Reply to Algebra 1 - In 6th Grade

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]FCPS’s article about the new program is insane. They’ve got all these sixth graders talking about how good this is going to look on their college applications, and the grade in the course is going on their high school transcripts that will be used in those applications. When I was in sixth grade I was only vaguely aware on college, and I certainly wasn’t ready to have my middle school grades considered as part of my college applications (and for the record I had a 4.0 in high school and went to Stanford—I would not have had a 4.0 if my sixth grade math grade were included in my high school GPA).

https://www.fcps.edu/news/sixth-graders-tackle-algebra-two-years-ahead-schedule-expanding-access-math-rigor[/quote]

Knowledge of college and wanting to attend a good college is not really surprising in an area with a larger percentage of the population holding graduate degrees. Most kids know people with PhDs at many of the schools in FCPS. Parents are activly rooting for their College Sports teams. There are college flags waving all over the place. Alumni events are not exactly uncommon. Neighborhoods have kids going to college. ES start talking about college early on, especially at Title 1 and near Title 1 schools as a way of encouraging kids to stay focused on school. Young Scholars and other programs are geared to help kids see school as important and to think about attending college.

This is most likely a response to the increasing number of kids taking Geometry in the summer between 7th and 8th grade because they kid, or their parent, is desperate to get their kid into Algebra 2 in 8th grade.

I would agree that most kids are not ready for A1H in 6th grade. I don't have an issue with the pilot program, a few FCPS schools offered the opportunity, but the vast majority did not. For those of us with kids who love math and are strong at math, it was frustrating. DS has been active in math competitions, his choice, since he was in 4th grade. He scored in the 99th percentile on the AMC 8 as a 6th grader. He would have been fine in A1H if he had the opportunity.

The pilot is rushed, and I don't think that they did a great job in establishing criteria for participating. Nor do I think that they are doing a good job in offering it. Virtual classes for something like A1H for 6th graders is not a good choice. Offer it at Centers and require that kids participating have to move to the Center, so they have the kids for at least one class full of kids and a certified teacher. I suspect that they have selected far too many students and am disappointed to hear that they are adding kids to the class based on parent demand. This is a class that should have a strict selection process that is not flexible.

I hope that they have some type of evaluation towards the end of the quarter and move students who are not understanding the material back to the regular AAP math class. I wish they could have a policy that if a child earns below a B that the grade is expunged and they have to retake the class.

As for classes for kids that far ahead, there are classes. Most every school offers multivariate calculus and linear algebra. Plenty of schools offer DE math classes beyond that. And if you think that there are a lot of kids in A1H in the Title 1 schools feeding into the lower SES HS you are crazy. This is mainly going to be at MC and UMC ES where the HS are used to having kids accelerated in math, it is not going to be hard to accommodate a larger group of accelerated kids.

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