Reply to Compacted math going away?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Compacted math going away?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hasn't compacted math been going away for a decade now?[/quote]

It seems to be out of step with equity whose goal is to dumb down all high-achievers to create an equally bad outcome.[/quote]

I know that you view equity this way, but an actual equitable approach to this question is the one MCPS was pursuing at at least one point. An equitable approach acknowledges that kids are coming in with different levels of support, and scaffolds in additional support to kids who have potential but lack the advantages of some of their peers.

My child (middle class, single parent household) benefited from that approach through free Saturday enrichment beginning in 3rd grade. MCPS identified my child as "gifted" but correctly identified that my child did not have access to expensive and time-consuming outside enrichment. So they plugged in that support to help create a level playing ground. Many years later, my child was successful in a rigorous magnet programs and has already secured admission to their first-choice college. No wealthy or well-supported child was harmed through the "equity-based" support that MCPS gave my child in elementary school, and no one's class was "dumbed down" because the district tried to level the playing ground through free enrichment for gifted kids from low and medium income families. [/quote]
dp. I'm fully supportive of MCPS's enrichment programs, and happy to help fund it for low income kids.

However, MCPS has dumbed down programs. "Honors" health in HS is a  perfect example of this.   The class is ridiculously easy, and just has a bunch of busy work, but it's labeled as "honors".

My kids are in HS and college.[/quote]

I'm the PP and I actually agree with you, but I think there are about 15 different conversations happening on this thread and we are not using the same vocabulary.

"Honors English" in MS and early HS is about equity in the sense that I think you are using the word - a misguided approach that harms everyone, including gifted kids, non-gifted but just hard-working kids, typical kids, and emerging language learners.

"Honors Health" is not. That's just MCPS engaging in grade inflation to game the rankings.

Throwing open the doors for compacted math about six years ago was about "equity" but (correctly) tightening them back up a few years later was just the right thing to do.

We are talking about a bunch of different trends on this thread, and one of them (compacted math going away) is just a rumor. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics