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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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Won't lack of funding cut non essential courses?[/quote]

No, they cut essential ones instead and send kids to Mc.  [/quote]

No they don't.  These are elective courses.  [/quote]

Schools can only offer so many classes.  So, they are trading one class for another.  We are told we have to go to MC and we have to provide transportation come junior year.  Not happening.[/quote]

Schools cannot trade out core courses for elective courses.  And they can’t force a student to go to MC.  AP classes are not core courses.  Various electives are not core courses.  Core classes are those like English 10,11,12, Alg 2,etc.  So while they are trading elective classes it’s likely the ones for which there are the most interest.

Also for DE courses at NC, they provide transportation to the MC campuses.[/quote]

So, what do students do when their school does not offer math classes appropriate for them junior and senior year as they stop after calculus?   They don’t provide transportation for one class.  [/quote]

You take an available math course or equivalent in your school.  Be it Statistics or a Computer Science course.  You plan to split Calculus into two years with Calc AB and Calc BC thus ensure the student has a great foundation in the material and will be able to pass College placement exams.  You work with a counselor to see if a higher course is offered at a nearby HS that the student can get public transportation to and get a free period in between to be able to make the trip.  You work with the counselor to determine how many students have the same need to understand why a higher course is not being selected to be offered at your school.[/quote]

Computer science is separate and does not count for math classes.  There is no easy public transportation and transportation should be mcps problem.  They scream equity but there is not any.  No, my kid should not have to slow down math and make them less competitive.  Mcps should offer it at all schools.  Or, provide it virtually.  [/quote]

Why would the be less competitive?  If the class isn’t offered in their school it won’t count against them.  Also you are arguing about one subject and most of the approved courses are electives that would have no impact on the math department.[/quote]

You don't see the inequity in that our school doesn't have two years of math for some kids and others do?  And, MCPS has no plan to address it but let the parents figure it out.  If other students on the same track have two more yeas of advanced math and a child stops the math come junior year, you don't see how the child stopping math would be less competative.[/quote]

The schools do have two years of math they just don’t have two years of math above a certain level.  Also schools are opting in to what courses they want to offer so take it up with your school about why they don’t offer the class you are seeking. Lastly, if your school doesn’t offer the class, colleges will understand why you haven’t taken it as you are being judged against the students at your HS.  [/quote]

No, colleges will not understand and you NEED four years of math to graduate.[/quote]

Of course colleges understand.  A) most colleges are not expecting most kids to take Math beyond Calculus, B) Not all school or districts offer courses beyond calculus. C) While you need four years of math no where does it say the math must be beyond Calculus [/quote]

[b]College admissions offices absolutely compare students from within a school system (and even from within a state) despite differential offerings across individual schools.  [i]Some[/i] will make allowance for higher level courses being available or not, but the extent of that allowance varies, and a straight-A student with higher level courses almost always will be selected over a straight-A student without (all other factors being equal), even when those courses were only available to the former.[/b]

That's just one inequity. The other, and potentially more important even as most focus on the first, is the difference in learning opportunity, itself. A public school system should not be providing broadly differential opportunities/experiences to students from different zip codes/census tracts.

Adding good electives is great. Pilot programs are important to making that possible. However, funding for them comes from the same bucket, ultimately, as "core" options, even if notionally separated for managerial purposes.

Some may consider "core" only graduation-required courses. Many would consider most language (reading/writing), math, science and social studies as "core," whether graduation-required or not. Some would include foreign language in that definition, and the availability of advanced FL courses also varies. Some would suggest that elements of physical education, the arts, technology/engineering (separate from the basic sciences) and other subjects (personal finance had been a hot topic) should be part of a well-rounded education.

Which of these gets addressed, and made available on a reasonably equivalent basis, beyond those strictly required for graduation is a reasonable subject for discussion related to new courses being added to the mix.[/quote]

Can you share what you are basing that assertion on?  I've gone through the process with two MCPS DC already, and every admissions presentation we've been to makes clear that the judgment as to the rigor of your course load is based on the courses available to you.  None have suggested that is determined school system wide, which frankly makes zero sense because the courses at Blair, for example, are not available elsewhere, nor are the IB courses at RM.  And each school is required to send with each application a school profile, listing the courses offered at that school, precisely so that AOs know what the options were for the applying student.  That's a school-by-school thing, not a system wide thing.

And FWIW, not every ambitious student is aiming for the top math class.  There are plenty of student who wish that an AP science or an IB History class offered elsewhere were offered at their school.  But it goes without saying that not every advanced class can be offered at every school.

In any event, if your child really wants a level higher than what your HS offers, please look at taking an online course at MC.  There are students at our home school who want a level of MV not offered there and that is what they do.[/quote]

Basing it on having worked in higher ed and having exposure to admissions practices across multiple schools.  Many seek diversity of geography, and this leads to some allocating across regions, states or larger school systems when applications are high enough.  S[b]ince they were brought up, look at the college acceptances of Blair SMCS and RMIB (and other schools where more advanced courses tend to be offered); compare that to acceptances within MCPS where such courses are not.  There are a significant number from the latter that can claim near-max GPAs among the highest courses available to them, yet the acceptances from top 25s do not follow proportionally.
[/b]
Some colleges/universities do a better, even reasonable, job of leveling the playing field when considering applicants.  Not all.  Those presenting have little incentive to claim otherwise, however.

Not sure from where the tenor of the math vs. science/history comment came.  The post (the part that had been cut, but restored in this reply) clearly mentioned all of those as being considered core.  It is correct that some advanced courses are available in some places and others available in others.  Some schools get many or even most, even if they do not get all, while some schools get very few.

It also is correct that, without putting restrictions in place to ensure uniformity by going least common denominator, which would be a pretty terrible path, not all can be offered everywhere.  However, the decided aim of a public school system should be to provide [i]each student in the system[/i] with a reasonably equivalent available experience when considering the suite of offerings, and MCPS is a far way from that.  Getting MC online or MCPS virtual to provide a similar experience and convenience to students at schools which might not have a local cohort to support an offering would be a start towards rectifying the matter.

That would mean differential funding allocations, of course, bringing us back to the issue posed related to the relative value of new electives -- again, not saying that those are bad, but that a conversation questioning their value relative to other needs is reasonable within this thread.[/quote]

You are assuming that application rate to T25's is the same across all schools.  There are a lot of things that impact where students choose to go to college: Major, Finances, distance, etc.  Regardless you seem really concerned about this, so I'm sure you'll figure out how ensure you child takes a competitive math class if that is what they want.[/quote]

I'm not worried about a T25, we aren't even looking at those.  We are looking at places like UMD and the majors require advanced math.  No, I cannot figure it out to get it during the school day and evenings aren't possible.  Its shameful that there is no equity in MCPS.[/quote]

No major requires higher than Calculus for undergraduate admission.  You need to breathe deeper.[/quote]

Require, no but they require 4 years of the most rigorous math and you are competing against other students so any math or computer science majors it’s important.  It’s an issue when mcps has kids start algebra in 6th so they have no math classes junior and senior years.  [/quote]

Once again, you are competing against other students *at your home high school.* If you max out rigor at your own high school, that's the goal. Also, most kids are not taking Algebra in 6th and those that are usually have a pushy parent in the background. That pushy parent needs to understand the downstream impact of their decision. [/quote]

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