Is FCPS ending advance math for students who are not in AAP?
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Anonymous
DP. Instead, we see the far left nut jobs winning - which says everything about exactly who the voters are. |
Anonymous
Exactly. In fact, it's the way elementary school was for many of us. I was in the advanced language arts group, but one of the lowest math groups. Gradually, I moved up. Others were the opposite. It's common sense to group kids *flexibly,* so as to allow movement in either direction. |
Anonymous
:roll: Yes, just keep throwing absurd roadblocks up - "this could be very difficult!" It's simply a matter of wanting to do the right thing for all kids. Scheduling is not brain surgery. |
Anonymous
+100 Flexible groupings would see kids mixed in ways they are not currently. The "advanced" LA group might not all be in the "advanced" math group (or science, social studies). This monolithic "AAP" group is full of kids who aren't advanced across the board. Just as GE is full of bright kids who ARE advanced in certain subjects, but not all. The current system is ridiculous. |
Anonymous
Precisely. Pre-tests before each unit would ensure all kids easily and smoothly move into the appropriate group - which might very well be different for the next unit. |
Anonymous
+1 Pretty sure the PP is trolling. Flexible grouping is the very opposite of gatekeeping. |
Anonymous
| So currently E3 reduces acceleration in 3/4. Do they just cram more material in 5th grade to prepare for the 6th grade SOL? Also how do they determine who goes to advanced math in 5th since 4th is heterogenous classes? |
Anonymous
"cramming in" the material is what is happening for my E3 student. I replied earlier on this thread that he received some differentiation during 4th grade E3 math that the teachers call "extension activities" that happen during full-class math time. He also had once a week pull out with the AART that focused on math (at the expense of his level 3 curriculum). He, and many of the kids' whose parents I know well enough to talk about it, barely passed the 4th grade math SOL. Because so many of the 4th grade "advanced math" kids did average on the 4th grade SOL, they just left them all in advanced math for 5th grade and the 5th grade teacher is trying to catch them up to where they need to be for the 6th grade SOL. It's frustrating. In our case, if our child isn't caught up by the school, we will put him in Math 7 Honors and then Algebra 1 honors in 8th grade and get him tutoring to catch up if he's having trouble. This is supposedly the track that E3 math is accomplishing for more kids, but it doesn't look like it has worked for our school. One of the really frustrating things is that because E3 is a pilot program I believe we are the only elementary school in our middle school/high school pyramid doing it. So the middle school teachers will likely have little sympathy for the one group of kids who got behind because of E3 math. I'd feel better about it if the whole pyramid was doing it. |
Anonymous
E3's pilot is now in its third year. Do they just keep a small subset of schools in E3 indefinitely or do they make a decision at some point to either implement it at all elementary schools or end the pilot? |
Anonymous
How does equity help when the children's are taking more advanced maths outside of the school? Many childrens are taking algebra outside of school in 6th grade at Navy. |
Anonymous
Well then you mean advanced math should go away. I am all for grouping kids by ability level but doing it by unit is not as easy as it sounds logistically. Also, kids should not be held back if they need advanced math. |
Anonymous
DP. Where are you getting that? Obviously, there would be an advanced group for math (and for LA, science, and social studies). Of course no one should be held back if they need advanced instruction - in ANY class. |
Anonymous
| Yes, that is what is happening it FCPS’s own twisted way. All in on equity. |
Anonymous
DP The PP was responding to the post from 1/21 14:10 which advocated for flexible grouping but where all students would take the same grade level SOL (so no acceleration). Advanced math currently involves acceleration so PP is saying that the 14:10 scenario assumes the end of advanced/accelerated math. |
Anonymous
I agree. I went to school in FCPS about a zillion years ago; advanced classes didn't start until the 5th- 6th grade, and then we were grouped for math and language arts according to where you performed on the yearly, not monthly, aptitude test. I was reading at an 11th-grade level in the 4th grade, but I failed at math when it meant having to sit down every day and do the work. It's not my jam at all, but I still scored above the 95th percentile for state-wide students in math, so I was in advanced math and language arts for the rest of 5-6th. If someone had tested me in the second grade and assigned me at that point, it would have been over because I could barely read in the 2nd grade. I got lots of C's in math and A's in language arts; I was perfectly pleased with my C and ecstatic for a B. Some things I picked up quickly, and other things I didn't, no one had to slow down a class so that I could catch up. I got a C, and other kids got an A. And it meant that after elementary I continued on the college prep track. This meant I was getting exposure to the more complex subject matter, even if I didn't master it, which meant that I could pass the minimum math requirement when I did go off to college; I wasn't being tracked to community college or beauty school right out of the gate starting in 2nd grade. What they are doing now makes no sense. I have a DS who couldn't sit still in 2nd but scores advanced pass for every single Language Arts SOL he's had put in front of him since then; he's a better math student than I ever was, not gifted, but he loves science, language arts, history, social studies, anything that involves reading. He has the closest thing to a photographic memory I've seen in a kid, which isn't just a party trick. It means he has a lot of facts flying around in his head, is chomping at the bit to learn more, is capable of higher-order thinking, and is desperate for opportunities where he can relate what he knows to what he's learning. But there is no place for that in GenEd, which is fine. A school can't be everything for everyone, but it seems to be a waste when a kid like that sits on ice for 8 hours a day. I have a teacher friend who teaches AAP math in FCPS, and as she put it, they move so fast that almost no one in the class can keep up, and those who do are learning the concepts at a surface level only. There isn't enough time to teach the required materials in the time they have because the majority of the students aren't capable of achieving the level they would need to in order to keep up with the pace. So, most of her kids are doing outside tutoring, Mathnasium, Kumon etc., to keep up, while others, who are more capable, are doing outside enrichment to fill in the gaps so they can learn what they need to know to stay ahead. Oh, and she mentioned they are all very into Dogman and other graphic novels, but even the most basic young reader literature available. Meanwhile, many kids are in GenEd and can keep up but are bored to tears because it all moves too slowly and isn't challenging enough. So, what exactly are they accomplishing? I figured out maybe a little too late that my DS wouldn't get the education I received because it isn't being offered to anyone. So now I spend money to have DS work twice weekly with a retired school teacher. My request was that she challenge him, teach him to write in cursive, and give him opportunities to think, allow discussion, write, identify, and also help to fill in the gaps. It's not enough because 2 hours a week doesn't make up for a full-time but fundamentally weak elementary education, but it's something. |