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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Pushing kids to advance in math earlier and earlier is a race to nowhere. 6th grade algebra should be a very rare exception. [/quote]
Everyone is thinking about their own kid.  What about equity?  Parents of fast learners should be a little patient and allow the class to sail together.  If fast learners all move into Algebra 1 class in 6th grade, then that would leave the regular 6th grade math kids relatively behind.   There is a lot of equity research that says fast learners are able to learn fast because of their affluent parents.[/quote]

It's not just about learning the material, it's learning how to learn. By telling a set of students "nobody can learn new things until the very last person catches up" you're going to have some kids just sitting there all year learning nothing. If you put a kid in a multi-year educational time-out, what happens when it then becomes time for the kid to apply themselves? They've missed out on years of learning how to struggle through a problem and persevere. This happens to a lot of high-achieving children - when they finally find something they struggle with they flounder mightily, because they were never building up those skills.

Additionally, your post makes it sound like acceleration is a *reward*, which we shouldn't give to kids of affluent parents because it's not something they earned. You ignore the fact that it's what those kids *need*.

It's really sad, because there are structural barriers that an equity movement based on ensuring equal opportunity for all should really focus on (Like removing the fee to take the TJ test - that was a great move!) But the tactic of [b]"all the kids need to slow down and wait for others to catch up"[/b] is a terrible way to address the issues. We should be focused on adding additional support to help kids who are behind catch up, not stopping high performers from reaching for their potential just because it widens the gap.[/quote]
this is how equity is being implemented. but is it the only way? are there other cost effective ways to reach the equity goal? In all of this equity of advanced learning for URM kids is being ignored. [/quote]

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