"Virginia moving to eliminate all accelerated math courses before 11th grade as part of equity-focused plan"

[magik]

Rather than read someone else’s description of the proposed changes, just go right to the source: https://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/mathematics/vmpi/index.shtml

Whether the execution of these proposed changes will work as intended or not who knows but, the intention is not to “dumb down” the math curriculum or hold gifted students back to the same level as the least mathematically gifted student in their grade level, but rather deepen foundational knowledge and understanding for all students, yes, even the advanced ones.

From talking to math teachers I know about this, there are a lot of students in advanced math classes in middle school/high school who do fine, even get As, because they’ve learned things by rote, memorized formulas, and can plug numbers into a formula/calculator, but NOT because they truly understand the math (or *why* the math works). Like they can do the steps to solve for x in an equation, but they don’t understand what that means or how they can use algebra to solve a real world problem. They can find a derivative, but they don’t understand what that really means. The intent of these proposed changes is partially to address that issue, partially to build in connections to real world applications of math so students actually see the value in it, and partially to give all students a better chance at taking higher level math in 11th or 12th grade, but also recognizing calculus is not the end-all be-all of higher level math. There are other higher level math classes that may be more valuable to a student based on their career interests, that don’t require calculus as a prerequisite, classes that don’t currently exist in many high schools.

Unless VDOE is completely lying, they specifically state this proposed curriculum change does not get rid of all opportunities for students to take advanced math before 11th grade, so I think all the various articles floating around are spun off from someone’s knee-jerk response to a summary of the proposed changes. See below quotes from the VDOE site I linked above:

• “The implementation of VMPI would still allow for student acceleration in mathematics content according to ability and achievement. It does not dictate how and when students take specific courses. Those decisions remain with students and school divisions based on individualized learning needs.”
• “The traditional high school pathway culminating in the study of Calculus or other advanced courses is not being eliminated. Additional course pathways will include engaging semester courses in statistics, data science, modeling, design, and logic, among others.”
• “Local school divisions will still have plenty of flexibility to create courses aligned to the standards to meet the needs of all students; and provide opportunities for all students to advance through the curriculum based on their learning needs. School divisions will also be able to offer advanced sections and acceleration through the courses.”
• “VMPI will increase rigor by integrating mathematical content and concepts, emphasizing reasoning and problem solving, and providing a highly-relevant experience for all students. It will also include a new focus on statistical literacy, essential for success in a data-rich world.”

 

[Southernmiss]

Rather than read someone else’s description of the proposed changes, just go right to the source: https://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/mathematics/vmpi/index.shtml

Whether the execution of these proposed changes will work as intended or not who knows but, the intention is not to “dumb down” the math curriculum or hold gifted students back to the same level as the least mathematically gifted student in their grade level, but rather deepen foundational knowledge and understanding for all students, yes, even the advanced ones.

From talking to math teachers I know about this, there are a lot of students in advanced math classes in middle school/high school who do fine, even get As, because they’ve learned things by rote, memorized formulas, and can plug numbers into a formula/calculator, but NOT because they truly understand the math (or *why* the math works). Like they can do the steps to solve for x in an equation, but they don’t understand what that means or how they can use algebra to solve a real world problem. They can find a derivative, but they don’t understand what that really means. The intent of these proposed changes is partially to address that issue, partially to build in connections to real world applications of math so students actually see the value in it, and partially to give all students a better chance at taking higher level math in 11th or 12th grade, but also recognizing calculus is not the end-all be-all of higher level math. There are other higher level math classes that may be more valuable to a student based on their career interests, that don’t require calculus as a prerequisite, classes that don’t currently exist in many high schools.

Unless VDOE is completely lying, they specifically state this proposed curriculum change does not get rid of all opportunities for students to take advanced math before 11th grade, so I think all the various articles floating around are spun off from someone’s knee-jerk response to a summary of the proposed changes. See below quotes from the VDOE site I linked above:

• “The implementation of VMPI would still allow for student acceleration in mathematics content according to ability and achievement. It does not dictate how and when students take specific courses. Those decisions remain with students and school divisions based on individualized learning needs.”
• “The traditional high school pathway culminating in the study of Calculus or other advanced courses is not being eliminated. Additional course pathways will include engaging semester courses in statistics, data science, modeling, design, and logic, among others.”
• “Local school divisions will still have plenty of flexibility to create courses aligned to the standards to meet the needs of all students; and provide opportunities for all students to advance through the curriculum based on their learning needs. School divisions will also be able to offer advanced sections and acceleration through the courses.”
• “VMPI will increase rigor by integrating mathematical content and concepts, emphasizing reasoning and problem solving, and providing a highly-relevant experience for all students. It will also include a new focus on statistical literacy, essential for success in a data-rich world.”

So many people past the first page of this thread have tried to get this message out, but it's not getting through.

People are reacting only to the attention grabbing headline of the one article.

Thank you for your post!

 

[Nabas]

Those two haven't covered this news. I did a search for "virginia math" sorted by date, and there's zero. I think the Washington Times covered it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=virginia math&btn-search=&sort=Date&datefilter=All Since 2005
https://www.nytimes.com/search?dropmab=false&endDate=20210426&query=virginia math&sort=best&startDate=20210326

The Washington Post has a story on it.

Try Google searching "virginia" and "math". These are just some of the stories.

https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/04/v...pportunities-through-high-school-mathematics/

https://news.yahoo.com/democratic-virginia-senator-speaks-against-181908112.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...f3dbd0-a6a3-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html

 

[JimMIA]

So many people past the first page of this thread have tried to get this message out, but it's not getting through.

People are reacting only to the attention grabbing headline of the one article.

Thank you for your post!

It's not just one article, as Nabas showed you directly above.

I don't know if this change is good for Virginia kids, bad for Virginia kids, or doesn't matter. But this thread IS a great example how our own biases (ALL of us) cause us to find some things to be "true" and other things to be "lies."

Regardless of our political thought, we ALL need to be both more skeptical and more believing of what we see in the media.

• If a story is there, only the most naïve would believe every word just based on the source.
• And if a story is there, only the most naïve believe it just popped up out of the ether with no basis at all...just based on the source.

Think whatever we want, but THINK critically.

 

[bcla]

The Washington Post has a story on it.

Try Google searching "virginia" and "math". These are just some of the stories.

https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/04/v...pportunities-through-high-school-mathematics/

https://news.yahoo.com/democratic-virginia-senator-speaks-against-181908112.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...f3dbd0-a6a3-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html

It just showed up today, and it certainly has a different bent than the earlier articles that has a “the sky is falling” position.

 

[Southernmiss]

It's not just one article, as Nabas showed you directly above.

I don't know if this change is good for Virginia kids, bad for Virginia kids, or doesn't matter. But this thread IS a great example how our own biases (ALL of us) cause us to find some things to be "true" and other things to be "lies."

Regardless of our political thought, we ALL need to be both more skeptical and more believing of what we see in the media.

• If a story is there, only the most naïve would believe every word just based on the source.
• And if a story is there, only the most naïve believe it just popped up out of the ether with no basis at all...just based on the source.

Think whatever we want, but THINK critically.

If you'd have followed the thread you would have seen my subsequent posts, including quotes from Nabas and other posts from others, that discussed the topic based on the facts from the department of education in question and other articles.

And not just tabloid news.

But you didn't. You just reacted to one post.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

If you'd have followed the thread you would have seen my subsequent posts, including quotes from Nabas and other posts from others, that discussed the topic based on the facts from the department of education in question and other articles.

And not just tabloid news.

But you didn't. You just reacted to one post.

I think he was agreeing with you.

 

[Nabas]

It just showed up today, and it certainly has a different bent than the earlier articles that has a “the sky is falling” position.

As parents of school age children know, curriculum changes typically come with a lot of handwringing from parents, teachers, students, and administrators. Even your average school board meeting can be boisterous!

You typically get a lot of 'for' and 'against' feedback for any significant change such as the one being proposed.

There are plenty of 'for' and 'against' articles out there discussing this particular change. I can quickly summarize most of these articles:

• 'For' - Nothing is changing.
• 'Against' - The sky is falling.

Just your basic school board meeting.

I wanted to post links to a mix or articles to show everybody reading this thread that this is being discussed. Fox News did not make this up. But, like nearly every article out there, most news articles have added their own spin to this.

Ordinary old "news" articles are getting harder and harder to find.

 

[Southernmiss]

I think he was agreeing with you.

If so, I apologize.

There were a couple of posts that seemed that was not the case to me.

I know we all want the best for our collective kids and there are many good paths to get there.

I just don't like the quick mistrust of something new before understanding more about it that happens so often today.

Peace to all.

 

[JimMIA]

If you'd have followed the thread you would have seen my subsequent posts, including quotes from Nabas and other posts from others, that discussed the topic based on the facts from the department of education in question and other articles.

And not just tabloid news.

But you didn't. You just reacted to one post.

I actually don't know if you even read my post, but we're talking about two different things.

You're talking about an educational initiative which you believe will be beneficial to the kids.

I'm talking about critical thinking, and not relying on any ONE source of information about a contentious subject. I have no dog in the curriculum fight.

You say don't take "tabloid news" at face value, and I agree. Some had claimed that there were no "mainstream media" stories on the subject, but Nabas proved them wrong.

But then, you eliminate the news story because of the source, but you base your approval on ONE document from the department of education.

I learned long ago not to trust politicians or bureaucrats based on what they publish to the public. This may shock some folks, but they do lie from time to time -- both sides. So I don't take that DOE announcement at face value any more than I accept the Fox story. I look for other opinions.

The conclusion I've come to is that liberals love the Virginia idea because it is promoted as being a path to "equity," which is a currently-popular buzzword. Conservatives hate the same idea for the same reason.

I suspect that neither side is being completely honest, and we'll just have to see how it plays out. If it's like most massive bureaucratic triumphs, it will be a nothing-burger.