When take AP Calculus? (11th or 12th grade)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math complaints seem to all boil down to the lack of a sure way for a student to take differential equations and/or linear algebra in or by 12th grade. Because that would be the point of all of the earlier math acceleration, right?

Does the fact that students in public schools in DC don’t have this track available to them (at least not without a dual college enrollment option) make DC an “atrocity” or a “failing” school system far behind others? How many other school districts offer this pathway?

I think the biggest problem for DCPS is less that they don’t offer some half assed Diff Eq in high school but more that your kid won’t get to calculus by 12th unless you, as a parent, are aware of the fact required classes a kid needs to take in middle school and pushes those classes. DCPS’ default isn’t geometry in 9th or even preparation for that, and that’s the problem.

Every single middle school offers Algebra I.

Asking parents who care about college readiness to have minimal awareness about the courses available to their kid seems perfectly reasonable to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math complaints seem to all boil down to the lack of a sure way for a student to take differential equations and/or linear algebra in or by 12th grade. Because that would be the point of all of the earlier math acceleration, right?

Does the fact that students in public schools in DC don’t have this track available to them (at least not without a dual college enrollment option) make DC an “atrocity” or a “failing” school system far behind others? How many other school districts offer this pathway?

I think the biggest problem for DCPS is less that they don’t offer some half assed Diff Eq in high school but more that your kid won’t get to calculus by 12th unless you, as a parent, are aware of the fact required classes a kid needs to take in middle school and pushes those classes. DCPS’ default isn’t geometry in 9th or even preparation for that, and that’s the problem.

Every single middle school offers Algebra I.

Asking parents who care about college readiness to have minimal awareness about the courses available to their kid seems perfectly reasonable to me.

I’m type A and on top of this, and I’m sure you are too, but I’m continually shocked by the statements of other well educated parents who assume that the DCPS middle school default will set their kids up for the default college track in high school. I don’t KNOW if that’s how most dc parents are, but most parents I know assume the default is kids are being put in classes that get them ready for the college track in high school.

I’m just kinda shocked that parents of my generation who went to, well, the schools I went think about this as little as they do. It was pretty competitive when I was a kid and is even more so now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math complaints seem to all boil down to the lack of a sure way for a student to take differential equations and/or linear algebra in or by 12th grade. Because that would be the point of all of the earlier math acceleration, right?

Does the fact that students in public schools in DC don’t have this track available to them (at least not without a dual college enrollment option) make DC an “atrocity” or a “failing” school system far behind others? How many other school districts offer this pathway?

I think the biggest problem for DCPS is less that they don’t offer some half assed Diff Eq in high school but more that your kid won’t get to calculus by 12th unless you, as a parent, are aware of the fact required classes a kid needs to take in middle school and pushes those classes. DCPS’ default isn’t geometry in 9th or even preparation for that, and that’s the problem.

Every single middle school offers Algebra I.

Asking parents who care about college readiness to have minimal awareness about the courses available to their kid seems perfectly reasonable to me.

I’m type A and on top of this, and I’m sure you are too, but I’m continually shocked by the statements of other well educated parents who assume that the DCPS middle school default will set their kids up for the default college track in high school. I don’t KNOW if that’s how most dc parents are, but most parents I know assume the default is kids are being put in classes that get them ready for the college track in high school.

I’m just kinda shocked that parents of my generation who went to, well, the schools I went think about this as little as they do. It was pretty competitive when I was a kid and is even more so now

I don’t think you need to worry about this. I had a kid who was in grade level math in 7th grade in DCPS and his teachers basically bulldozed right over me to get him into Algebra I in 8th. (In retrospect, they were right and I was indeed being overprotective.)

[Anonymous]

Dcps is full of people who put blind faith in the administrators who are largely dropping the ball in a big way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geometry by 8th is considered the lower track in math in Moco, Arlington, and Fairfax. Yet it is the highest math track offered at the strongest school in dcps. Pathetic.

About 25% of the kids take Algebra 1 in 9th grade in FCPS. Algebra 1 H in 8th grade is the most common track in FCPS, kids taking Geometry in 8th grade are considered accelerated.

According to what data set? Where are you getting this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geometry by 8th is considered the lower track in math in Moco, Arlington, and Fairfax. Yet it is the highest math track offered at the strongest school in dcps. Pathetic.

About 25% of the kids take Algebra 1 in 9th grade in FCPS. Algebra 1 H in 8th grade is the most common track in FCPS, kids taking Geometry in 8th grade are considered accelerated.

According to what data set? Where are you getting this?

They 100% made it up.

I am assuming the people trying to tear down the parent worried about the embarrassing lack of rigor in the dcps math curriculum are all from OSSE or teachers working for dcps because no decent parent would want less for their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geometry by 8th is considered the lower track in math in Moco, Arlington, and Fairfax. Yet it is the highest math track offered at the strongest school in dcps. Pathetic.

About 25% of the kids take Algebra 1 in 9th grade in FCPS. Algebra 1 H in 8th grade is the most common track in FCPS, kids taking Geometry in 8th grade are considered accelerated.

According to what data set? Where are you getting this?

They 100% made it up.

I am assuming the people trying to tear down the parent worried about the embarrassing lack of rigor in the dcps math curriculum are all from OSSE or teachers working for dcps because no decent parent would want less for their children.

I thought the standard was geometry in 9th. Accelerated is Algebra II with trig in 9th.

[Anonymous]

And, btw, that the default in DCPS middle is not to get your kid to geometry in 9th, so you have to push for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geometry by 8th is considered the lower track in math in Moco, Arlington, and Fairfax. Yet it is the highest math track offered at the strongest school in dcps. Pathetic.

About 25% of the kids take Algebra 1 in 9th grade in FCPS. Algebra 1 H in 8th grade is the most common track in FCPS, kids taking Geometry in 8th grade are considered accelerated.

According to what data set? Where are you getting this?

They 100% made it up.

I am assuming the people trying to tear down the parent worried about the embarrassing lack of rigor in the dcps math curriculum are all from OSSE or teachers working for dcps because no decent parent would want less for their children.

I thought the standard was geometry in 9th. Accelerated is Algebra II with trig in 9th.

and really if they didn't get a 5 on CAPE does it even count? weak

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geometry by 8th is considered the lower track in math in Moco, Arlington, and Fairfax. Yet it is the highest math track offered at the strongest school in dcps. Pathetic.

About 25% of the kids take Algebra 1 in 9th grade in FCPS. Algebra 1 H in 8th grade is the most common track in FCPS, kids taking Geometry in 8th grade are considered accelerated.

75% of 8th graders in FCPS are enrolled in Algebra I or higher. That number is supposed to climb to 85% under the district’s strategic plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SWW has many students doubling up Geo & Algebra 2 in 9th grade, so I'd imagine that large cluster takes Pre-calc next, then their AP Calc junior year.

Is this new? About five years ago, they actively discouraged.