Well, there's no way to determine which LLIV students were committee-placed unless the school administrators, parent, or student disclose it. Whether it's a base or center school, their internal decisions are unpredictable, and they'll have to figure out how to manage their school accordingly.

Anonymous wrote:Our school is a center with 4 classes.

There is 1 fully level IV class with all the transfer kids and some base kids
There is 1 blended level IV/level III class with base kids only (about 50/50 split per teacher)
2 gen ed classes

I'm confused about this. How can there be a class at a center school containing both level IV and level III kids? I thought at the center school the level IV kids were always separated into their own classroom. Maybe that's not true?

Anonymous wrote:We are at a school with three classes per grade and one is an AAP class. If its true that only 10% of the kids in a school are AAP, then does that mean 2/3 of the kids in the LLIV class are principal placed, and if so how do they justify keeping those same 15-20 kids in that class for four years and not giving other kids a chance?

It's amazing what a few appeals and a private diagnosis can get you these days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please explain the FCPS Math Track to me? When I was a kid, it was:

8th - Algebra
9th - Geometry
10th - Algebra 2
11th - Pre-Calc
12th - Calculus

If kids take Algebra in 7th grade, what are they taking in 12th?

Multivariate Calculus

Why is it so important for children to take that in high school?

It's not "so important", but it's appropriate for some students. When I was in grade school (80s) I took Algebra in 7th along with like 5 or 6 peers. Many of those same peers took Calc AB in 11th and then Calc BC in 12th (along with some strong students who took Trig/Pre-Calc in 11th and skipped AB for 12th). Me and one other took Calc BC in 11th (along with a bunch of seniors) but then had no other peers with whom to form a Multivariate Calc class in 12th, so we had to take it at a local college instead. It was a nightmare and I felt totally lost, really wish there had been a larger cohort so we could have taken the MV class at high school instead. Freshman year my university allowed me to move on to LA/DE which was much easier, though it probably would have been a better idea to re-take MV in retrospect given how much I struggled with it towards the end and my eventual career path.

Students these days also have other options depending what they want to pursue, like Statistics or Data Science, and getting Calc knocked out in 11th allows room in the schedule for that in 12th without needing to sacrifice another elective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please explain the FCPS Math Track to me? When I was a kid, it was:

8th - Algebra
9th - Geometry
10th - Algebra 2
11th - Pre-Calc
12th - Calculus

If kids take Algebra in 7th grade, what are they taking in 12th?

Multivariate Calculus

Why is it so important for children to take that in high school?

It’s not necessarily appropriate or needed, depending on the student’s intended college major. That being said, if you have enough of an interest and aptitude in math that you’re taking AP Calc junior year and looking for a more difficult math class as a senior, chances are you’re going into a hard STEM field in college and the more math you have in HS, the better prepared you’ll be. The quality of HS math teaching is light years ahead of the quality of most college math teaching, and having a foundation in HS is only a positive thing. But for kids in humanities, most business majors, education, arts, even some STEM (Biology majors don’t always require multivariable calc in college for one), you wouldn’t need it if it’s not your strong suit. Actually those kids should probably take a statistics class in HS if at all possible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please explain the FCPS Math Track to me? When I was a kid, it was:

8th - Algebra
9th - Geometry
10th - Algebra 2
11th - Pre-Calc
12th - Calculus

If kids take Algebra in 7th grade, what are they taking in 12th?

Multivariate Calculus

Why is it so important for children to take that in high school?

Some parents will tell you it saves money in college because it is a DE class. For us it is less about the college credit and more about classes that are appropriate for our child. He loves math and is good at it. He asks to do math and is involved in math competitions. Math at school for him has been easy. We want him taking classes that challenge him. That said, we have no interest in summer Geometry for him.

There are families fixated on TJ and see math acceleration as a must. There are families focused on their kids being in everything accelerated and advanced. There are families at Title I schools who see AAP as a way of getting into a better classroom. Lots of reasons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please explain the FCPS Math Track to me? When I was a kid, it was:

8th - Algebra
9th - Geometry
10th - Algebra 2
11th - Pre-Calc
12th - Calculus

If kids take Algebra in 7th grade, what are they taking in 12th?

Multivariate Calculus

Why is it so important for children to take that in high school?

Anonymous wrote:We are at a school with three classes per grade and one is an AAP class. If its true that only 10% of the kids in a school are AAP, then does that mean 2/3 of the kids in the LLIV class are principal placed, and if so how do they justify keeping those same 15-20 kids in that class for four years and not giving other kids a chance?

I didn’t read the thread, but came to say that yes, I absolutely believe that majority are either level III or principal placed. There is no way they had that many level IV kids especially when some left for the center school. I can also tell you that some local levels are behind when it comes to academics compare to center schools AAP.

Our school is a center with 4 classes.

There is 1 fully level IV class with all the transfer kids and some base kids
There is 1 blended level IV/level III class with base kids only (about 50/50 split per teacher)
2 gen ed classes

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please explain the FCPS Math Track to me? When I was a kid, it was:

8th - Algebra
9th - Geometry
10th - Algebra 2
11th - Pre-Calc
12th - Calculus

If kids take Algebra in 7th grade, what are they taking in 12th?

Multivariate Calculus

Can someone please explain the FCPS Math Track to me? When I was a kid, it was:

8th - Algebra
9th - Geometry
10th - Algebra 2
11th - Pre-Calc
12th - Calculus

If kids take Algebra in 7th grade, what are they taking in 12th?

Our LLIV class is basically a social club. It's 75% girls that have all been family friends since Kindergarten, all have moms are active in the PTO, all of them are in the same extracurriculars and sports, their moms are BFFs to the point of vacationing together and having big parties (they had the big Halloween party this year that all the other kids in the neighborhood walked right by), it's truly insane. It's like every horrible story you read here about PTO moms running the school come true. I read about this stuff on DCUM when my kids were younger but thought it was just exaggerated, but no, it's real! PTO = Principal Placed if they didn't get in on their own merits.

They told us they would fill up our LLIV class with level 3 kids so there would be a full class.

Many schools have an Advanced Math class regardless of LIV class or LLIV class, they are not all push in. Our school had an Advanced math class where all the kids in the class were in Advanced Math. If there are enough kids ready for Advanced Math, schools will get them that class.

There is no perfect system, there just isn’t. But plenty of kids are in Advanced Math outside of LIV/LLIV, 15% of 7th graders end up in Algebra 1 H and not all of those are principal placed or committee placed kids. I know at least three kids from my son’s 6th grade class that are in Algebra that were in Advanced Math and not LIV placed. I also know a few kids who choose to take 7th H because they are not fans of math but could have been in Algebra 1 who had not been Principal or Committee place.

Kids futures are not determined by where they land in third grade. Most kids are on a Calculus track because they will take Algebra sometime in MS. There is nothing wrong with that. 15% might take Multivariate Calculus Senior year but kids drop off the advanced path on a regular basis.

The people in the forum place way too much emphasis on LIV and Advanced Math. It washes out by MS, earliest, or HS, latest. Every parent in HS tells you that AAP or not doesn’t matter. Every Teacher tells you that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems crazy to make a decision in 2nd grade as to a child's entire math track for the next 10 years.

Adv Math has nothing to do with second grade. Our school puts new kids in adv math yearly based on Iready.

advanced math is by right for committee placed kids. Non committee placed kids have the earn their way in and if classes get crowded, they can be pushed out for committee placed kids