Most 7th grade students are in advanced english and algebra

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't be too happy about any of the instruction in math. We moved to a different county. My daughter, 10th grade, is taking Alg 2. (typical path she followed in MCPS, alg in grade 8)

She said there were concepts kids were taught in this county of which she wasn't aware! This is a kid who works hard and actually EARNED her As.

I'd be vigilant in this case. Advanced is a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our middle school there is only one section of regular English. Only kids who are below grade level are in it. Everyone else is in advanced English.

OP, advanced classes in MCPS middle schools are not what you think.

This

Our MS only has Advanced English. MCPS just calls it that. No other options.

Not to minimize parental frustration with MCPS middle school classes (which I've shared), but a part of me finds it hilarious that MCPS apparently views itself to be like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon where "all children are above average" so of course they should only have Advanced classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it were my kid, I'd teach him to make lemonade out of sour grapes by charging 5-10 bucks for every homework assignment shared. HW requests are serious biz. May as well make it lucrative and looks great on college app:

September 2019 - present
Founder of Education Entrepreneurship startup
XYZ Middle School

Way to teach ethics, there. Wow.

Way to recognize sarcasm there. Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our middle school there is only one section of regular English. Only kids who are below grade level are in it. Everyone else is in advanced English.

OP, advanced classes in MCPS middle schools are not what you think.

This

Our MS only has Advanced English. MCPS just calls it that. No other options.

Not to minimize parental frustration with MCPS middle school classes (which I've shared), but a part of me finds it hilarious that MCPS apparently views itself to be like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon where "all children are above average" so of course they should only have Advanced classes.

MCPS: has regular and advanced classes.
Some MCPS parents: "My kid needs to be in the advanced class!"
Other MCPS parents: "Even the "advanced" class is years behind the classes in [somewhere that isn't MCPS]!"
Yet other MCPS parents: "Shouldn't every kid have access to a challenging, enriching curriculum?"
MCPS: puts everybody in the advanced classes.
DCUM: "Ha ha, stupid MCPS thinks everybody is above average."

[Anonymous]

Only like .001% kids need special gifted instruction. All the other kids whose parents think they are so advanced can be served using a normal curriculum. Which is what the “advanced” classes are. Wake up, people. Your kids aren’t that special. And schools have learned how to pacify the delusional parents by putting “advanced” in the title.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our middle school there is only one section of regular English. Only kids who are below grade level are in it. Everyone else is in advanced English.

OP, advanced classes in MCPS middle schools are not what you think.

This

Our MS only has Advanced English. MCPS just calls it that. No other options.

Not to minimize parental frustration with MCPS middle school classes (which I've shared), but a part of me finds it hilarious that MCPS apparently views itself to be like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon where "all children are above average" so of course they should only have Advanced classes.

It is silly on paper, but it's more a matter of the official curriculum title needing to be updated than anything. The classes use the MCPS "advanced" curriculum, and whatever the "standard" curriculum was, has fallen by the way side. Tracking in middle school wasn't in vogue. It was already this way eight years ago when my oldest hit MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our middle school there is only one section of regular English. Only kids who are below grade level are in it. Everyone else is in advanced English.

OP, advanced classes in MCPS middle schools are not what you think.

This

Our MS only has Advanced English. MCPS just calls it that. No other options.

Not to minimize parental frustration with MCPS middle school classes (which I've shared), but a part of me finds it hilarious that MCPS apparently views itself to be like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon where "all children are above average" so of course they should only have Advanced classes.

MCPS: has regular and advanced classes.
Some MCPS parents: "My kid needs to be in the advanced class!"
Other MCPS parents: "Even the "advanced" class is years behind the classes in [somewhere that isn't MCPS]!"
Yet other MCPS parents: "Shouldn't every kid have access to a challenging, enriching curriculum?"
MCPS: puts everybody in the advanced classes.
DCUM: "Ha ha, stupid MCPS thinks everybody is above average."

Wait, there is no denying that there are SOME parents like this out there - that push their kids to the top. However, MCPS does this all on their own. We had a meeting 2 years ago in our ES with 2 county administrators about major issues with the direction of compacted math and adding more kids and watering down the advancement of it. They said their goal was in 3 years to have ALL kids. Every single 4th and 5th grader in the county (we questioned it and they came back and said yes ALL) All of them in compact math.

I mean to start with handfuls of kids and then keep adding more while lowering the advancement and then add ALL the kids and make it presentable to all of them, means more lowering. It is no longer compacted math. It is 4th and 5th grade math with a fake name. I mean the concept was over their heads. They were literally confused as we were trying to explain that it is no longer compact math

And don't get me started about their "grading system" and how ridiculously easy it is to get all A's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our middle school there is only one section of regular English. Only kids who are below grade level are in it. Everyone else is in advanced English.

OP, advanced classes in MCPS middle schools are not what you think.

This

Our MS only has Advanced English. MCPS just calls it that. No other options.

Not to minimize parental frustration with MCPS middle school classes (which I've shared), but a part of me finds it hilarious that MCPS apparently views itself to be like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon where "all children are above average" so of course they should only have Advanced classes.

MCPS: has regular and advanced classes.
Some MCPS parents: "My kid needs to be in the advanced class!"
Other MCPS parents: "Even the "advanced" class is years behind the classes in [somewhere that isn't MCPS]!"
Yet other MCPS parents: "Shouldn't every kid have access to a challenging, enriching curriculum?"
MCPS: puts everybody in the advanced classes.
DCUM: "Ha ha, stupid MCPS thinks everybody is above average."

Wait, there is no denying that there are SOME parents like this out there - that push their kids to the top. However, MCPS does this all on their own. We had a meeting 2 years ago in our ES with 2 county administrators about major issues with the direction of compacted math and adding more kids and watering down the advancement of it. They said their goal was in 3 years to have ALL kids. Every single 4th and 5th grader in the county (we questioned it and they came back and said yes ALL) All of them in compact math.

I mean to start with handfuls of kids and then keep adding more while lowering the advancement and then add ALL the kids and make it presentable to all of them, means more lowering. It is no longer compacted math. It is 4th and 5th grade math with a fake name. I mean the concept was over their heads. They were literally confused as we were trying to explain that it is no longer compact math

And don't get me started about their "grading system" and how ridiculously easy it is to get all A's

Agree with this.

At our ES, they decided to put ALL kids in Compacted Math. It was ridiculous. Sure, some kids could handle it. But, some kids can't.

Teach the kids AT THEIR LEVEL. Really, it shouldn't be that hard. Instead, MCPS cares more about optics and showing how many kids are in 'advanced' classes.

At our MS, some parents asked about the Advance English option, because they actually felt their kids were not ready for 'advanced' English. They were told that there is no other option for English in 6th grade. ALL kids have to take 'Advanced' English. In which case, why not just name it English 6.

Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

The math situation varies by school and directly corresponds with the feeder ES's approach to compacted math. For kids in compacted math, Algebra in 7th grade is the expectation. A few kids drop out, a few kids jump ahead. But in areas where most schools/parents push for compacted math, you'll have the same kids in Algebra in 7th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Agree with this.

At our ES, they decided to put ALL kids in Compacted Math. It was ridiculous. Sure, some kids could handle it. But, some kids can't.

Teach the kids AT THEIR LEVEL. Really, it shouldn't be that hard. Instead, MCPS cares more about optics and showing how many kids are in 'advanced' classes.

At our MS, some parents asked about the Advance English option, because they actually felt their kids were not ready for 'advanced' English. They were told that there is no other option for English in 6th grade. ALL kids have to take 'Advanced' English. In which case, why not just name it English 6.

Ridiculous.

That's not MCPS. That's your elementary school's decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Agree with this.

At our ES, they decided to put ALL kids in Compacted Math. It was ridiculous. Sure, some kids could handle it. But, some kids can't.

Teach the kids AT THEIR LEVEL. Really, it shouldn't be that hard. Instead, MCPS cares more about optics and showing how many kids are in 'advanced' classes.

At our MS, some parents asked about the Advance English option, because they actually felt their kids were not ready for 'advanced' English. They were told that there is no other option for English in 6th grade. ALL kids have to take 'Advanced' English. In which case, why not just name it English 6.

Ridiculous.

That's not MCPS. That's your elementary school's decision.

Not the PP, but did you not see the previous comments that county administrators said their goal is to put ALL kids in compact math. This is NOT a school decision. It is not a teacher decision. It is a county decision that is being highly encouraged and implemented.

The main problem with this compact math scenario, is if you have 75 kids and 35 kids are able to take compact math. Do they have a class of one with 35 students? Do they bump more kids not ready and make it 2 classes and then the non compact math class is too big, which isn't right. Do they drop some kids to make it just one class and put kids into easier math classes. It is not a class friendly format and the county realizes once again it messed up. So not their decision to just start adding everyone slowly is a joke.

I too miss the tracked math. Have the bottom kids in very small groups with extra math help to bump them up starting in 1st grade. But it is not politically correct anymore. We rather the classrooms look right by gender, color, and nationality. So the kids needing extra help aren't getting enough help. The average kids are being ignored. And the advanced kids are being used as mini teacher aides in the classroom to help the kids that need help. Or they sit and do busy work. They hardly are taught anything extra. I see it every time I volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not the PP, but did you not see the previous comments that county administrators said their goal is to put ALL kids in compact math. This is NOT a school decision. It is not a teacher decision. It is a county decision that is being highly encouraged and implemented.

The main problem with this compact math scenario, is if you have 75 kids and 35 kids are able to take compact math. Do they have a class of one with 35 students? Do they bump more kids not ready and make it 2 classes and then the non compact math class is too big, which isn't right. Do they drop some kids to make it just one class and put kids into easier math classes. It is not a class friendly format and the county realizes once again it messed up. So not their decision to just start adding everyone slowly is a joke.

I too miss the tracked math. Have the bottom kids in very small groups with extra math help to bump them up starting in 1st grade. But it is not politically correct anymore. We rather the classrooms look right by gender, color, and nationality. So the kids needing extra help aren't getting enough help. The average kids are being ignored. And the advanced kids are being used as mini teacher aides in the classroom to help the kids that need help. Or they sit and do busy work. They hardly are taught anything extra. I see it every time I volunteer.

But it actually was a school decision. Some schools did it this way, some didn't.

MCPS actually had tracked math in elementary school, in the form of compacted math. DCUM yelled its head off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know so much about other kids' grades?

My daughter tells me.

How does your daughter know so much about other kids' grades?

[Anonymous]

Because she is noisy..both the OP and her daughter need to MTB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because she is noisy..both the OP and her daughter need to MTB

get a clue lady. kids talk about their grades in class.