As in all other aspects of life: sports, art, and music...acceleration can be liberating for the appropriate individual. Therefore to a priori ban, prohibit and block an individual (paying taxes in public school) from this pathway or choice is foolish and assinine.

I'm pretty sure there are just 2 of us on here yelling at each other now, so maybe I'll just tell you my perspective. I am a local, as you say, with a kindergartner. We live in a neighborhood with a lot of Americans born here, a lot of Latino immigrants, and some Ethiopian and Asian immigrants as well. In my own years in high school and college I saw too many friends terribly burned out by being accelerated by their ambitious parents, beyond their own wishes. And I also take a particular interest in the immigrants in my neighborhood, who tend NOT to be the high performers you are talking about, and who are often low-income and learning English. So all these things add up to me coming to the defense of 2.0 right now. I'm sure my attitude could change someday, and I don't know what it's like to be you, whoever you are out there. Maybe we can learn something from each other.

Do you think prohibiting math acceleration for all able, proficient, and willing kids demonstrating mastery in MCPS is the solution to your childhood observations? Sounds straight out of Mao's communist China and the RED book. I would not want may taxes supporting such policies. I do not think you can generalize your anecdotal childhood observations, perceptions and opinions to how to educate individual students in our County. For every "burned out" kid you claim to have witnessed I have also seen many go from boredom in school, to class disturber, school trouble maker, dismissal and explusion for lack of intellectual and academic challenge. Unless you can provide more compelling data and evidence than these anecdotes, that able, capable and willing kids are harmed (or burned out) by advancement in math you have done little to convince me such draconian policy is necessary. School policy should not be founded on anecdotes. School policy should be evidence-based. Some will argue some MCPS kids in past ran into troubles with knowledge gaps but this was also due to another foolish policy mandating a percentage 9up to 40 percent) of a given class needs to be accelerated in math. The problem here is with mandates -- not the benefits of acceleration for appropriate students.

I'm pretty sure there are just 2 of us on here yelling at each other now, so maybe I'll just tell you my perspective. I am a local, as you say, with a kindergartner. We live in a neighborhood with a lot of Americans born here, a lot of Latino immigrants, and some Ethiopian and Asian immigrants as well. In my own years in high school and college I saw too many friends terribly burned out by being accelerated by their ambitious parents, beyond their own wishes. And I also take a particular interest in the immigrants in my neighborhood, who tend NOT to be the high performers you are talking about, and who are often low-income and learning English. So all these things add up to me coming to the defense of 2.0 right now. I'm sure my attitude could change someday, and I don't know what it's like to be you, whoever you are out there. Maybe we can learn something from each other.

No I'm not an MCPS employee, just a parent trying to give the educators the benefit of the doubt.

I agree with you. The new advancement prohibition policy in math tacked on to the new common core standards will likely affect these high performing immigrants rather than the locals. There's no doubt about that and the benefit is the closing of this widening performance gap (as measured by MCPS metrics).

School performance data does indicate children of immigrants are generally outperforming the locals in our schools. These immigrants come from all over the world even though Asians may predominate given US immigration policies and global population.

I am surprised the locals are still debating this observation/fact.

No I'm not an MCPS employee, just a parent trying to give the educators the benefit of the doubt.

The Superintendent knows quite well the issues at hand. I suggest you write your boss.

Anonymous wrote:

We understand. You think the most accomplished students are Asian and the administrators are white and that is why they don't want to let them advance. Some of us just emphatically disagree. And frankly I'm glad I don't live in your part of the county because it doesn't sound very friendly.

Your preconceived notions are doing you in again! I am talking about the children of recent Eastern Europe and African descent. But you can add China, India, Korea and other Asiatic countries. They only add further support to this thesis. We are not asking you to live with us...simply don't take away our options...because you can't keep up. We are paying taxes too.

I guess you should write the superintendent about your very interesting theory that this curriculum overhaul the county has been working on for 5 years is really about prejudice toward Eastern European and African immigrants.

Anonymous wrote:

We understand. You think the most accomplished students are Asian and the administrators are white and that is why they don't want to let them advance. Some of us just emphatically disagree. And frankly I'm glad I don't live in your part of the county because it doesn't sound very friendly.

Your preconceived notions are doing you in again! I am talking about the children of recent Eastern Europe and African descent. But you can add China, India, Korea and other Asiatic countries. They only add further support to this thesis. We are not asking you to live with us...simply don't take away our options...because you can't keep up. We are paying taxes too.

Get over yourself.

We understand. You think the most accomplished students are Asian and the administrators are white and that is why they don't want to let them advance. Some of us just emphatically disagree. And frankly I'm glad I don't live in your part of the county because it doesn't sound very friendly.

Your preconceived notions are doing you in again! I am talking about the children of recent Eastern Europe and African descent. But you can add China, India, Korea and other Asiatic countries. They only add further support to this thesis. We are not asking you to live with us...simply don't take away our options...because you can't keep up. We are paying taxes too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Naivete is bliss. It's not the recent immigrants and their children who are the MCPS leadership and teachers in our schools. At least in the schools my kids attend the leadership and teachers do not reflect the race and ethnicity of the students being led and taught. There is a tremendous lag. The traditional leadership of MCPS and her schools are run still run by the old generation. They teach an increasing multi-cultural and diverse student body many of whom out perform their own children and thus get the "entitled" spoils: prizes, awards, magnet slots, Ivy slots and other prize college admissions ...

+100000


Your post doesn't make a whole lot of sense, really.

Let's try a different approach. In my children's MCPS school (upper west county) the leadership and teachers do not reflect the race and ethnicity of the students they lead and teach. Most of the students (recent immigrant generation) are outperforming most of the student body. If the MCPS leadership and teachers reflected the backgrounds of these high performers (witness the increasing diversity in Montgomery County) it would be a snowy day in hell before that group would prohibit students with subject mastery from advancing. The advocates of this policy, within MCPS, are the "entitled" or "establishment" group with kids losing out (or missing out on customary entitlements) to these high performers (There is a reason TJ magnet, Blair magnet Takoma Park magnet and just about any magnet school in the US are increasingly populated with children not of the traditional educational establishment). This observation worries the establishment and their children. This regressive policy has absolutely nothing to do with the new common core standards and everything to do with trying to close this glaring emerging gap. It is a desperate attempt to try to hold kids back so they don't get to far ahead.

+10000 This is the unspoken truth about MoCo. The whole county can't face the changing face of high performers.

We understand. You think the most accomplished students are Asian and the administrators are white and that is why they don't want to let them advance. Some of us just emphatically disagree. And frankly I'm glad I don't live in your part of the county because it doesn't sound very friendly.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Naivete is bliss. It's not the recent immigrants and their children who are the MCPS leadership and teachers in our schools. At least in the schools my kids attend the leadership and teachers do not reflect the race and ethnicity of the students being led and taught. There is a tremendous lag. The traditional leadership of MCPS and her schools are run still run by the old generation. They teach an increasing multi-cultural and diverse student body many of whom out perform their own children and thus get the "entitled" spoils: prizes, awards, magnet slots, Ivy slots and other prize college admissions ...

+100000


Your post doesn't make a whole lot of sense, really.

Let's try a different approach. In my children's MCPS school (upper west county) the leadership and teachers do not reflect the race and ethnicity of the students they lead and teach. Most of the students (recent immigrant generation) are outperforming most of the student body. If the MCPS leadership and teachers reflected the backgrounds of these high performers (witness the increasing diversity in Montgomery County) it would be a snowy day in hell before that group would prohibit students with subject mastery from advancing. The advocates of this policy, within MCPS, are the "entitled" or "establishment" group with kids losing out (or missing out on customary entitlements) to these high performers (There is a reason TJ magnet, Blair magnet Takoma Park magnet and just about any magnet school in the US are increasingly populated with children not of the traditional educational establishment). This observation worries the establishment and their children. This regressive policy has absolutely nothing to do with the new common core standards and everything to do with trying to close this glaring emerging gap. It is a desperate attempt to try to hold kids back so they don't get to far ahead.

Anonymous wrote:I am the pp and I'm only going to say one more thing because the anger on here is making me lose my faith in people. I think people should consider that Montgomery County schools is educating 70,000 elementary school students this year. They need to come up with a curriculum that serves all of them as well as they can. It seems like they may be choosing to make changes that benefit the vast majority of students, not focusing on that small percentage of parents on here whose kids are 2 years ahead in math.

Serves all of them!!!!! Not pick and choose which ones you want to serve. Needs to serve ALL OF THEM (even those who are ahead in math, language arts, science, etc)!!!!!

I don't have an opinion on 2.0, but I agree with you. As parents, if we have that kid who can't thrive in the public sector, whose job it is to serve the masses, maybe we need to find alternatives for our kids. Parents of SN kids who fall on the other end of the curve face this all the time.

What is SN? SN kids?

Is this learning disabled?

Does MCPS make accommodation for the learning disabled?

If so, why take away accommodation for the advanced math student? Let them move ahead.