Reply to Anyone move their DC to algebra in 6th

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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]What is the point of doing it? If you all think your child will have a better chance at a top 15 then you are mistaken. Its not going to help. My DC took Algebra in 6th, pre calculus in 9th, MV, AP stats, linear algebra all by 12th grade. In addition to other AP science classes. He was waitlisted and then denied at MIT as well as other Ivy League schools. He was accepted to UMich, Georgia Tech etc.. but so were others who didn’t take all these advanced math classes. Most students at our large public who were accepted to Ivy schools were legacies and athletic recruits who did not take any such advanced classes. So chill.. [/quote]

You don't get it. My kid just wanted to not be bored in class. Accelerated math is the ONLY class where she doesn't pull out a book to read.

I couldn't care less about colleges. She'll do well wherever she goes.

You really must understand that different kids have different needs.[/quote]
I get it. I have one of those kids.  260 map-m in third grade.  It’s ok to be a little bored.  What you aren’t thinking about is down the road.  Most HS don’t even have the classes to support taking algebra in 7th.  Highly doubt whatever MCPS is doing with the magnets is improving this. 
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PP you replied to. She's in high school now, and will either go to UMD or CC for an additional math class or take AP Stats at her high school after multivariable calc.

This isn't a little boredom. I cannot ask her to be miserable her entire K-12 years and be depressed. She was depressed before. She's accelerated everywhere as much as her high school has allowed her to be. She's taking two languages to AP level, for example. She has skipped some pre-requisites to do all the core STEM APs.

We thought about homeschooling, because she's way beyond the typical level of a high schooler, but she has friends at this high school. MCPS serves her social needs.

My other kids are not like this, and were satisfactorily challenged by their AP classes and their normal academic tracks. But sometimes, you get a kid like my daughter, and just like for students with special needs, it becomes really worthwhile to fight for a different academic track. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that she does have special needs... of a different sort, that's all.

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Then you should have had her apply to magnet or do dual enrollment.   [/quote]

DP: There aren't enough slots in magnets.  You'd probably have to cosa but we were told no.  MC is impossible due to activities and transportation and online conflicts with other classes and activities.

MCPS should align the HS schedules and offer it virtually if they will not at each school.

A typical path could be:

6th: Algebra
7th: Geometry
8th: Algebra 2
9th: Precalculus
10th: Calc AB or BC
11: Calc BC or MV
12: Linear Algebra or Statistics or something else

Also, with the inequity in MCPS, they will bus some kids to a different school for math, but not others.  I've heard them bus 1-2 kids for other schools but they refused to bus mine.

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With the new “integrated math” that state education office just approved, will geometry be replaced with integrated math, or Algebra 1+geometry be replaced together with 2-yr of this IM course? I’m very confused as MCPS websites have inconsistent quotes from place to place.[/quote]

Integrated Algebra 1 & 2 will cover much of current Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2 content.  Where they put the missing bits (Trigonometry, some Stats, etc.) may depend on the track chosen afterwards.

There will be 4 post-Algebra tracks, and not all would require that then-missing content to have been learned.  The one which would would be the path to/past Calculus that many MCPS students would expect to take, especially those more academically inclined and/or STEM-focused.  Whether they add that material to a PreCalc class or create a buffer course (or both, with an accelerated PreCalc+ option for those not intending to slow down with the buffer, but the buffer plus standard PreCalc available for those that need it), or whether they arrive at a different solution, is not yet determined.[/quote]

Thanks for the constructive explanation. This really helps! So a kid who is allowed to enter Algebra at 6th grade previously will now use 2-yrs to complete Algebra 1 + Geometry + Algebra 2 with this new IM. Then they would go preCalc for 8th grade, Calc for 9th grade, then math electives afterwards? That sounds like an over-acceleration path. Out of SMCS, I don't believe other MCPS HSs offer things beyond MVC and AP Stat. In SMCS, AP Stat is a semester-long course, so kids in SMCS will exhaust all math elective options.[/quote]

There are schools, besides those housing SMCS, which offer Linear Algebra and Differential Equations in addition to MVC.  They are offered based on community pull, which means that well-organized family groups have opportunities not afforded to less well-organized, often poorer, communities.

Terming advanced course opportunities "over"-acceleration would be misleading unless gracefully allowing for them relative to student ability and interest.  Cases more clearly related to push, then, might be deemed over-accelerated.

MCPS clearly does not offer Algebra in 6th across the system as part of standard acceleration options.  Those accessing it so early must do so with eyes open to the course needs further on, planning for dual enrollment as might be necessary.

As Algebra in 7th [i]is[/i] part of the acceleration standard provided system-wide, it should be MCPS's responsibility to ensure equitable access, likewise across the system, to any student pursuing [i]that[/i] path.  In future years, should some flavor of advanced Precalc in 9th follow Integrated Algebra 2 for those able, Calc BC in 10th, MVC in 11th and at least one other year of college-level coursework, AP Stats, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations or other, will be needed at all schools to fulfill that responsibility.[/quote]

Only the W schools and a few others offer MV.  It will not be at all schools, and the BOE has been clear.  THis path makes zero sense.[/quote]
Could not agree more.  Makes no sense.  I think for some parents it's some sort of flex that their kid is on some super advanced math track.    This fails to look at the long game where down the road they run out of classes in MCPS and/or the classes become too challenging. [/quote]

Even regional model is implemented and these advanced math courses are offered at regional STEM programs, [b]how to make sure students taking the advanced track got accepted to these programs?[/b] I'd imagine guaranteed admission would result in favor of push-in and potential corruption...[/quote]

One way would be to give STEM-magnet admission priority to standard (or above) acceleration students whose home school would not offer the advanced courses locally.  But that would create its own inequity.

Better just to make sure enough advanced courses are offered at every school so that no student is asked to slow down/accept discontinuity (e.g., take a filler course after Integrated Algebra, start with Calc AB instead of BC, settle for AP Stats after BC instead of MVC or take on the burden/diminished experience of dual enrollment/virtual classes where in-person is offered to others in the same situation elsewhere in the system).[/quote]

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