If your child does not get into compacted math, is it ever possible

[Anonymous]

to do more advanced math later or are they stuck "on grade level"?

[Anonymous]

The chart towards the bottom shows the progressions:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/math/

Not sure what the rules are. Looks like on grade level is to Calculus in 12 grade, not sure how that is going to go.

[Anonymous]

Schools can rescreen at the beginning of 4th grade. (I know our Hgc rescreens kids who were close to the cut-off.) Might be worth checking with your school in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Wow, this is real tracking. From that chart it seems like you can't get off the track once you've past 4th grade. WOW!

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure (dc is in compacted so not an issue for me) but had we not qualified I had planned to

1. Meet with the teacher at the end of 3rd grade to discuss specific areas where improvement wiuld be needed to succeed above grade level.

2. Done enrichment activities regularly during the summer before 4th grade. Kids regress a lot over the summer, so doing anything really will give your child a big boost relative to his or her peer group.

2. Meet with the 4th grade teacher outside of the normal p/t conference to discuss progress sometime in the Fall.

3. If I felt like dc was ready for above grade work, meet with the principal to discuss what qualifications would be required to accelerate. This will probably involve a summer class to cover the missed half year of material.

After each meeting I would send a very nice thank you note that also summarizes the major points of discussion. This will force them on record.

I think in our ES the scores were tweaked to quallify a number of students that prevented the need to run an extra math class (ie they are running the same number of classes as if there were no tracks). So it would have been a tough ask to get dc into compacted math for his year, but for next year the numbers might be different. I expect your principal will give you a toug set of guidelines that he won't expect you to have the tenacity to meet. Prove him erong, then insist that the accelerated option is right for your child (asuming you believe it is).

Also, +1 to the poster who noted that this is real tracking. It is, and as long as top colleges are evaluating applicants by whether they took the most demanding curriculum available it is a real disservice to 9 year olds to take away the possibility of the top math track so young. Mcps is totally in denial about the college admissions impact of this.

[Anonymous]

Any child can take a math class over the summer or double up in HS if they want further acceleration. All successful children will reach AP Math in 12th grade under 2.0. It is not a bad place to be.