VA math changes - ways to speak out

[Anonymous]

Back to OP - I agree with the need to contact state level people now about this. Also there needs to be press coverage. A few have written to the Post and either gotten no reply (my case) or been told this is too far off for the Post to cover now.

The latter is so irresponsible I don’t know what to say but seems to fit the Post’s local coverage which mostly just does pieces on press releases lately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never thought I would say this but I actually support the changes that VA is going to make.

It will almost certainly go through because too many parents are disillusion regarding their kids abilities and their kids never learn the basics of math and this becomes evident in high school.

What evidence do you have that these changes will actually lead to kids gaining a better understanding of the basics of math? Serious question.

It's no secret that taking the time to learn the basics of Math well and gain a great understanding will be beneficial.

Most kids are rushed through and by the time they get to high school they are struggling and need a tutor to get them through their higher level math classes.

Most accelerated classes all throughout the schools years make allowances for students who aren't doing well by doing things to prop up grades like grading homework participation, giving many retakes and so on.

Now that my child is in high school and does really want to go into a STEM field and we are looking at colleges, we are finding that many students once they get to college are repeating their advanced math courses from high school in college. Even when the student gets a high AP exam score. Some schools for some majors seem to require the student take the math courses at their school.

I don't see how this is helped by removing tracking. No honors algebra 1 vs algebra 1. No 6th graders taking prealgebra. No 7th graders taking prealgebra. All 6th graders in Math 6(possibly renamed to foundations of algebra for next year). All 7th graders in Math 7, not even prealgebra, when currently a high percentage in Loudoun County are taking algebra. I doubt they will be getting any deeper understanding in Math 7, when the teacher is focusing on the weaker students.

Simple.

Developmentally, 6th and 7th graders are not ready for that level of math and don’t truly understand or grasp the concepts. Yes many, many pass the course a lot of them with an “A” but it is watered down to a level they can process. This is leading to the false sense parent like you and many, many others have that their child is ready for advanced math classes far before they are ready.

Are their exceptions? Of course, and by their nature exceptions are rare occurrences so kids who are truly ready at those ages are rare. It’s very tough to hear this I know. It’s really not bad for your kid to spend a year focusing on actually understanding math and being bored in class. School is boring. Listening to lectures is boring. Even as adults this happens. So saying “my kid will be bored!” Is just dumb. School isn’t meant to entertainment - duh.

And before you start firing off emails - for god sakes - use critical thinking 🤔

Do you really, truly believe the state decided to make this change solely to piss off parents in NOVA and to deprive only that part of the state of math curriculum? Does that make sense? Do you honestly believe they never, ever asked an educator, one math teacher, anyone else, any professional, before suggesting this change? Have you talked to any math teachers? Or hey how about that math tutor you pay for every week? Instead of screaming about your AAP snowflake, calm down and think. And then maybe research and consider the pros and cons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never thought I would say this but I actually support the changes that VA is going to make.

It will almost certainly go through because too many parents are disillusion regarding their kids abilities and their kids never learn the basics of math and this becomes evident in high school.

What evidence do you have that these changes will actually lead to kids gaining a better understanding of the basics of math? Serious question.

It's no secret that taking the time to learn the basics of Math well and gain a great understanding will be beneficial.

Most kids are rushed through and by the time they get to high school they are struggling and need a tutor to get them through their higher level math classes.

Most accelerated classes all throughout the schools years make allowances for students who aren't doing well by doing things to prop up grades like grading homework participation, giving many retakes and so on.

Now that my child is in high school and does really want to go into a STEM field and we are looking at colleges, we are finding that many students once they get to college are repeating their advanced math courses from high school in college. Even when the student gets a high AP exam score. Some schools for some majors seem to require the student take the math courses at their school.

I don't see how this is helped by removing tracking. No honors algebra 1 vs algebra 1. No 6th graders taking prealgebra. No 7th graders taking prealgebra. All 6th graders in Math 6(possibly renamed to foundations of algebra for next year). All 7th graders in Math 7, not even prealgebra, when currently a high percentage in Loudoun County are taking algebra. I doubt they will be getting any deeper understanding in Math 7, when the teacher is focusing on the weaker students.

Simple.

Developmentally, 6th and 7th graders are not ready for that level of math and don’t truly understand or grasp the concepts. Yes many, many pass the course a lot of them with an “A” but it is watered down to a level they can process. This is leading to the false sense parent like you and many, many others have that their child is ready for advanced math classes far before they are ready.

Are their exceptions? Of course, and by their nature exceptions are rare occurrences so kids who are truly ready at those ages are rare. It’s very tough to hear this I know. It’s really not bad for your kid to spend a year focusing on actually understanding math and being bored in class. School is boring. Listening to lectures is boring. Even as adults this happens. So saying “my kid will be bored!” Is just dumb. School isn’t meant to entertainment - duh.

And before you start firing off emails - for god sakes - use critical thinking 🤔

Do you really, truly believe the state decided to make this change solely to piss off parents in NOVA and to deprive only that part of the state of math curriculum? Does that make sense? Do you honestly believe they never, ever asked an educator, one math teacher, anyone else, any professional, before suggesting this change? Have you talked to any math teachers? Or hey how about that math tutor you pay for every week? Instead of screaming about your AAP snowflake, calm down and think. And then maybe research and consider the pros and cons.

They recorded a presentation to a room full of VA math teachers, and it didn’t seem like any of the teachers approved of the change. Did you watch the video?

[Anonymous]

I have two kids on the advanced math track which is Algebra in 7th grade. If they stay on this track, they will be taking calc in 11th. I could probably get on board - or at least not oppose - slowing this down by one year so algebra is in 8th and calc in 12th (that's what I had back in the day). But I would not be on board with taking away the advanced track altogether. Going to have a lot of very bored kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back to OP - I agree with the need to contact state level people now about this. Also there needs to be press coverage. A few have written to the Post and either gotten no reply (my case) or been told this is too far off for the Post to cover now.

The latter is so irresponsible I don’t know what to say but seems to fit the Post’s local coverage which mostly just does pieces on press releases lately.

I got the bolded. I pushed back. No response.

Wondering if WTOP would report on it?

[Anonymous]

They really can’t get rid of taking calculus in highschool. Many colleges require ap calc for engineering majors— it would be putting Virginia highschool graduates at a distinct disadvantage for getting a stem degree. When I was in college, kids who didn’t take ap calc had to take a math class over the summer in college to catch up. They need to work with Virginia colleges/universities— you can’t have public school graduates not prepared to attend state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Simple.
Developmentally, 6th and 7th graders are not ready for that level of math and don’t truly understand or grasp the concepts. Yes many, many pass the course a lot of them with an “A” but it is watered down to a level they can process. This is leading to the false sense parent like you and many, many others have that their child is ready for advanced math classes far before they are ready.

This is about the fifth similar rant you've posted spanning 3 different sub-forums. Every time, someone has asked you for actual facts and evidence of the crap you're spewing, and every time, you disappear without providing a single shred of data or evidence. If you're going to repeatedly claim that the 6th and 7th graders aren't developmentally ready and don't truly grasp the concepts, you must have some data to back this up. Please provide some facts or data.

[Anonymous]

^ Also, on that note:
If VDOE were actually concerned that advanced kids were not ready for Algebra, then they'd be presenting facts about those kids doing poorly later. They did not provide those facts and aren't even making that assertion.

Their entire premise is that the current tracked system is inequitable, so it must be eliminated. Their other premise is that most kids don't really need calculus anyway, so it's not a big deal to make it difficult for them to take calc in high school and nearly impossible for them to take post-calc classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They really can’t get rid of taking calculus in highschool. Many colleges require ap calc for engineering majors— it would be putting Virginia highschool graduates at a distinct disadvantage for getting a stem degree. When I was in college, kids who didn’t take ap calc had to take a math class over the summer in college to catch up. They need to work with Virginia colleges/universities— you can’t have public school graduates not prepared to attend state schools.

+1 I'd love to hear what representatives from the VT College of Engineering think about this plan.

[Anonymous]

I brought this up on the other thread and replies indicated that the state schools (UVA, W&M, VT) would be in support of this initiative because of equity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I brought this up on the other thread and replies indicated that the state schools (UVA, W&M, VT) would be in support of this initiative because of equity.

That's nice but VT isn't going to accommodate all the non-calculus-taking aspiring engineers. Students who want to be competitive for OOS programs will need to take calculus.

[Anonymous]

It seems like the timeline for this is pretty far out - 2024/2025 implementation? My current 4th grader will be in 6th/pre Algebra in Fall of 2022 and already “tracked.” So this will affect current 2nd and below?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to OP - I agree with the need to contact state level people now about this. Also there needs to be press coverage. A few have written to the Post and either gotten no reply (my case) or been told this is too far off for the Post to cover now.

The latter is so irresponsible I don’t know what to say but seems to fit the Post’s local coverage which mostly just does pieces on press releases lately.

I got the bolded. I pushed back. No response.

Wondering if WTOP would report on it?

I never watch the news so not sure.

Find it hard to believe that nobody on DCUM - or at least no one who cares about VA schools - knows someone at the Post. Please, whoever you are, try to get them to shine some light here....?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Simple.
Developmentally, 6th and 7th graders are not ready for that level of math and don’t truly understand or grasp the concepts. Yes many, many pass the course a lot of them with an “A” but it is watered down to a level they can process. This is leading to the false sense parent like you and many, many others have that their child is ready for advanced math classes far before they are ready.

This is about the fifth similar rant you've posted spanning 3 different sub-forums. Every time, someone has asked you for actual facts and evidence of the crap you're spewing, and every time, you disappear without providing a single shred of data or evidence. If you're going to repeatedly claim that the 6th and 7th graders aren't developmentally ready and don't truly grasp the concepts, you must have some data to back this up. Please provide some facts or data.

Why? If it bothers you that much, google is your friend....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like the timeline for this is pretty far out - 2024/2025 implementation? My current 4th grader will be in 6th/pre Algebra in Fall of 2022 and already “tracked.” So this will affect current 2nd and below?

They will take kids who have been tracked and move them into this new system.