Reply to 4th grade MAP M

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "4th grade MAP M"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't understand why everyone wants harder math younger.  Seriously (not being snarky), why?

- All ES kids whose academic trajectories are stable are bored in school sometimes.  Some of them are bored most of the time.

- Putting younger kids directly into older kids' classes is a recipe for serious bullying. I have experienced this firsthand.  No kid 'needs' more math badly enough to suffer for it.

- You probably can't get more than 1-2 years of post-BC calc math in no matter how you choreograph it anyway.  So there's not going to be some massive college advantage because there are lots of kids in the same situation anyway.

- The number of kids who are genuinely curious and creative about mathematics is not the same as the number who can score reasonably high on tests.

- Acceleration and mastery are two different things.  Going too fast at the lower levels when things seem easier can cause a lot of problems later.  Test scores can't insulate against that.

- Wanting the best for your kid can easily make us parents assume that we have to negotiate and fight for things.  Sometimes an equally productive course of action is to do what is in front of you thoroughly and well.[/quote]

- We should have school experiences that don't bore them/turn them off from education, for obvious reasons (and Math, in particular, given both the relative societal need and the high correlation with improved career/life outcomes).

- Though equally an anecdote, my DC's experience being mixed with older children did not reault in bullying.  I make no judgement about increased likelihood of such, but while I agree that classrooms should be safe spaces, I know that bullying can occur in same-age situations, and experienced far more of that, myself.

- Though I think that the focus should be on meeting students where they are & providing challenge, [b]I would argue that there is a relative [i]disadvantage[/i] in college admissions if acceleration is not afforded to a student at one school where a similar student would be afforded it at another.  [/b]If all other application elements grade out as equal, the admissions office is more likely to offer a spot to the student having accessed a higher level of Math.  Enough offerings above and complementary to AP Calculus BC should be made available in a standardized manner across the county to fill the 2 then-open years that current 4th-grade students on the standard high acceleration path (finishing PreAlgebra in 6th) would see with the new 2-year Integrated Math & following pathways they will hit afterwards; moreover, MCPS stakeholdersshould push MSDE to exempt those having completed Calculus from the one-Math-class-in-each-year-of-HS graduation requirement.

- I would agree with the point differentiating ability/interest from achievement represented by exposure-based test scores.  MCPS should reconstruct/refine identification paradigms better to meet the needs associated with the former, but also should not dismiss out of hand the need associated with the latter, provided interest holds, especially in elementary.

- Employment of adequate rigor and enrichment may better ensure mastery.  Conversations with families should include consideration for slowing down if a teacher notes difficulty achieving mastery with acceleration.  These do not mean that acceleration, as offered, should stop.

- The admonition to encourage a student to do a good job with that which is offered to them does not preclude offering acceleration, especially when such offerings are long-established in the system.  If the system makes public detailed/complete identification/selection criteria, employs reasonable associated heuristics and provides justification for these, along with ensuring access/capacity across the system for all who might be identified, families would not feel nearly as much need to negotiate/fight.

I think MCPS has been doing a better job with all of that in the past few years, but that there still is a ways to go, especially regarding truly open communications, adequate capacities and fidelity across the system in associated practice.[/quote]

This part is not true. Colleges look at what classes are offered at a given school.  You might actually hurt your child's college chances by putting them on a math path they cannot handle in HS.

I agree with original person that does not understand why everyone wants harder math younger.   I pulled my kid back in MS even though they are quite good at math.  Their classmate are currently struggling with Calc AB in 11th grade and mine will roll into Calc BC in 12th with a good foundation.  Won't be able to find it AP stats but will actually end up with a higher math class.  There should be no rush to get to Calculus so early.If a kid is that good at math then speed them up in HS either at a magnet or by talking MC classes.  
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics