Reply to Algebra 1 6th Grade 26-27

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What I keep hearing is that the powers that be “don’t want to gatekeep rigor” and “parents should be able to decide.”

I have a few theories. The FCPS math office people HATE 6th grade algebra 1 (they aren’t fans of advanced math in elementary in general and already managed to essentially get rid of it for 3rd-4th grade). The terrible rollout and worse eligibility change for next year are so bad I wonder if there’s an element of malicious compliance/self-sabotage.
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[b]No this is all Reid’s idea. Every principal thinks this is bonkers. It is like she does whatever she wants and the SB is clueless. [/b][/quote]

This right here. There is no academic research that shows what she is doing is helpful for students. And while hyper-acceleration might be good for some, there are many, many students who are being harmed by this and their parents are clueless. The medical profession has a saying - “Do no harm”, but apparently school superintendents (Reid) goes unchecked with many of her decisions. [/quote]
How are they being harmed? Even if they get a C, they can just repeat it in 7th without any trouble.[/quote]

1) The poor grade comes from missing foundational instruction that the child is unable to compensate for. Repeating the course may allow the student to cobble together a better grade by memorizing procedures, etc, but the deeper understanding and true mastery is still not there. This means the student has a weak foundation for the rest of their math courses.

2) It’s harmful to their confidence and self-image. This is an 11-year-old child. Why intentionally set them up for failure, or for a slog where they have to give up down time and other activities for tutoring just to have ti retake it anyway?

3) Teachers are trained to support every student as much as they can, but their time, bandwidth, and attention are limited. Putting obviously unprepared students in the class diverts the teacher’s attention from the prepared students (who are also skipping 2 years of instruction), bringing down the entire class. [/quote]
1) the foundational prealgebra topics' mastery should be measured by the SOL so kids missing it shouldn't be eligible for 6th grade algebra in the first place. Also, kids in 6th grade algebra class will likely be missing similar material (that which would have been covered in 6th grade prealgebra), which makes it easy for the teacher to cover/scaffold v.s. most classes where each kid has different gaps.

They are allowing anyone who passes the 6th grade math SOL in advanced 5th grade math to take Algebra 1. Passing requires getting about 65% of the questions correct. If they were still requiring a Pass Advanced and had a cutoff MAP score, it would be different. [/quote]

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