Reply to Equitable access to advanced math

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Isn't the real problem that most of these advanced courses are only available at the wealthier schools?[/quote]

The Advanced Math classes are available where there are enough students to take them. The schools that have enough students to take the classes tend to be MC and UMC.

Lower SES schools have fewer kids who are in a position to take those classes because the kids tend to arrive at school in K with a different base of knowledge then MC and UMC schools. The Education Gap starts at home when kids are toddlers. Studies show that as education levels and wealth increase, parents are more likely to read to their babies/toddlers. The more kids are read to as babies and toddlers, the more they are exposed to words, letters, sounds, numbers, vocabulary and all sorts of other academically important matter. The kids who are read to more tend to arrive at school ready to move through the ES curriculum pretty easily and quickly.

Poor schools have fewer kids arriving knowing their letters, sounds, numbers, shapes, and colors. The kids are starting behind. It has nothing to do with native intelligence and more to do with preparation at the most basic levels. The Dolly Parton book project is an attempt to bridge this gap by sending out free books once a month to kids who sign up. There are libraries for people to check out books. But both are only viable if the parents can read and see reading to their kids as important. Poor schools have fewer parents who can read and/or read to their kids.

FCPS, heck any county in the US, can do nothing about the education gap that starts at home. So yes, there are more advanced classes at wealthier schools. There are more kids prepared for those classes because the kids started with a stronger base. And then the parents could afford enrichment and tutoring. The parents are more likely to make sure their kids are going to school.

We cannot ask schools to fix a problem that starts at home for all sorts of known sociological issues. Schools do their best. It is why local norms for AAP make sense, it allows more of the top students at Title 1 schools to access AAP and move into a class where the pace will challenging them and hopefully prepare them for advanced classes. Hopefully this means that there will be more kids at Title 1 schools ready for Algebra 1 in 7th grade in the coming years. It is why Young Scholars makes sense, because it identifies kids who will benefit from additional time focused on academics. It is why smaller classrooms at Title 1 schools makes sense.

But in the end, all of those are not going to accomplish much if there is not support from the home.[/quote]

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