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Virginia education department says it is not getting rid of accelerated math
Some parents on Northern Virginia are asking whether the Commonwealth is eliminating advanced math classes.
RICHMOND, Va. - Are advanced math classes going away in Virginia for the sake of student equity?
It’s what many parents in Northern Virginia are asking after a Loudoun County school board member posted to social media that this is being considered in the Commonwealth.
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According to board member Ian Serotkin, he learned of the change during last Tuesday’s briefing from staff on the Virginia Mathematics Pathway Initiative (VMPI).
In his Facebook post, Serotkin said that during the Curriculum & Instruction Committee meeting, "we received a briefing from staff on the Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI), a sweeping initiative by the Virginia Department of Education to revamp the K-12 math curriculum statewide over the next few years.
As currently planned, this initiative will eliminate ALL math acceleration prior to 11th grade. That is not an exaggeration, nor does there appear to be any discretion in how local districts implement this. All 6th graders will take Foundational Concepts 6. All 7th graders will take Foundational Concepts 7. All 10th graders will take Essential Concepts 10. Only in 11th and 12th grade is there any opportunity for choice in higher math courses."
His post included a chart with what appeared to be set math courses for 2022-2030.
During a Zoom call Monday, with Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane and assistant Superintendent for Learning and Innovation Michael Bolling, Lane said the implementation of new standards won’t happen until 2025-2026. He said it does not mean that students cannot accelerate in advanced math courses.
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"The jobs in the future require a much heavier emphasis on data analysis and so in the discussion that’s going on, the focus is on taking the courses that we have now and infusing that a lot more with the focus on daily analytics and integrating some of those courses together," Lane explained on the call.
Lane said the committee is working to find out, what do parents want the outcomes to be as students graduate from high school when it comes to mathematics learning, meaning, does the department of education need to revise their course standards, particularly for math?
"Some of the other things that we’ve heard is that we will be eliminating the Calculus pathway, absolutely not true," Lane went on to say.
"Any student that wants the Calculus pathway they want to take like AP, AB, BC calculus or even beyond those options, will absolutely still be able to, but with the increased focus on daily analytics we hope they’ll choose the AP statistics pathway if they would like."
Fox 5’s Ayesha Khan emailed Serotkin for a comment but as of late Monday evening, he had not responded.
Jennifer Reinhard, who is an LCPS parent told Fox 5, that while she is aware that the accelerated math courses aren’t being eliminated, she also knows that a student can’t take them until he or she enters 11th and 12th grade.
"My son for example was gifted in math. He took calculus AB sophomore year, Calculus BC junior year and then AP statistics his senior year. This propelled him into accounting in college and other challenging math classes. Keep in mind AP classes give GPA bumps. This new plan would have kids take a broad math class (no college credits available because it isn’t a real class) and then Junior year start that track," Reichard explained via email.
Ayesha also checked with some local school districts about what these discussions could mean for their math curriculum.
In a statement Fairfax County Public Schools spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said:
"This is a Va Dept of Education (VDOE) initiative. VDOE began their community outreach and broad communication efforts in March 2021. FCPS communicated information to advertise the state’s information sessions in the FCPS This Week parent newsletter on March 24, 2021. Members of the FCPS Mathematics Team have been attentive to the work, have participated in VDOE teams and are staying abreast of the progress of the work to determine the impact on FCPS, specifically examining how current plans for improving mathematics instruction across the division to address issues of inequity would align with this initiative.
Loudoun County Public Schools spokesman, Wayde Byard said the school district will be discussing the topic with the School Board Thursday night.