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[quote=Anonymous]I took notes from tonight's meeting for those who couldn't attend. TLDR: as others have said, they definitely have walked back the no acceleration thing. They also slipped in there once that *post calc* would be an option. Also, this time they weren't allowing live commenting on the stream.

Notes:
Background on VMPI
-They stressed that it will still allow for student acceleration and advanced classes, and that local districts can make decisions how to offer this.
-They again stated that Calculus will be an option.
-The content of the 'algebra sandwich' is not being eliminated but it *is* being reorganized

Foundational Concepts in K-7
-They want to use non-routine problem solving to make everyone 'knowers and doers of math
-They actually provided an example of a problem that I thought was pretty good and how they envisioned extensions working. (Problem was, given the dimensions of a closet, what tile would you pick to cover the floor and why? And then I gathered students had to research real tiles and explain what they picked and why, calculate the cost, take into consideration tile shape, covering an area efficiently, etc.)

Essential Concepts in 8-10
-Take the content from current Grade 8 (prealgebra), Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and some select concepts from statistics; and turn it into 3 courses worth of content (Essential concepts 8, 9, and 10)
-They mentioned 4 focus areas: Investigating with Data, Modeling with Functions, Reasoning with Geometric Figures, Making Sense of Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities. Classes will make connections between these topics
-They said they are considering what is needed for ACT/SAT/IB classes
-Example problem they provided was, a student might ask a question, take a survey, graph the data, and fit a line to the data. They claim right now you can't do all that till Algebra 2. (I'm dubious on that, but that's what they said.)
-Another example problem: student might get a couple data points from a cell phone battery meter, and be asked 'what do you notice' - this would extend into an activity where they might graph how fast the phone battery is charging/depleting

Mathematics Pathways Options
-They actually showed what some accelerated paths would look like (district might teach the concepts from Math 6, 7, and 8 all in 6 and 7, for example
-Next session will cover the pathways classes more

Q&A time:
-[b]A question about timeline - how is my kid affected?[/b] (This has been answered previously, I'm not going to transcribe their answer)
-[b]What research supports VMPI? [/b]
The NCTM 2018 "Catalyzing Change in School Mathematics"
-[b]Who is on the implementation team? [/b]
VDOE, Reps from state community college system, Reps from State Council on Higher Ed. They have consulted with teachers, higher ed faculty, special ed and gifted  program groups, military liaison, businesses, and governor's school directors
-[b]How will we support students who need intervention/remediation?[/b]
Districts get to decide. DOE provides professional learning to teachers to help them learn how to help their students who don't get it the first time or forget it after last year.
-[b]How will the changes support the "math lovers"[/b]
Students will have the ability to explore calc *and above*. Students can also take extra electives, and of course, pathways helps students who need math but not calc.
-[b]Will this prepare students for calc?[/b]
Yes. They said students will understand the baseline better and thus do better in calc.
-[b]Can parents provide feedback?[/b]
Yes. They pointed us at the same feedback form, but at the end of the night they mentioned additional stakeholder meetings.
-[b]Is there going to be a pilot?[/b]
They said yes, but they only talked about piloting the 11th-12th classes (which they said would be in 2022-23. They didn't mention any methods by which to evaluate success. In what was the (unintentionally) funniest moments of the evening, they noted they were super excited to have an actual data scientist helping them develop the data science class, and a real actuary helping them develop the financial modeling class.

-Next meeting will be May 25th on the 11th/12th pathways classes. 
-There will be upcoming stakeholder meetings on VMPI's website

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