Reply to Why the push for accelerated math?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is the stupidest debate I've seen on DCUM in years. Who cares what "accelerated" means? Why does it matter?[/quote]

Agreed. I do think part of the problem is that there are people on the board who insist that FCPS is not accelerating kids and that FCPS is not providing enough math options. It doesn't seem to matter to those folks what is happening in the rest of the country or even other parts of the State of Virginia, they insist that FCPS is falling behind.

While I have no problem with kids being accelerated or even hyper accelerated, if they can legitimately handle the math without it being overly stressful for the student in question, it is disingenuous to argue that FCPS is not accelerating kids. I do think that there would be fewer kids who are taking Algebra 2 in 8th grade if there was less enrichment outside of school. I know of plenty of kids in Algebra 1 H in 7th grade who have never taken any type of enrichment and they are doing fine. Enrichment is not the only path to advanced math in FCPS. I do think that enrichment can lead to hyper acceleration.

There is pressure from some families that leads to kids taking geometry in the summer or algebra 2 in the summer to get further ahead. I do think most of that type of acceleration is parent driven. I have a kid who asks to do math competitions and math competition classes and the idea of taking geometry in the summer was in no way interesting, he wants to hang out with friends and attend camp and go on vacation. There is pressure on some kids to take the class to boost chances to get into TJ and that leads to peer pressure at some schools because kids hear about classmates taking the class and they feel like they need to take geometry in the summer. I would be surprised to hear of kids taking geometry in the summer if there wasn't a TJ in the area. Maybe some summer math programs through RSM or AOPS or Hopkins but not a full summer class.

The acceleration vs not accelerated debate almost seems to be a debate between those who see how far ahead 10% of the kids are in math vs those who want to normalize taking math classes in the summer.

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