Reply to MCPS to end areawide Blair Magnet and countywide Richard Montgomery's IB program

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Some of ya'll really need to settle down.  Great teachers exist outside of the magnet programs.  One of my kids not at a magnet Algebra teacher had a masters in math from John Hopkins.  My other kid's MS math teacher (different school) was certified to teach math at the MS and HS level and was finishing up an Education Leadership doctorate.

Some teach a schools that are closer to where they live, others want to influence a certain demographic, and others are just happy at their school.

Will there likely need to be some hiring and training, sure, but if they finalize things in short order, like by February, they will have at least a whole year to get that done.  Heck they could make it part of the recruiting strategy now.[/quote]
No one said we don't have some great teachers, but some people want advanced math in *every* HS.  Finding good teachers to teach really advanced math for every HS is going to be very difficult to find, not to mention the fact that in some schools there won't be enough demand for such classes to fill the classroom.  Not good use of taxpayer $.[/quote]

They only need one teacher for anything past bc.   We have several teachers who could teach it.  You just need Mv and linear algebra at every school.  So, that’s two extra classes beyond what is provided now.  [/quote]

Not true... At Blair, math classes include Logic, Discrete Mathematics, Advanced Geometry, Origins of Math, Complex Analysis (This is the course after MV calc and Lin Alg), and an Advanced Statistics Class (not to be confused with AP Stats). Similar things hold for science classes. As you can clearly see, it will be impossible to implement all these classes to the level they are taught at at Blair across the regional programs.[/quote]

You don't need all those.  You just need MV and Linear Algebra at every school, so there is enough math to fulfill requirements.  You keep pushing Blair but many of our kids have no interest in Blair but need more academic classes than are being offered.  Pushing Blair is silly when it only takes 100 students.  You are pushing needing more Blairs but even if there were more, my kids wouldn't choose it due to the rigid curriculum and distance.[/quote]

DP.  A year-long MVC, which is appropriate for non-magnet (that which I believe the poster, here, is discussing -- "every school"), allowing coverage of the breadth of that subject and not beholden to an outside curriculum such as College Board's AP, would satisfy the necessary progression in Math for any taking the standard higher-acceleration offered by MCPS:

4th - Math 4/5
5th - Math 5/6
6th - PreAlgebra
7th - Algebra
8th - Honors Geometry
9th - Honors Algebra II
10th - Honors PreCalculus
11th - AP Calculus BC
12th - Multivariable Calculus (MVC)

Depending on how MSDE & MCPS hash out the shift to Integrated Algebra, there could be yet another year of acceleration.  That is, if either:

MCPS, after Integrated Algebra 1 in 7th and Integrated Algebra 2 in 8th, offers a newer version of Honors PreCal that incorporates the concepts removed from the current A1/Geo/A2 progression in the IA1/IA2 progression

[i]or[/i]

MCPS is allowed to offer an Honors version of IA1/IA2 that reincorporates those concepts at an accelerated pace,

then Math-focused students on the standard higher-acceleration path would be taking AP Calculus BC in [i]10th grade[/i].  They would need [i]two[/i] year-long courses afterwards to meet the math-in-every-year MSDE graduation requirement (not to mention to keep touch with the subject).

[i]However[/i], unlike MVC, which very clearly is important to immediately follow Calculus (generally, 101 & 102 in college or AP Calc BC in high school), it is [i]not[/i] as important to take classes such as Linear Algebra and Differential Equations after MVC with the same sequential immediacy.  In that case, having available AP Statistics, a rather worthy subject in and of itself, if also not one that carries the same sequence-immediacy concern as MVC, would suffice as the 12th grade option for those accelerated, [i]but not in a STEM magnet[/i].

STEM magnets are the proper place for Linear Algebra, Differential Equations and the courses that have been unique to Blair (and Poolesville, if not quite to the same extent) --  the PP's aforementioned "Logic, Discrete Mathematics, Advanced Geometry, Origins of Math, Complex Analysis..., and...Advanced Statistics."  One hopes that each STEM magnet will offer such an array of courses.

(As an aside: from a sequential standpoint, Linear Algebra, particularly, might go most anywhere; while it would cover topics that could bring additional insight to MVC, that insight can be gleaned from a later taking of LA.  Some colleges, and perhaps SMCS, might approach MVC & LA, or MVC, LA & DE, in an integrated fashion, but that is not appropriate to the course load/subject distribution of a non-STEM magnet, where one would expect only one period of Math at a time.)

Every HS, though, should have available, on-site/in-person, [i]MVC in addition to the Math APs[/i]:

Ap Precalc -- if preferred to Honors, which is debatable,

AP Calc AB -- for those hitting Calculus without the Math interest/ability to start with BC,

AP Calc BC -- sequential for those having opted for AB and primary for those with the noted Math interest/ability, and

AP Statistics -- both for those more attuned to that than the Calc path and as a Senior-year option for those having completed MVC as a junior.

This is to support [i]MCPS's own[/i] standard, accessed across the county, and MSDE's graduation requirements, in addition to any individual student need.  As such, there should be no burden of access or efficacy for these classes, such as would be seen with virtual instruction or dual enrollment, and there most certainly should not be such a burden at one non-magnet school where there is not at another non-magnet school.[/quote]

My DS graduated #1 in his engineering program at UMD (Honors College) a few years back (so I know he’s talented at math). He was split out into accelerated math in first grade and stayed on that track.(I wish they still did that and I think it made a difference.)

But when he got to high school (a W), we insisted he take Calc AB and then AP Stats rather than Calc BC.  He took all the Science APs as well, plus a bunch of other APs. Maybe 13 total. He also did a lot of other activities along the way.

Just a thought about these issues. There are other pathways to success. You want your student taking Honors section Calc at UMD and I would imagine the same is true at MIT, GA Tech, Hopkins, CMU etc.  It’s outstanding.[/quote]

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