Approved courses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, they don't. Our school stops at Caculus. So, there aren't two more years of math for kids if they take caculus as Sophmores.

How many students at your HS are taking Calculus as sophomores? If there actually are enough students at your HS to warrant offering MV or whatever class you seem to think is warranted, then perhaps you should advocate for that at your HS. And if there aren't enough students to warrant that, then, respectfully, please stop insisting that a school you apparently do not have a child attending should not offer classes that the students at that school have requested

Quite a few are taking it as Sophmores and the majority are Juniors so yes there is a need.

MCPS should not be focusing on non-sense classes and providing real acadmeics for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, colleges will not understand and you NEED four years of math to graduate.

Of course colleges understand. A) most colleges are not expecting most kids to take Math beyond Calculus, B) Not all school or districts offer courses beyond calculus. C) While you need four years of math no where does it say the math must be beyond Calculus

College admissions offices absolutely compare students from within a school system (and even from within a state) despite differential offerings across individual schools. Some will make allowance for higher level courses being available or not, but the extent of that allowance varies, and a straight-A student with higher level courses almost always will be selected over a straight-A student without (all other factors being equal), even when those courses were only available to the former.

That's just one inequity. The other, and potentially more important even as most focus on the first, is the difference in learning opportunity, itself. A public school system should not be providing broadly differential opportunities/experiences to students from different zip codes/census tracts.

Adding good electives is great. Pilot programs are important to making that possible. However, funding for them comes from the same bucket, ultimately, as "core" options, even if notionally separated for managerial purposes.

Some may consider "core" only graduation-required courses. Many would consider most language (reading/writing), math, science and social studies as "core," whether graduation-required or not. Some would include foreign language in that definition, and the availability of advanced FL courses also varies. Some would suggest that elements of physical education, the arts, technology/engineering (separate from the basic sciences) and other subjects (personal finance had been a hot topic) should be part of a well-rounded education.

Which of these gets addressed, and made available on a reasonably equivalent basis, beyond those strictly required for graduation is a reasonable subject for discussion related to new courses being added to the mix.

Can you share what you are basing that assertion on? I've gone through the process with two MCPS DC already, and every admissions presentation we've been to makes clear that the judgment as to the rigor of your course load is based on the courses available to you. None have suggested that is determined school system wide, which frankly makes zero sense because the courses at Blair, for example, are not available elsewhere, nor are the IB courses at RM. And each school is required to send with each application a school profile, listing the courses offered at that school, precisely so that AOs know what the options were for the applying student. That's a school-by-school thing, not a system wide thing.

And FWIW, not every ambitious student is aiming for the top math class. There are plenty of student who wish that an AP science or an IB History class offered elsewhere were offered at their school. But it goes without saying that not every advanced class can be offered at every school.

In any event, if your child really wants a level higher than what your HS offers, please look at taking an online course at MC. There are students at our home school who want a level of MV not offered there and that is what they do.

Basing it on having worked in higher ed and having exposure to admissions practices across multiple schools. Many seek diversity of geography, and this leads to some allocating across regions, states or larger school systems when applications are high enough. Since they were brought up, look at the college acceptances of Blair SMCS and RMIB (and other schools where more advanced courses tend to be offered); compare that to acceptances within MCPS where such courses are not. There are a significant number from the latter that can claim near-max GPAs among the highest courses available to them, yet the acceptances from top 25s do not follow proportionally.

Some colleges/universities do a better, even reasonable, job of leveling the playing field when considering applicants. Not all. Those presenting have little incentive to claim otherwise, however.

Not sure from where the tenor of the math vs. science/history comment came. The post (the part that had been cut, but restored in this reply) clearly mentioned all of those as being considered core. It is correct that some advanced courses are available in some places and others available in others. Some schools get many or even most, even if they do not get all, while some schools get very few.

It also is correct that, without putting restrictions in place to ensure uniformity by going least common denominator, which would be a pretty terrible path, not all can be offered everywhere. However, the decided aim of a public school system should be to provide each student in the system with a reasonably equivalent available experience when considering the suite of offerings, and MCPS is a far way from that. Getting MC online or MCPS virtual to provide a similar experience and convenience to students at schools which might not have a local cohort to support an offering would be a start towards rectifying the matter.

That would mean differential funding allocations, of course, bringing us back to the issue posed related to the relative value of new electives -- again, not saying that those are bad, but that a conversation questioning their value relative to other needs is reasonable within this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, they don't. Our school stops at Caculus. So, there aren't two more years of math for kids if they take caculus as Sophmores.

How many students at your HS are taking Calculus as sophomores? If there actually are enough students at your HS to warrant offering MV or whatever class you seem to think is warranted, then perhaps you should advocate for that at your HS. And if there aren't enough students to warrant that, then, respectfully, please stop insisting that a school you apparently do not have a child attending should not offer classes that the students at that school have requested

Quite a few are taking it as Sophmores and the majority are Juniors so yes there is a need.

MCPS should not be focusing on non-sense classes and providing real acadmeics for kids.

If there was a large enough portion of students that could take the class Junior year and Senior year then it would be offered. If not, as others have suggested, the best recourse is to ask your school's counselor and principals why it is not offered. And what do you have against a kid taking an online college class? If they are really at the point of taking course beyond Calculus and really wanting to do so, then they are essentially saying they want to engage in college level work. Take Statistics. Elective classes are real academics. They are focused study on a particular subject. Who are you to determine what is important academics vs not? In fact, students who can talk about work with a teacher and CO to create the curriculum for a course are going to have a lot more interesting HS experience to share with universities, than those that just follow some straight line path or what someone deems the most advanced path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, colleges will not understand and you NEED four years of math to graduate.

Of course colleges understand. A) most colleges are not expecting most kids to take Math beyond Calculus, B) Not all school or districts offer courses beyond calculus. C) While you need four years of math no where does it say the math must be beyond Calculus

College admissions offices absolutely compare students from within a school system (and even from within a state) despite differential offerings across individual schools. Some will make allowance for higher level courses being available or not, but the extent of that allowance varies, and a straight-A student with higher level courses almost always will be selected over a straight-A student without (all other factors being equal), even when those courses were only available to the former.

That's just one inequity. The other, and potentially more important even as most focus on the first, is the difference in learning opportunity, itself. A public school system should not be providing broadly differential opportunities/experiences to students from different zip codes/census tracts.

Adding good electives is great. Pilot programs are important to making that possible. However, funding for them comes from the same bucket, ultimately, as "core" options, even if notionally separated for managerial purposes.

Some may consider "core" only graduation-required courses. Many would consider most language (reading/writing), math, science and social studies as "core," whether graduation-required or not. Some would include foreign language in that definition, and the availability of advanced FL courses also varies. Some would suggest that elements of physical education, the arts, technology/engineering (separate from the basic sciences) and other subjects (personal finance had been a hot topic) should be part of a well-rounded education.

Which of these gets addressed, and made available on a reasonably equivalent basis, beyond those strictly required for graduation is a reasonable subject for discussion related to new courses being added to the mix.

Can you share what you are basing that assertion on? I've gone through the process with two MCPS DC already, and every admissions presentation we've been to makes clear that the judgment as to the rigor of your course load is based on the courses available to you. None have suggested that is determined school system wide, which frankly makes zero sense because the courses at Blair, for example, are not available elsewhere, nor are the IB courses at RM. And each school is required to send with each application a school profile, listing the courses offered at that school, precisely so that AOs know what the options were for the applying student. That's a school-by-school thing, not a system wide thing.

And FWIW, not every ambitious student is aiming for the top math class. There are plenty of student who wish that an AP science or an IB History class offered elsewhere were offered at their school. But it goes without saying that not every advanced class can be offered at every school.

In any event, if your child really wants a level higher than what your HS offers, please look at taking an online course at MC. There are students at our home school who want a level of MV not offered there and that is what they do.

Basing it on having worked in higher ed and having exposure to admissions practices across multiple schools. Many seek diversity of geography, and this leads to some allocating across regions, states or larger school systems when applications are high enough. Since they were brought up, look at the college acceptances of Blair SMCS and RMIB (and other schools where more advanced courses tend to be offered); compare that to acceptances within MCPS where such courses are not. There are a significant number from the latter that can claim near-max GPAs among the highest courses available to them, yet the acceptances from top 25s do not follow proportionally.

Some colleges/universities do a better, even reasonable, job of leveling the playing field when considering applicants. Not all. Those presenting have little incentive to claim otherwise, however.

Not sure from where the tenor of the math vs. science/history comment came. The post (the part that had been cut, but restored in this reply) clearly mentioned all of those as being considered core. It is correct that some advanced courses are available in some places and others available in others. Some schools get many or even most, even if they do not get all, while some schools get very few.

It also is correct that, without putting restrictions in place to ensure uniformity by going least common denominator, which would be a pretty terrible path, not all can be offered everywhere. However, the decided aim of a public school system should be to provide each student in the system with a reasonably equivalent available experience when considering the suite of offerings, and MCPS is a far way from that. Getting MC online or MCPS virtual to provide a similar experience and convenience to students at schools which might not have a local cohort to support an offering would be a start towards rectifying the matter.

That would mean differential funding allocations, of course, bringing us back to the issue posed related to the relative value of new electives -- again, not saying that those are bad, but that a conversation questioning their value relative to other needs is reasonable within this thread.

You are assuming that application rate to T25's is the same across all schools. There are a lot of things that impact where students choose to go to college: Major, Finances, distance, etc. Regardless you seem really concerned about this, so I'm sure you'll figure out how ensure you child takes a competitive math class if that is what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, colleges will not understand and you NEED four years of math to graduate.

Of course colleges understand. A) most colleges are not expecting most kids to take Math beyond Calculus, B) Not all school or districts offer courses beyond calculus. C) While you need four years of math no where does it say the math must be beyond Calculus

College admissions offices absolutely compare students from within a school system (and even from within a state) despite differential offerings across individual schools. Some will make allowance for higher level courses being available or not, but the extent of that allowance varies, and a straight-A student with higher level courses almost always will be selected over a straight-A student without (all other factors being equal), even when those courses were only available to the former.

That's just one inequity. The other, and potentially more important even as most focus on the first, is the difference in learning opportunity, itself. A public school system should not be providing broadly differential opportunities/experiences to students from different zip codes/census tracts.

Adding good electives is great. Pilot programs are important to making that possible. However, funding for them comes from the same bucket, ultimately, as "core" options, even if notionally separated for managerial purposes.

Some may consider "core" only graduation-required courses. Many would consider most language (reading/writing), math, science and social studies as "core," whether graduation-required or not. Some would include foreign language in that definition, and the availability of advanced FL courses also varies. Some would suggest that elements of physical education, the arts, technology/engineering (separate from the basic sciences) and other subjects (personal finance had been a hot topic) should be part of a well-rounded education.

Which of these gets addressed, and made available on a reasonably equivalent basis, beyond those strictly required for graduation is a reasonable subject for discussion related to new courses being added to the mix.

Can you share what you are basing that assertion on? I've gone through the process with two MCPS DC already, and every admissions presentation we've been to makes clear that the judgment as to the rigor of your course load is based on the courses available to you. None have suggested that is determined school system wide, which frankly makes zero sense because the courses at Blair, for example, are not available elsewhere, nor are the IB courses at RM. And each school is required to send with each application a school profile, listing the courses offered at that school, precisely so that AOs know what the options were for the applying student. That's a school-by-school thing, not a system wide thing.

And FWIW, not every ambitious student is aiming for the top math class. There are plenty of student who wish that an AP science or an IB History class offered elsewhere were offered at their school. But it goes without saying that not every advanced class can be offered at every school.

In any event, if your child really wants a level higher than what your HS offers, please look at taking an online course at MC. There are students at our home school who want a level of MV not offered there and that is what they do.

Basing it on having worked in higher ed and having exposure to admissions practices across multiple schools. Many seek diversity of geography, and this leads to some allocating across regions, states or larger school systems when applications are high enough. Since they were brought up, look at the college acceptances of Blair SMCS and RMIB (and other schools where more advanced courses tend to be offered); compare that to acceptances within MCPS where such courses are not. There are a significant number from the latter that can claim near-max GPAs among the highest courses available to them, yet the acceptances from top 25s do not follow proportionally.

Some colleges/universities do a better, even reasonable, job of leveling the playing field when considering applicants. Not all. Those presenting have little incentive to claim otherwise, however.

Not sure from where the tenor of the math vs. science/history comment came. The post (the part that had been cut, but restored in this reply) clearly mentioned all of those as being considered core. It is correct that some advanced courses are available in some places and others available in others. Some schools get many or even most, even if they do not get all, while some schools get very few.

It also is correct that, without putting restrictions in place to ensure uniformity by going least common denominator, which would be a pretty terrible path, not all can be offered everywhere. However, the decided aim of a public school system should be to provide each student in the system with a reasonably equivalent available experience when considering the suite of offerings, and MCPS is a far way from that. Getting MC online or MCPS virtual to provide a similar experience and convenience to students at schools which might not have a local cohort to support an offering would be a start towards rectifying the matter.

That would mean differential funding allocations, of course, bringing us back to the issue posed related to the relative value of new electives -- again, not saying that those are bad, but that a conversation questioning their value relative to other needs is reasonable within this thread.

You are assuming that application rate to T25's is the same across all schools. There are a lot of things that impact where students choose to go to college: Major, Finances, distance, etc. Regardless you seem really concerned about this, so I'm sure you'll figure out how ensure you child takes a competitive math class if that is what they want.

You correctly identify the possibility of confounding circumstances. That does not, in and of itself, explain the phenomenon of differential acceptances among the most competitive schools without an alternate construct and evidence towards that construct.

You then throw out a rather meaningless and, in this case, off target allusion to concern about a specific child as something of a red herring, perhaps building toward some kind of strawman argument. The inequity exists. The associated concerns that others have expressed here are valid. The realities of funding/budgeting make those apropos to this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, colleges will not understand and you NEED four years of math to graduate.

Of course colleges understand. A) most colleges are not expecting most kids to take Math beyond Calculus, B) Not all school or districts offer courses beyond calculus. C) While you need four years of math no where does it say the math must be beyond Calculus

College admissions offices absolutely compare students from within a school system (and even from within a state) despite differential offerings across individual schools. Some will make allowance for higher level courses being available or not, but the extent of that allowance varies, and a straight-A student with higher level courses almost always will be selected over a straight-A student without (all other factors being equal), even when those courses were only available to the former.

That's just one inequity. The other, and potentially more important even as most focus on the first, is the difference in learning opportunity, itself. A public school system should not be providing broadly differential opportunities/experiences to students from different zip codes/census tracts.

Adding good electives is great. Pilot programs are important to making that possible. However, funding for them comes from the same bucket, ultimately, as "core" options, even if notionally separated for managerial purposes.

Some may consider "core" only graduation-required courses. Many would consider most language (reading/writing), math, science and social studies as "core," whether graduation-required or not. Some would include foreign language in that definition, and the availability of advanced FL courses also varies. Some would suggest that elements of physical education, the arts, technology/engineering (separate from the basic sciences) and other subjects (personal finance had been a hot topic) should be part of a well-rounded education.

Which of these gets addressed, and made available on a reasonably equivalent basis, beyond those strictly required for graduation is a reasonable subject for discussion related to new courses being added to the mix.

Can you share what you are basing that assertion on? I've gone through the process with two MCPS DC already, and every admissions presentation we've been to makes clear that the judgment as to the rigor of your course load is based on the courses available to you. None have suggested that is determined school system wide, which frankly makes zero sense because the courses at Blair, for example, are not available elsewhere, nor are the IB courses at RM. And each school is required to send with each application a school profile, listing the courses offered at that school, precisely so that AOs know what the options were for the applying student. That's a school-by-school thing, not a system wide thing.

And FWIW, not every ambitious student is aiming for the top math class. There are plenty of student who wish that an AP science or an IB History class offered elsewhere were offered at their school. But it goes without saying that not every advanced class can be offered at every school.

In any event, if your child really wants a level higher than what your HS offers, please look at taking an online course at MC. There are students at our home school who want a level of MV not offered there and that is what they do.

Basing it on having worked in higher ed and having exposure to admissions practices across multiple schools. Many seek diversity of geography, and this leads to some allocating across regions, states or larger school systems when applications are high enough. Since they were brought up, look at the college acceptances of Blair SMCS and RMIB (and other schools where more advanced courses tend to be offered); compare that to acceptances within MCPS where such courses are not. There are a significant number from the latter that can claim near-max GPAs among the highest courses available to them, yet the acceptances from top 25s do not follow proportionally.

Some colleges/universities do a better, even reasonable, job of leveling the playing field when considering applicants. Not all. Those presenting have little incentive to claim otherwise, however.

Not sure from where the tenor of the math vs. science/history comment came. The post (the part that had been cut, but restored in this reply) clearly mentioned all of those as being considered core. It is correct that some advanced courses are available in some places and others available in others. Some schools get many or even most, even if they do not get all, while some schools get very few.

It also is correct that, without putting restrictions in place to ensure uniformity by going least common denominator, which would be a pretty terrible path, not all can be offered everywhere. However, the decided aim of a public school system should be to provide each student in the system with a reasonably equivalent available experience when considering the suite of offerings, and MCPS is a far way from that. Getting MC online or MCPS virtual to provide a similar experience and convenience to students at schools which might not have a local cohort to support an offering would be a start towards rectifying the matter.

That would mean differential funding allocations, of course, bringing us back to the issue posed related to the relative value of new electives -- again, not saying that those are bad, but that a conversation questioning their value relative to other needs is reasonable within this thread.

You are assuming that application rate to T25's is the same across all schools. There are a lot of things that impact where students choose to go to college: Major, Finances, distance, etc. Regardless you seem really concerned about this, so I'm sure you'll figure out how ensure you child takes a competitive math class if that is what they want.

I'm not worried about a T25, we aren't even looking at those. We are looking at places like UMD and the majors require advanced math. No, I cannot figure it out to get it during the school day and evenings aren't possible. Its shameful that there is no equity in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, they don't. Our school stops at Caculus. So, there aren't two more years of math for kids if they take caculus as Sophmores.

How many students at your HS are taking Calculus as sophomores? If there actually are enough students at your HS to warrant offering MV or whatever class you seem to think is warranted, then perhaps you should advocate for that at your HS. And if there aren't enough students to warrant that, then, respectfully, please stop insisting that a school you apparently do not have a child attending should not offer classes that the students at that school have requested

Quite a few are taking it as Sophmores and the majority are Juniors so yes there is a need.

MCPS should not be focusing on non-sense classes and providing real acadmeics for kids.

If there was a large enough portion of students that could take the class Junior year and Senior year then it would be offered. If not, as others have suggested, the best recourse is to ask your school's counselor and principals why it is not offered. And what do you have against a kid taking an online college class? If they are really at the point of taking course beyond Calculus and really wanting to do so, then they are essentially saying they want to engage in college level work. Take Statistics. Elective classes are real academics. They are focused study on a particular subject. Who are you to determine what is important academics vs not? In fact, students who can talk about work with a teacher and CO to create the curriculum for a course are going to have a lot more interesting HS experience to share with universities, than those that just follow some straight line path or what someone deems the most advanced path.

I don't think young kids should be forced into college classes and the timing doesn't work out. Statistics is not advanced level math. It is what my child wants. They enjoy math. I have no issue with online classes but none are offered at reasonable times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, colleges will not understand and you NEED four years of math to graduate.

Of course colleges understand. A) most colleges are not expecting most kids to take Math beyond Calculus, B) Not all school or districts offer courses beyond calculus. C) While you need four years of math no where does it say the math must be beyond Calculus

College admissions offices absolutely compare students from within a school system (and even from within a state) despite differential offerings across individual schools. Some will make allowance for higher level courses being available or not, but the extent of that allowance varies, and a straight-A student with higher level courses almost always will be selected over a straight-A student without (all other factors being equal), even when those courses were only available to the former.

That's just one inequity. The other, and potentially more important even as most focus on the first, is the difference in learning opportunity, itself. A public school system should not be providing broadly differential opportunities/experiences to students from different zip codes/census tracts.

Adding good electives is great. Pilot programs are important to making that possible. However, funding for them comes from the same bucket, ultimately, as "core" options, even if notionally separated for managerial purposes.

Some may consider "core" only graduation-required courses. Many would consider most language (reading/writing), math, science and social studies as "core," whether graduation-required or not. Some would include foreign language in that definition, and the availability of advanced FL courses also varies. Some would suggest that elements of physical education, the arts, technology/engineering (separate from the basic sciences) and other subjects (personal finance had been a hot topic) should be part of a well-rounded education.

Which of these gets addressed, and made available on a reasonably equivalent basis, beyond those strictly required for graduation is a reasonable subject for discussion related to new courses being added to the mix.

Can you share what you are basing that assertion on? I've gone through the process with two MCPS DC already, and every admissions presentation we've been to makes clear that the judgment as to the rigor of your course load is based on the courses available to you. None have suggested that is determined school system wide, which frankly makes zero sense because the courses at Blair, for example, are not available elsewhere, nor are the IB courses at RM. And each school is required to send with each application a school profile, listing the courses offered at that school, precisely so that AOs know what the options were for the applying student. That's a school-by-school thing, not a system wide thing.

And FWIW, not every ambitious student is aiming for the top math class. There are plenty of student who wish that an AP science or an IB History class offered elsewhere were offered at their school. But it goes without saying that not every advanced class can be offered at every school.

In any event, if your child really wants a level higher than what your HS offers, please look at taking an online course at MC. There are students at our home school who want a level of MV not offered there and that is what they do.

Basing it on having worked in higher ed and having exposure to admissions practices across multiple schools. Many seek diversity of geography, and this leads to some allocating across regions, states or larger school systems when applications are high enough. Since they were brought up, look at the college acceptances of Blair SMCS and RMIB (and other schools where more advanced courses tend to be offered); compare that to acceptances within MCPS where such courses are not. There are a significant number from the latter that can claim near-max GPAs among the highest courses available to them, yet the acceptances from top 25s do not follow proportionally.

Some colleges/universities do a better, even reasonable, job of leveling the playing field when considering applicants. Not all. Those presenting have little incentive to claim otherwise, however.

Not sure from where the tenor of the math vs. science/history comment came. The post (the part that had been cut, but restored in this reply) clearly mentioned all of those as being considered core. It is correct that some advanced courses are available in some places and others available in others. Some schools get many or even most, even if they do not get all, while some schools get very few.

It also is correct that, without putting restrictions in place to ensure uniformity by going least common denominator, which would be a pretty terrible path, not all can be offered everywhere. However, the decided aim of a public school system should be to provide each student in the system with a reasonably equivalent available experience when considering the suite of offerings, and MCPS is a far way from that. Getting MC online or MCPS virtual to provide a similar experience and convenience to students at schools which might not have a local cohort to support an offering would be a start towards rectifying the matter.

That would mean differential funding allocations, of course, bringing us back to the issue posed related to the relative value of new electives -- again, not saying that those are bad, but that a conversation questioning their value relative to other needs is reasonable within this thread.

You are assuming that application rate to T25's is the same across all schools. There are a lot of things that impact where students choose to go to college: Major, Finances, distance, etc. Regardless you seem really concerned about this, so I'm sure you'll figure out how ensure you child takes a competitive math class if that is what they want.

+1 The biggest "tell" here is that PP only chose to mention magnet programs. Yes, schools that host competitive magnet programs are going to: A) Have more kids who are strong test-takers; and B) Offer higher level classes.

It sounds like PP's child is taking AP Calculus BC as a sophomore. That's great, but it's also at least a year beyond even the advanced math pathway in MCPS. You don't get onto the "super secret advanced" math pathway without someone advocating HARD for you, which means at some point PP looked at the pathway, looked at their home school offerings, and decided to roll the dice on magnet admissions.

Basically, around the county, a lot of high schools don't offer calculus. Of those many don't offer AP Calculus BC. PP's child was already going to access far more math than is the nationwide norm, but PP decided that wasn't good enough and advocated for an even faster track, and the known outcome of this decision is needing to find a way to complete 4 years of math even if the home high school does not offer Multivariable, which it would be nuts to offer at every single school in the county.

[Anonymous]

^^^Around the country, I mean. In the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.

No they don't. These are elective courses.

Schools can only offer so many classes. So, they are trading one class for another. We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year. Not happening.

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses. And they can’t force a student to go to MC. AP classes are not core courses. Various electives are not core courses. Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc. So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus? They don’t provide transportation for one class.

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school. Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course. You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams. You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip. You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes. There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem. They scream equity but there is not any. No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive. Mcps should offer it at all schools. Or, provide it virtually.

Why would the be less competitive? If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them. Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do? And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out. If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level. Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.

No, colleges will not understand and you NEED four years of math to graduate.

Of course colleges understand. A) most colleges are not expecting most kids to take Math beyond Calculus, B) Not all school or districts offer courses beyond calculus. C) While you need four years of math no where does it say the math must be beyond Calculus

College admissions offices absolutely compare students from within a school system (and even from within a state) despite differential offerings across individual schools. Some will make allowance for higher level courses being available or not, but the extent of that allowance varies, and a straight-A student with higher level courses almost always will be selected over a straight-A student without (all other factors being equal), even when those courses were only available to the former.

That's just one inequity. The other, and potentially more important even as most focus on the first, is the difference in learning opportunity, itself. A public school system should not be providing broadly differential opportunities/experiences to students from different zip codes/census tracts.

Adding good electives is great. Pilot programs are important to making that possible. However, funding for them comes from the same bucket, ultimately, as "core" options, even if notionally separated for managerial purposes.

Some may consider "core" only graduation-required courses. Many would consider most language (reading/writing), math, science and social studies as "core," whether graduation-required or not. Some would include foreign language in that definition, and the availability of advanced FL courses also varies. Some would suggest that elements of physical education, the arts, technology/engineering (separate from the basic sciences) and other subjects (personal finance had been a hot topic) should be part of a well-rounded education.

Which of these gets addressed, and made available on a reasonably equivalent basis, beyond those strictly required for graduation is a reasonable subject for discussion related to new courses being added to the mix.

Can you share what you are basing that assertion on? I've gone through the process with two MCPS DC already, and every admissions presentation we've been to makes clear that the judgment as to the rigor of your course load is based on the courses available to you. None have suggested that is determined school system wide, which frankly makes zero sense because the courses at Blair, for example, are not available elsewhere, nor are the IB courses at RM. And each school is required to send with each application a school profile, listing the courses offered at that school, precisely so that AOs know what the options were for the applying student. That's a school-by-school thing, not a system wide thing.

And FWIW, not every ambitious student is aiming for the top math class. There are plenty of student who wish that an AP science or an IB History class offered elsewhere were offered at their school. But it goes without saying that not every advanced class can be offered at every school.

In any event, if your child really wants a level higher than what your HS offers, please look at taking an online course at MC. There are students at our home school who want a level of MV not offered there and that is what they do.

Basing it on having worked in higher ed and having exposure to admissions practices across multiple schools. Many seek diversity of geography, and this leads to some allocating across regions, states or larger school systems when applications are high enough. Since they were brought up, look at the college acceptances of Blair SMCS and RMIB (and other schools where more advanced courses tend to be offered); compare that to acceptances within MCPS where such courses are not. There are a significant number from the latter that can claim near-max GPAs among the highest courses available to them, yet the acceptances from top 25s do not follow proportionally.

Some colleges/universities do a better, even reasonable, job of leveling the playing field when considering applicants. Not all. Those presenting have little incentive to claim otherwise, however.

Not sure from where the tenor of the math vs. science/history comment came. The post (the part that had been cut, but restored in this reply) clearly mentioned all of those as being considered core. It is correct that some advanced courses are available in some places and others available in others. Some schools get many or even most, even if they do not get all, while some schools get very few.

It also is correct that, without putting restrictions in place to ensure uniformity by going least common denominator, which would be a pretty terrible path, not all can be offered everywhere. However, the decided aim of a public school system should be to provide each student in the system with a reasonably equivalent available experience when considering the suite of offerings, and MCPS is a far way from that. Getting MC online or MCPS virtual to provide a similar experience and convenience to students at schools which might not have a local cohort to support an offering would be a start towards rectifying the matter.

That would mean differential funding allocations, of course, bringing us back to the issue posed related to the relative value of new electives -- again, not saying that those are bad, but that a conversation questioning their value relative to other needs is reasonable within this thread.

You are assuming that application rate to T25's is the same across all schools. There are a lot of things that impact where students choose to go to college: Major, Finances, distance, etc. Regardless you seem really concerned about this, so I'm sure you'll figure out how ensure you child takes a competitive math class if that is what they want.

+1 The biggest "tell" here is that PP only chose to mention magnet programs. Yes, schools that host competitive magnet programs are going to: A) Have more kids who are strong test-takers; and B) Offer higher level classes.

It sounds like PP's child is taking AP Calculus BC as a sophomore. That's great, but it's also at least a year beyond even the advanced math pathway in MCPS. You don't get onto the "super secret advanced" math pathway without someone advocating HARD for you, which means at some point PP looked at the pathway, looked at their home school offerings, and decided to roll the dice on magnet admissions.

Basically, around the county, a lot of high schools don't offer calculus. Of those many don't offer AP Calculus BC. PP's child was already going to access far more math than is the nationwide norm, but PP decided that wasn't good enough and advocated for an even faster track, and the known outcome of this decision is needing to find a way to complete 4 years of math even if the home high school does not offer Multivariable, which it would be nuts to offer at every single school in the county.

Your "tell" is off, but that may not be your fault. I did not identify as "DP" when I posted the fourth ("College admissions offices absolutely compare...") and second ("Basing it on having worked in higher ed...") posts back. I also responded in the separate sub-thread to the other poster's comment about assumptions -- agreeing, but offering that that did not provide a suitable counter-argument to dismiss the thoughts presented. Not all posters make sure to identify as "DP," anyway, and one should be careful when conflating the origin of two posts in a thread that happen to support a similar point of view.

The point of those posts was aimed at noting the inequity across MCPS and how that might be applicable to a discussion about new electives based on funding. The poster earlier in the thread may have more specific concern about the situation of their own DC.

[Anonymous]

So students can initiate courses, but not request to be placed in an accelerated course. Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So students can initiate courses, but not request to be placed in an accelerated course. Interesting.

HS students can request to be placed in accelerated courses, as long as they have met the prerequisites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So students can initiate courses, but not request to be placed in an accelerated course. Interesting.

HS students can request to be placed in accelerated courses, as long as they have met the prerequisites.

Can request. But does it actually happen?

[Anonymous]

Why Jewish studies? Just for Jewish people to take? A no Jewish student who has hardly any space in their schedule is not going to take Jewish studies. Same can be said for courses that are studying another group of people.

[Anonymous]

*non