https://www.hardyms.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=243077&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=573783 |
I love that Hardy lays it out this straightforwardly. Basically, if your kid isn't ahead going into 6th, they have to teach themselves a lot of math during 6th or summer between 6th & 7th to qualify for Algebra. It's possible, especially for a good math student, but it requires them to be entirely self-motivated and good at learn by computer. 6th grade is also a hard year socially, etc for a lot of kids, so piling on in that year is dumb compared to 5th grade, which is a coasting year for many students who remain at DCPSes. DCPS should start some of the acceleration in 2nd or 3rd grade and build up naturally rather than compressing it into 6th grade. But they don't. Because "equity". Only it's actually *less* equitable, because so many UMC families supplement knowing that this is coming. |
Original PP here. Yes, this is amazing, thank you for sharing, PP! If I'm understanding correctly, all kids get compacted 6th and 7th grade math in 6th, and some kids can get an extra support class as well. Then 7th accelerated is either compacted 7th (8th grade standards) or Algebra 1. Placement depends on test scores and iReady levels, so as PP said, a sixth grader could learn everything they need for compacted 7th in compacted 6th, but families would need to supplement to meet the standards for Algebra 1 in 7th. Is there a "regular" 7th grade math for kids that don't qualify for compacted 7th? Or is compacted 7th actually the regular track like in 6th? Does anyone know what percentage of kids end up on the accelerated tracks vs. "regular"? Mine isn't an intuitive math student, so super accelerated wouldn't be a good fit for actual learning even if they could supplement enough to qualify, but would likely need some level of acceleration to stay challenged through high school. |
Why do you suppose that "equity" is the reason for this approach? I'd assume that the reason is funding and needing to add another teacher or class section but IDK. |
Because numerous DCPS ESes that had advanced math dropped those classes in the name of equity (need to focus on the worst performing students). Yes, there is obviously a funding element, but it's about always prioritizing the kids doing the worst. DCPS even had actual G&T program back in the day... and it was dropped because of equity. |
Yes, there is a regular 7th grade class as well. |
This is a helpful list. Do you have a sense of sample size for these?
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I don’t, sorry, but your best bet would be to look at the demographic percentages of the schools you’re interested in comparing. |
So they dropped at the Elementary level because of equity but it's ok at the middle and high school level (considering the number of magnet schools here)? |
Does anyone have a sense for how immersion at Chisholm has been going? |
They could easily fix that by making all immersions schools feed into one MS. I can’t believe the designated dual language middle school has mostly English-only feeders. |
No this is incorrect. PP above is right. Sample size is absolutely important when analyzing this. 2 or 3 out of 25 kids above grade level vs 15 out of 25 is a big difference and dictates how curriculum is taught and at what level. |
I would also add demographic percentages are not accurate because overwhelmingly the white famikies are in ECE and as you go up in grades, you lose tons of them |
I didn’t say it wasn’t important, I just meant that to get an idea of if the sample size was sufficient to be statistically significant, you can look at the demographic percentage of the school to give you an estimate. For example, at Houston, it’s <1% white non-Hispanic. If the data were available, it would be useless due to an n of, like, 1. |
No you cannot by looking at the demographic percentage because the majority percentage of white families are in ECE, not in the upper grades which the data represents. You need to actually know how many white students vs. how many total students in3rd, 4th, or 5th. Having 3 white students who are on grade level in a class of 25 is not statistically significant as compared to having 15 out of 25. |