Reply to Old VMPI plans & FCPS’s E3 Math Pilot

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]America is so far behind in math and FCPS isn’t doing its students any favors.  Students who want to and are capable should be able to take Algebra 1 in 6th grade and allow students to take more advance math beyond AP Calc and AP Stat as seniors.  Particularly those students that want to excel in STEM or other quantitative fields such as Economics.  [/quote]

Why?  I took Calc BC as a senior in HS, Diff Eq as a freshman in college, and got a BSEE.  I took every undergrad math classes available and ran out by my last year.  What's the rush?[/quote]

Ok, let's be serious for a minute.

What's really at stake is that different children have different abilities, particularly when it comes to mathematics.  Because of that, they should be separated so that those who are better (from their aptitude) and engage better (from their passion) can be better challenged. This is an obligation we have as a society.

There is a problem here, which is that we do not have (nearly enough) math teachers in the US who can do that - because most teacher's [url=https://hechingerreport.org/debunking-one-myth-about-u-s-teachers/]math skills are rudimentary at best[/url] and/or because they are indoctrinated by the math ed folks like Boaler. The only solution we have is to have them cover later, and in general more challenging, topics earlier.  This way, teachers can teach from given curricula and follow materials.  This is far from ideal but it's the best we have at this point.  Those of us whose children have gone through Algebra I/II, Geometry, and even Calculus see how watered down these programs are. My child did worksheet after worksheet in Algebra I, got a 100% as average score on quizzes and tests, but wasn't asked to solve a single interesting math problem the entire year.  We needed to supplement a lot, but it still beat the alternative of having them sit in an "extension based" math class on time-wasting activities that for some count as math.  (Can you say [url=http://www.weaponsofmathdestruction.com/images/WP19-outofglue-800.jpg]glue[/url].)

Why do I say this?  Because the people proposing "extension based activities" that "go deep" and other nonsense have no clue of mathematics. Read [url=https://www.scottaaronson.com/cmf-documents/Jo_Boaler_Emails.pdf]Boaler's emails[/url] (Quote: "we are wondering if “inequalities” are at all relevant in data science"). Or recall the total quackery they displayed in the VMPI Youtube broadcasts.

So as much as it's not ideal, asking teachers to teach traditional material to more capable children in a separate setting at a younger age is the best solution we have under the constraints we're under. Incidentally, this is the best solution for everyone regardless of their talent. The alternative is to kill everyone's love of and skills in math the way [url=https://www.joannejacobs.com/post/algebra-for-none-fails-in-san-francisco]SFUSD[/url] did.
[/quote]

PP here.  The San Francisco example is easy to understand and see why it's problematic.

But rather than push for Algebra to be earlier and earlier, why don't we push for a return to rigor that the US public school system used to have? [/quote]

Exactly.

Rushing kids through the system doesn’t address the issue. [/quote]

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