Reply to MCPS is cuttting compacted math and cohorted literacy enrichment

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So admittedly I am far removed from my own high school experience and my kids are still in ES, but the MS/HS math pathways surprised me a bit- do kids no longer take geometry and trig?

Pre-calc in 9th also seems a bit crazy to me (again this is coming from someone who graduated in the 90s where "accelerated" meant pre-calc in 11th and AP Calc in 12th).  But I don't understand what some of these students are meant to take in 12th if they've already had two years of calculus by then.[/quote]
Acceleration looks like this:

Alg 7th
Geometry 8th
Alg2/Trig 9th
Precalc 10th
Calc 11th
MVC/Diffeq/Stats 12th

That's the route both my kids took (now in college, one about to go). The one in college is a dual math major.  They easily passed all their accelerated math classes including MVC/Diffeq.   MAPS scores always at highest %ile, PARCC  scores always exceeding expectations, 5 on AP cal, 800 on SAT math.  Kid would've been incredibly bored in ES without HGC (former name of CES) and compacted math.  No, we did not ever tutor DC.

There are a lot of highly educated parents around here, so it's no surprise that there are a lot advanced learners here.

MCPS really is racing to the bottom.  We had intentionally  moved here for the magnets and acceleration programs.  So glad to be done with MCPS before they killed every program that made it great.[/quote]

On the link provided in the OP, it looks like starting in 2027-2028, there are three potential math pathways students will take (slide 14) where pre-calc may be taken anywhere from 9th-11 grade.  Am I understanding this correctly?  What is the difference between Math 6, Accel Math 6, and Grade 6 Pre-Alg?

I am partly asking this because we are currently overseas and I've been trying to keep track of where my kids (who currently attend an international school) will land when we return in a couple years.  Which is hard when MCPS keeps making changes![/quote]

Math 6 = 6th grade math, on track to start algebra in 9th
Accel Math 6/AMP 6+ = 6th & half of 7th grade math (with the other half of 7th+8th taken in 7th grade), on track to start algebra in 8th-- for strong kids in grade-level 5th grade math or kids who did compacted 5/6 who could use a slowdown/reinforcement  
Grade 6 Pre-Alg = 7th & 8th grade math (with 6th grade math completed in grade 5 as part of compacted math), on track to start algebra in 7th
[/quote]

Algebra in..

7th - advanced
8th - on track
9th - behind[/quote]

No.

9th - on-level
8th - advanced / gifted&talented, including most of "selective college" prep.
7th - highly advanced, likely STEM-focused, "UMC" stereotype
6th -  math-contest culture, "Asian immigrant scientist parent" stereotype[/quote]

I don't disagree that Algebra I is a high school level course and some of it may be a result of the current curriculum.

But students taking Algebra I in high school are likely struggling students.

Just look at the MCAP Algebra I proficiency rates on mdreportcard for MCPS.  Middle schools top the list.

The highest high school is Churchill, ranked at number 32 out of schools listed with Algebra I test takers, and with a proficiency of 22.2 percent.  Followed by Poolesville at 20.8 percent, Whitman is two spots below that with 16.5 percent.

Students are capable of taking Algebra I in middle school and students will raise to the level they're pushed to.

Look at the charter school in DC that won the math competition recently:
https://wtop.com/dc/2026/03/how-students-in-southeast-outperformed-peers-in-some-of-dcs-wealthiest-neighborhoods-on-citywide-math-test/

And it's what the main character was saying in the film Stand and Deliver, which is based on a true story.

There's nothing wrong with taking Algebra I in high school and I believe that students should be placed appropriately at their level to make sure they fully learn what's being taught.

But it seems like MCPS's solution is to try to lower the bar instead of raising the bottom to reach the bar.[/quote]

At our MS you can't even get into AMP 6+ (which would get you to Algebra in 8th) unless you completed compacted math at your ES.  So my 80th percentile MAP-M kid and her similarly scoring peers will all be taking Algebra 1 in 9th.  [/quote]

Is this common?[/quote]

I wouldn't think so but it may just be in the area or groups I'm in.

I do believe that Algebra I is indeed a high school course and is why the state assessment is a high school graduation requirement.  But that's like bare minimum.

The count of 2025 MCAP Algebra I test takers is below, sorted by test taker count.  Keep in mind that the middle school counts, goes across all grade levels.  (guess it's true for high schools)  And let's assume about 30 kids per class.  For high schools a good number of students might not be taking the class but need to retake the exam for whatever reason.

You do have high schools near the top of the list with around 400 students taking the test.  But there are also high schools at the bottom end with less then 100 students taking the test, so maybe two or three classes?  You have to factor in overall high school size too.

Which one is common is hard to say.  But as you can see in the list, there are elementary school students taking Algebra I.  And using the previous poster's descriptions, for me those students would be the "math-content culture, "Asian immigrant scientist parent" stereotype"  And everything else shifts down at least one grade level too.

School Name--Assessment--Tested Count--Proficient Pct
Gaithersburg High--Algebra 1  --437--6.2
Thomas W. Pyle Middle--Algebra 1  --405--80.5
Montgomery Blair High--Algebra 1  --393--10.4
John F. Kennedy High--Algebra 1  --323--<= 5.0
Julius West Middle--Algebra 1  --309--64.4
Cabin John Middle--Algebra 1  --304--55.3
Seneca Valley High--Algebra 1  --302--<= 5.0
Argyle Middle--Algebra 1  --297--8.4
Tilden Middle--Algebra 1  --281--38.8
Wheaton High--Algebra 1  --279--<= 5.0
North Bethesda Middle--Algebra 1  --276--65.6
Herbert Hoover Middle--Algebra 1  --275--57.8
Takoma Park Middle--Algebra 1  --273--62.3
Robert Frost Middle School--Algebra 1  --262--67.6
White Oak Middle--Algebra 1  --259--5.4
Kingsview Middle--Algebra 1  --254--46.5
Hallie Wells Middle--Algebra 1  --249--55.8
Clarksburg High--Algebra 1  --233--5.6
Quince Orchard High--Algebra 1  --230--<= 5.0
Col. Zadok Magruder High--Algebra 1  --225--<= 5.0
Northwood High--Algebra 1  --215--<= 5.0
Richard Montgomery High--Algebra 1  --212--5.2
Eastern Middle--Algebra 1  --211--46.0
Westland Middle--Algebra 1  --199--57.3
Lakelands Park Middle--Algebra 1  --198--54.0
Albert Einstein High--Algebra 1  --196--5.1
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High--Algebra 1  --193--15.0
Walter Johnson High--Algebra 1  --190--11.6
Parkland Middle--Algebra 1  --190--26.3
Rosa M. Parks Middle--Algebra 1  --179--38.0
William H. Farquhar Middle--Algebra 1  --175--29.7
Springbrook High--Algebra 1  --174--6.9
Rocky Hill Middle--Algebra 1  --159--36.5
Earle B. Wood Middle--Algebra 1  --156--54.5
Northwest High--Algebra 1  --153--7.8
Silver Creek Middle--Algebra 1  --149--47.7
Damascus High--Algebra 1  --148--5.4
Silver Spring International Middle--Algebra 1  --145--37.2
Briggs Chaney Middle--Algebra 1  --143--22.4
Sherwood High--Algebra 1  --141--13.5
Ridgeview Middle--Algebra 1  --140--26.4
Roberto W. Clemente Middle--Algebra 1  --138--34.1
Watkins Mill High--Algebra 1  --137--<= 5.0
John T. Baker Middle School--Algebra 1  --136--34.6
A. Mario Loiederman Middle--Algebra 1  --133--15.0
Sligo Middle--Algebra 1  --119--36.1
Redland Middle--Algebra 1  --114--32.5
John Poole Middle--Algebra 1  --110--52.7
Martin Luther King Jr. Middle--Algebra 1  --109--56.9
Neelsville Middle--Algebra 1  --103--16.5
Walt Whitman High--Algebra 1  --103--16.5
Shady Grove Middle--Algebra 1  --93--16.1
Francis Scott Key Middle--Algebra 1  --89--15.7
Forest Oak Middle--Algebra 1  --88--8.0
Gaithersburg Middle--Algebra 1  --88--28.4
Newport Mill Middle--Algebra 1  --86--50.0
Odessa Shannon Middle--Algebra 1  --85--25.9
James Hubert Blake High--Algebra 1  --74--<= 5.0
Winston Churchill High--Algebra 1  --72--22.2
Thomas S. Wootton High--Algebra 1  --55--5.5
Paint Branch High--Algebra 1  --55--9.1
Poolesville High--Algebra 1  --53--20.8
Benjamin Banneker Middle--Algebra 1  --43--46.5
Montgomery Village Middle--Algebra 1  --42--<= 5.0
Rockville High--Algebra 1  --35--<= 5.0
John L Gildner Regional Inst for Children & Adol--Algebra 1  --13--<= 5.0
Ritchie Park Elementary--Algebra 1  --*--*
Cold Spring Elementary--Algebra 1  --*--*
Alternative Programs--Algebra 1  --*--*
Bells Mill Elementary--Algebra 1  --*--*
[/quote]

How are there high schools with less than 100 kids taking Algebra 1?  Are there middle schools where they put all (or virtually all) of the kids on the advanced track (not the double-advanced track with Algebra 1 in 7th, just the single-advanced track where you do compacted 6-8 math in two years)?[/quote]

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