Math 7 Honors vs. Algebra

[Anonymous]

I think we would all agree that there is an achievement gap for a reason. It has nothing to do with favoring one race or the other. Apparently, the school boards dont pay attention to statistics. Some races just perform better than others. The truth is in the statistics. Dont shoot the messenger. I think we may be getting off topic but I thought it was necessary to share my thoughts on your comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we would all agree that there is an achievement gap for a reason. It has nothing to do with favoring one race or the other. Apparently, the school boards dont pay attention to statistics. Some races just perform better than others. The truth is in the statistics. Dont shoot the messenger. I think we may be getting off topic but I thought it was necessary to share my thoughts on your comment.

Couldn't those statistics just be showing the effects on bias/discrimination/lack of resources? Let's say 30% of the hispanic kids in FCPS are recent arrivals or the children of immigrant parents who never had algegra/geometry/trig.... those factors could be the reason hispanic kids as a whole do worse in math. It's not the fact that they are hispanic and incapable of doing algebra in 8th grade. It's the fact that they don't have parents at home who can help them learn multiplication tables at 8 yrs of age, so they don't get pulled into adv. math classes in 3rd grade and don't have help along the way to jump up to algebra in 8th --- and their parents don't know what algebra means and why they should want their kid to take it in 8th grade anyway.

So, maybe FCPS isn't "favoring" one group over the other, but that doesn't mean that "some races just perform better." You are attributing outcomes to race when there are other factors involved.

[Anonymous]

DP. Public school can only do so much to compensate for unequal home lives and resources. I'm in favor of Young Scholars and Head Start programs when kids are young and need a leg up. If doing so causes more kids to qualify for early Algebra, that's great. I'm not in favor of pushing unqualified kids into advanced classes or watering down those advanced classes just to close the achievement gap on paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP. Public school can only do so much to compensate for unequal home lives and resources. I'm in favor of Young Scholars and Head Start programs when kids are young and need a leg up. If doing so causes more kids to qualify for early Algebra, that's great. I'm not in favor of pushing unqualified kids into advanced classes or watering down those advanced classes just to close the achievement gap on paper.

Agree. Fcps foes also track the percentsge of 8th grade Alg takers who show proficiency by padding the SOL. This metric would show whether the content of Alg is being diluted or kids are ready to succeed. Right now, I think all hroups have passrates in the 90s.

The Alg SOL serves as a "floor" for what FCPS teaches in Alg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Agree. Fcps foes also track the percentsge of 8th grade Alg takers who show proficiency by padding the SOL. This metric would show whether the content of Alg is being diluted or kids are ready to succeed. Right now, I think all hroups have passrates in the 90s.

The Alg SOL serves as a "floor" for what FCPS teaches in Alg.

The important question then is whether kids who barely pass the Algebra SOL in 8th grade would have been better served by waiting a year for Algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Agree. Fcps foes also track the percentsge of 8th grade Alg takers who show proficiency by padding the SOL. This metric would show whether the content of Alg is being diluted or kids are ready to succeed. Right now, I think all hroups have passrates in the 90s.

The Alg SOL serves as a "floor" for what FCPS teaches in Alg.

The important question then is whether kids who barely pass the Algebra SOL in 8th grade would have been better served by waiting a year for Algebra.

I think that would be answered by how they do in subsequent math classes. If they pass subsewuent classes (passing grade), then what difference does it make if they " would have bern better served" by taking it a year later? What does that even mean? There are probably non-quantifiable effects of being told "you can do this" -- the same effects that they report for kids who take AP even if they don't pass the exam. The chsllenge and the message have a positive effect.

[Anonymous]

Okay flame away but which is better for TJ app? All As in math with algebra 1 in 8th grade or possibly a B in the mix and algebra 1 in 7th grade?

[Anonymous]

Only a small percentage of TJ spplicants take Alg in 8th grade. Most take it in 7th or 6th. If in 7th, many will take summer Geometry do that they are taking Alg II in 8th.

[Anonymous]

...SO that they are taking Alg II...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay flame away but which is better for TJ app? All As in math with algebra 1 in 8th grade or possibly a B in the mix and algebra 1 in 7th grade?

Both cases are unlikely to get you into TJ. Kids who get into TJ for the most part have all As in math with Algebra by 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The important question then is whether kids who barely pass the Algebra SOL in 8th grade would have been better served by waiting a year for Algebra.

I think that would be answered by how they do in subsequent math classes. If they pass subsewuent classes (passing grade), then what difference does it make if they " would have bern better served" by taking it a year later? What does that even mean? There are probably non-quantifiable effects of being told "you can do this" -- the same effects that they report for kids who take AP even if they don't pass the exam. The chsllenge and the message have a positive effect.

If a kid barely passes the Algebra SOL in 8th, the kid has some serious foundational gaps. It's likely that the kid would have fewer gaps if Algebra had been taken in 9th with an extra year in 8th to address those gaps. The math builds upon itself each year, so it's unlikely that a kid who struggled in Algebra I would suddenly be thriving in Algebra II, pre-calc, or calc.

There are also non-quantifiable effects of struggling year after year in a subject. Working your ass off for a poor grade is more likely to discourage kids from STEM than it is to have any sort of positive effect.

The bottom line is whether FCPS is encouraging more kids to take Algebra by 8th because it's beneficial to the kids, or whether they're doing so because it makes FCPS look better. The same is true for encouraging more AP course participation. If it's a net positive for the kids, great. If it's not helping the kids at all, but is only happening so FCPS can boost its ratings, that's horrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay flame away but which is better for TJ app? All As in math with algebra 1 in 8th grade or possibly a B in the mix and algebra 1 in 7th grade?

If you have to ask...
There are a lot of kids getting all As in Alg 7. And in TJ’s case, probably As in Alg in 6th. FTR my kids will not apply to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we would all agree that there is an achievement gap for a reason. It has nothing to do with favoring one race or the other. Apparently, the school boards dont pay attention to statistics. Some races just perform better than others. The truth is in the statistics. Dont shoot the messenger. I think we may be getting off topic but I thought it was necessary to share my thoughts on your comment.

Many Hispanic kids have parents who come from extremely poor and uneducated backgrounds. It has nothing to do with race. Hispanic countries are filled with doctors, engineers, lawyers. These highly educated folks are well-off and therefore, do not immigrate to the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay flame away but which is better for TJ app? All As in math with algebra 1 in 8th grade or possibly a B in the mix and algebra 1 in 7th grade?

If you have to ask...
There are a lot of kids getting all As in Alg 7. And in TJ’s case, probably As in Alg in 6th. FTR my kids will not apply to TJ.

When does FCPS start giving letter grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay flame away but which is better for TJ app? All As in math with algebra 1 in 8th grade or possibly a B in the mix and algebra 1 in 7th grade?

Why on earth would you have a kid with a b in algebra honors apply to tj? Do you think that’s wise?