Reply to Anyone move their DC to algebra in 6th

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What needs to be mentioned is the challenge for the school district.   I get it, we all want our child to be challenged at their highest level and supported.  However, a school district and one with 160K students, has to offer its programming and support at scale.  This is the exact problem with Special Education. People get IEP plans, which while valid and likely would help, have nothing to do with the personnel or operations to implement them.

What do I mean by this? Imagine your kid is math advanced and will take MV by junior year. You want them to keep moving forward and so do they.  Next stop Linear Algebra. But only a very small number of kids need to take this course. Meanwhile a much larger number of kids need to take Alg2. So a LA course with 12 people is offered meanwhile all the Alg2 classes have 30 kids. Next stop folks complaining about class sizes.  The district agrees that smaller class sizes would be helpful all around; for kids, teachers, for outcomes. But, the constraints are the constraints. There’s the real budget, there’s a set salary scale for all teachers, there’s a non ideal teaching situation limiting the hiring pool. And to top it off, parents can’t be reasoned with that LA doesn’t need to be a highschool course offering and students should take it at the university.

How do you solve that problem?  Either you just stop offering LA and/or you stop offering or severely limit Alg1 in 6th which stops the pipeline of students needing the course.  This is the reality. You all are arguing and fighting the wrong problem with the wrong people. Go talk to politicians to get them to support real true education and family life reform and innovation, both in concept and dollars.[/quote]

MCPS makes a standard level of acceleration available at each ES/MS.  Currently, that standard leads to the completion of PreAlgebra in 6th grade, and logically would continue with an honors veraion of PreCalc in 9th to bridge between Integrated Algebra 2 and college-level courses.  It is incumbent upon MCPS to ensure classes that would follow in this core subject are equitably available.

There would need to be three of those to afford one per year in high school, beginning with AP Calculus.  While an AB/BC progression over two years, followed by AP Stats, would provide an off-ramp for academically advanced but not STEM-focused students, taking BC (which covers AB material) directly would be correct for the more mathematically inclined.  That would have to continue immediately with MVC due to its progression-essential concept continuity.  After that, AP Stats, itself valuable to the STEM-focused, would fill the void, avoiding the extreme difficulty in equitable non-magnet provision across all schools of Linear Algebra & Differential Equations, themselves part of a college Mathematics progression but less essential to take in the immediate aftermath of the Calculus progression.

What is the differential cost?  Assuming provision of AB, BC & Stats are baked in at all schools, assuming that each of the schools containing a regional STEM (SMCS and/or Engineering) magnet program would have MVC anyway and assuming that 4-5 other schools currently offering it would continue to do so, there might need to be the addition of 15 sections of MVC across the system.  Even if not addressed with current internal staff by the shift of .2 FTE to the new local section (3 FTE total [i]if[/i] student redistribution does not result in an equivalent number of Math classes overall), this could be managed with 5 FTEs -- roving specialists, each teaching one section at three schools, with a 2-period allocation for travel time.  Those would be more expensive than a typical HS FTE, of course, but perhaps between $1M and $1.5M, and that is if the less costly internal staff solution proves universally unmanageable at all schools that wouldn't otherwise offer MVC.

What about those accelerating beyond the standard MCPS offering (e.g., Algebra in 6th)?  Like with many accommodations, students and families would need to be aware that such placement, while available, would not be supported in the same manner as standard offerings.  If not accessing the regional Math-focused magnet, [i]this[/i] is where an expectation of access (e.g., for Linear Algebra & Differential Equations) via Dual Enrollment or, perhaps, virtual, for every school but the magnet, rightly would come into play.[/quote]

Magnet has limited enrollment and not all kids want it.  Mc is impossible to work with after school activities and schedules don’t align.  Have you considered the cost to Mcps for Mc vs in-house.  Mcps and the BOE will not bring back virtual so that’s off the table.  We have no idea how one of my kids will get enough classes to graduate except if they take ab senior year after bc and statistics.   Kinda lame.  [/quote]

If a student/family chooses not to attend an offered magney, that is their [i]choice[/i], and it may mean they give up in-school access to the magnet classes (e.g., Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, etc.).

You would be correct in discounting the top-line cost by the alternative cost of utilizing MC.  I don't have such numbers.  The additional burdens taken on by individual students/families, and for which there is no financial accounting, associated with MC logistics are among the reasons that core subject sequentially important classes like MVC should be equitably available to students across the system from their local school.

MD Delegates and State Senators really should look at the math-in-every-year graduation requirement and work with MSDE to consider exempting those who reach a certain post-HS level (say, successfully having taken enough Math APs to pass out of the general UMD undergrad Math requirement), without interest in further pursuit (e.g., not planning on a STEM career).[/quote]

[b]No one is going to look at it.[/b]  There are 100 slots at Blair.  It's nearly impossible to get in, but logistically, it's impossible for kids with outside activities.  MC is also logistically impossible, as if you do it at night, you cannot do activities or sports, and during the day doesn't align with the MCPS calendar.  And, if its not virtual, there is also a transportation issue.  We were told to buy our child a car so they can go to MC.  That's not a reasonable expense.  MCPS will also not allow outside courses parent-paid, which is far cheaper than a car.

If the argument is cost-effective, paying for classes at MC is not cost-effective.

If the argument is cost savings, we should offer the same classes at all high schools and get rid of any specialty classes.  That would be true equity and cost savings.  No more school or class choice.

Kids don't have enough classes to graduate on this path at some schools.[/quote]

They won't if nobody asks them.

Regarding SMCS, regionalization should end up providing about double the current capacity.  Not a panacea, of course.

I agree that MCPS should be providing adequate, equitable, preferably locally delivered class paths to all students that embark on MCPS-wide/standard Math acceleration offerings.  After Integrated Algebra 1 & 2 in 7th & 8th, that would mean, for those aiming at STEM in college, some flavor of Honors PreCalc in 9th, AP Calc BC in 10th, MVC in 11th and AP Stats in 12th, presuming they won't be offering Linear Algebra and/or Differential Equations outside of a STEM magnet.[/quote]

It's extremely unlikely that MCPS will delete a course from the middle of the progression. That makes no sense.

Traditional College Academic STEM path students will take an Integrated Algebra  3 to get the content missing from 1 and 2.[/quote]

They may do that instead of offering an accelerated PreCalc that reincorporates that missing content (which wouldn't be deleting a course -- there is no "Integrated Algebra 3" in the adopted MSDE concept, though management of the Calculus pathway that the STEM-focused and others would select is left to the county school systems to define).  That may be a disservice to those both highly able and Math-focused.

Even if they did that to bring things back to a Calculus-in-11th expectation, they'd need to provide MVC as well.  Requiring AB before BC is [i]definitely[/i] a disservice (good as an [i]option[/i] for those [i]needing or desiring[/i] a less rigorous path).  Meanwhile, only offering AP Stats in 12th for those completing BC in 11th creates a very burdensome discontinuity -- for any who would be aiming at a STEM field requiring it, MVC (sometimes monikered Calc 3, where AB is Calc 1 and BC is Calc 1 & 2 together) really must follow immediately.[/quote]

MV is Calc 3.  [/quote]

Um...yes?  That is what the post said.[/quote]

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