Accelerated and Enrichment Pre-Calculus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like they should offer three pre-calc classes with following default pathways (setting aside other options like AP Stats):

Regular to Calc with Applications
AP Pre Calc to AB
Honors Pre Calc to BC

No. PreCal should ensure a student is prepared take Calculus. Period. It shouldn’t try to track you towards a particular course afterwards. That’s up to the student and teacher recommendation which should be based on performance, student desire, and speed of course.

Calc AB= Calc1
Calc BC = Calc 1 & 2
Calc w/ Application = Calc 1 with a more business focus and less abstract.

Then you just have one general ed pre Calc class with some kids who are bored and others flailing. All three classes currently prepare you for at least Calc with Applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like they should offer three pre-calc classes with following default pathways (setting aside other options like AP Stats):

Regular to Calc with Applications
AP Pre Calc to AB
Honors Pre Calc to BC

No. PreCal should ensure a student is prepared take Calculus. Period. It shouldn’t try to track you towards a particular course afterwards. That’s up to the student and teacher recommendation which should be based on performance, student desire, and speed of course.

Calc AB= Calc1
Calc BC = Calc 1 & 2
Calc w/ Application = Calc 1 with a more business focus and less abstract.

Then you just have one general ed pre Calc class with some kids who are bored and others flailing. All three classes currently prepare you for at least Calc with Applications.

Pre-Cal is the same as Pre-Alg in that both are points to ensure students have covered all the material necessary to be functional in the next base class. It’s a review of prior content, additional depth, and introduction of some key ideas coming up. Pre-Alg for Alg1, Pre-Calc for Calc1.

The point of various versions of classes isn’t to track but to address speed, depth, and interest. It doesn’t mean the on-level class should not prepare you for the next base class. This is particularly true for Checkpoint class (ie “Pre” classes).

A honors/AP class may go quicker and thereby provide tome for greater depth than needed, or to look at things in different ways, or provide means for other exploratory learning like field trips or research. It might combine two classes or provide enough depth so you can skip the next base class in favor of an elective or a higher class. But the on-level class is still required to provide you the ability to move to the next base class.

Calc w/ Applications and AP Calc BC are options, Calc 1 is the base.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular precalculus is now remedial, "honors" is now regular, and "A/E" is what honors was before "equity."

The interesting thing is that not every school has the A/E, so honors is still honors at those schools. But Whitman for some reason felt the need to add a level, pushing the whole ranking "down" one notch. The only reason I can imagine is parents complaining that their kids "needed" honors for the GPA boost, but not being able to handle the rigor, Whitman decided to add a true honors class above it.

Ahhh, so at other schools, honors is what A/E is at Whitman?

No. A/E is an attempt to replicate SMaCS Magnet Precalculus, going beyond the MCPS Honors strandard.
Honors is roughly the same everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular precalculus is now remedial, "honors" is now regular, and "A/E" is what honors was before "equity."

The interesting thing is that not every school has the A/E, so honors is still honors at those schools. But Whitman for some reason felt the need to add a level, pushing the whole ranking "down" one notch. The only reason I can imagine is parents complaining that their kids "needed" honors for the GPA boost, but not being able to handle the rigor, Whitman decided to add a true honors class above it.

Yes, and at Blair, Magnet Functions is the honors class, Magnet Precalculus is the on level class, Honors Precalculus is remedial, and plain Precalculus is for the cognitively disabled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regular precalculus is now remedial, "honors" is now regular, and "A/E" is what honors was before "equity."

The interesting thing is that not every school has the A/E, so honors is still honors at those schools. But Whitman for some reason felt the need to add a level, pushing the whole ranking "down" one notch. The only reason I can imagine is parents complaining that their kids "needed" honors for the GPA boost, but not being able to handle the rigor, Whitman decided to add a true honors class above it.

Ahhh, so at other schools, honors is what A/E is at Whitman?

No. A/E is an attempt to replicate SMaCS Magnet Precalculus, going beyond the MCPS Honors strandard.
Honors is roughly the same everywhere.

So, again, with A/E at Whitman, MCPS fails on equity.