selection procedure.