Reply to 2023-24 Course catalog

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Precalc Trig Honors was a hard class. I wonder if this will be easier or not.[/quote]
AP Precalculus is no where near as rigorous as Precalculus Trig Honors. AP Precalculus was designed for kids who take Algebra 1 in 9th grade who won't get to calculus in high school; this gives them a credit that they could use at two-year colleges and some four-year colleges to meet their math requirements. It is not designed as a rigorous preparation for calculus.

The AP Precalculus exam does not cover parametric equations, conic sections, vectors, or matrices. FCPS lists these topics as included in their AP Precalculus course, but likely they will be crammed into the short period between the AP exam and end of year which makes you wonder how thoroughly they will be covered. Particularly since the target audience for AP Precalculus (kids who may never take another math class again) don't need these concepts.

Precalc Trig Honors is designed to prepare kids for AP Calculus BC. It also covers limits and introduction to derivatives, topics which are crucial to cover in Precalculus if you want to prepare well for BC. AP Precalculus is not good preparation for BC.[/quote]Why in the world has FCPS removed the Pre Calc/Trig Honors class then? According to this thread some schools it’s removed and some are reporting it is now back on the list. Our school only lists it as an online course for next year. The in person options are: AP Pre Calc( first time offered is 23-24). Pre Calc Trig DE and Regular Pre Calc Trig. Most of the staff( math) seemed to be unaware of the change and now kids are scrambling to figure out which to choose. Staff seem to have limited answers(since they also were unaware). [/quote]
It is a way of making upper math level courses more heterogenous, which was the goal of VMPI and reform math generally. FCPS gave a higher GPA bump-up to AP Precalculus than the more rigorous Precalculus Trig Honors; this will likely encourage some stronger math students to take AP Precalculus, boosting heterogeneity albeit at the expense of rigor. Reform math favors kids taking Algebra 1 in 9th grade and this is just another small step toward decreasing the attractiveness/preparation for the calculus path. [/quote]

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