Reply to “Equity math” coming to FCPS?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They aren't going to remove it, but make it nearly impossible to take in 7th grade at any middle school without AAP. That's how it will start.

Then they will remove it at the other middle schools because equity.[/quote]

It is already nearly impossible to take Algebra 1 H in 7th grade without AAP or Advanced Math. Those are pretty much the only paths into 7th grade Algebra. I think the last time I looked at the SOL scores from last year it was rough 1,500 kids taking Algebra 1 H in 7th grade with the majority of kids taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade.

I will say that the gap between Gen Ed and Honors is huge. My friends kid wanted to move from Gen Ed into Honors for math and science as a sophomore because the Gen Ed class was not challenging and the kids did not take it seriously. This is a non-Academic kid so the fact that he saw the classes as a waste of time is telling. But the Honors classes seem to be out of his reach, he is really struggling in them. Probably because he is a kid not really interested in school and not willing to put in the extra time needed for honors math and science. So he is stuck in a weird place. A Gen Ed class where he realizes he isn’t learning much of anything and is bored or an honors class that is over his head.

I get why parents are pushing their kids into honors classes and I can see why that is a problem. I have no clue what the solution is because it sounds like the Gen Ed classes are more baseline warehouses for kids then actual places for kids to be learning. [/quote]

Weird because at our low-farms wealthy ES kids are able to get ahead such that taking Algebra 1 in 6th is fairly common.[/quote]

I ran last years SOL scores to figure out how many 6th graders took the Algebra 1 SOL, it showed 31 kids in FCPS. It did not show how many kids at a given school because no school had more than 10 kids in Algebra 1 as a 6th grader. I believe there were 8-9 schools who reported scores.

Your definition of fairly common is different than mine. My kids low FARMs school wouldn’t even consider that type of advancement. DC’s RSM instructor had them evaluated at RSM to move DC from pre-algebra to the algebra class. So no, it is not common for 6th graders to take Algebra in 6th grade and FCPS does not have a uniform policy to apply in this situation. [/quote]

By common any average kid whose parents spend a few hundred on outside prep. [/quote]
In FCPS, kids need a 145+ on the CogAT Q, a 575+ on the 4th grade math SOL, the recommendation of the teacher, and benchmark scores in some other test given after the other 3 conditions are met to qualify for 6th grade AAP math in 5th grade.  Then, the kid still needs to meet the benchmark IAAT and 7th grade math SOL scores when in 5th grade to qualify for Algebra.  It would neither be common nor particularly possible to take an average kid and prep them to that level.  [/quote]

One of my kids had all of that and then some but because we were at less affluent school it wasn't an option for them.[/quote]
It isn't an affluent school vs. non-affluent school thing.  Every principal can decide whether they want to allow kids to skip 5th grade AAP math if they meet the benchmarks.  If your kid meets all of the criteria, but your principal doesn't allow kids to accelerate, then you're out of luck.  At some affluent schools, the principals won't allow acceleration.  At some middle of the road SES schools (like Mosaic), the principal will.  [/quote]

I know it isn't per se but the reality is these opportunities only exist at the UMC schools. [/quote]
Mosaic is not an UMC school, but usually lets 5+ kids per year take this path.  Several of the AAP feeder schools are even Title I.  [/quote]

Yes, there are one or two rare exceptions but 90%+ this is only done at the most wealthy schools.[/quote]

:roll: Your math is off.  If only 31 kids generally get to take Algebra I in 6th grade, and 6 of them attend Mosaic, then it's not 90%+ done at the most wealthy schools.  It is likely that at lower SES schools, so few kids are even approaching the cutoff scores for 6th grade Algebra that there's no reason to consider offering it.  At the higher SES schools, some principals allow it.  Others don't want to deal with the logistical mess, or they don't want to deal with badgering from parents, so they don't offer it.  Every principal is the lord of his/her domain, and they can offer whatever they want.  If your kid has the stats to qualify, and your principal doesn't offer 6th grade Algebra, then lean on that principal to do so.  If a lower SES school doesn't offer acceleration, it's likely that no one has qualified in the past, and there has been minimal interest.  The principal can change their mind if they see that a kid should qualify and wants to do it.  There's no  grand conspiracy against lower SES schools, as you seem to imagine.  [/quote]

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