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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]H Algebra II (9); Pre-Calc (10)/AP Stats (10); AP Calc BC (11); IB HL Math (12)

wtf  this is what is wrong

signed STEM guy wiht high income who only took AP calc A in 12th grade

man I would kill myself if I had to do that in high school

when do kids have fun anymore[/quote]

+1
It's totally fascinating to me that all the rocket scientists I work with managed to - at most - have one AP calc class in high school and yet are still brilliant mathematical/scientific minds.  
And they didn't spend their whole high school career complaining that they were soooooooooooooo bored and miserable and just not challenged.
Why are today's kids utterly miserable unless they're 3 or 4 or 5 years ahead in math.  Are they really that much more brilliant in just a generation?  I highly doubt that.[/quote]

Answer is it's a shell game, everything has been re-written and renamed, an Algebra I class used to cover more material than the current MCPS variant.  E.g. this bullet point from 2.0 Algebra II:
[quote][b]Unit 1 Topic 3: Exponential & Logarithmic Expressions, Equations, & Functions[/b]
In this topic, students extend what they have learned about inverse relationships to exponential and logarithmic
functions (base 2, 10, and e). Students will solve exponential and logarithmic equations graphically, numerically, and
symbolically. This includes solving exponential equations by applying the definition of a logarithm. [i][b]Note: Students
are not expected to utilize the properties of logarithms to evaluate expressions or solve equations in this course.[/b][/i]
Students will extend what they know about key features of graphs and transformations of graphs to exponential and
logarithmic functions. Applications of these functions will be explored throughout this topic.[/quote]
Time was evaluating expressions involving logarithm was a topic for Algebra I.  Now, students two years later in Alg. II are supposed to recognize the graph of a logarithmic function but are explicitly warned against using it algebraically.  Which is exactly why there is a mania for magnets and acceleration.  Until a student out paces the MCPS mandated curriculum they aren't learning much math.

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