Skip to content

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

All Students Left Behind? Virginia proposal could STOP gifted students from progress in math

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes
Students may face cap on math courses in high school.

The Virginia Department of Education is moving to eliminate accelerated math courses before grade 11, "to improve equity in mathematics learning opportunities." However, many recognize the proposal comes with a drawback. 

Highlights

By Marshall Connolly (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
4/27/2021 (2 years ago)

Published in College & University

Keywords: Virginia, math, students, courses, cap

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - As part of a revamp, the Virginia Mathematics Pathway Initiative, eliminates all accelerated math courses before 11th grade. In plain English, this means all students, regardless of talent, will take the same math courses until grade 11, when they will finally be permitted to take advanced courses. 

Specifically, this means no matter how gifted a student may be in math, they will be kept back with their peers until grade 11, when they will finally be allowed to take higher math courses. 

Presently, many schools allow students to place into higher courses, including geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. 

The aim of the plan is to improve equity, ensuring all students have the same schooling, regardless. This matters in a world where some students enjoy systematic advantages over others, such as easier access to head-start programs as toddlers or preschoolers. Just knowing how to read before first grade is a tremendous advantage. Having advanced math skills as a child also translates into more advantages later. 

However, by limiting individual achievement prior to grade 11, students will be hamstrung, only allowed to learn advanced mathematics when they are older. While nothing prevents students from hiring a tutor or taking courses online, they may have difficulty accessing them or paying for them. 

The long-term result is likely to be disasters for individual achievers, and it is unlikely to make things better for students who are struggling in math. 

A better proposal would be to eliminate grade levels altogether and the unhealthy competition that goes with them. Instead, students should remain at whatever academic level they are at, per subject, until they master it and promote to the next. Otherwise, students fall increasingly behind as they promote without the prerequisite knowledge they need for success. The stigma of needing more time or extra help ought to be removed, but the Virginia plan does not do that. 

Holding students back from their potential is as bad as promoting students too soon. However, as many people recognize, education in America isn't about the welfare of the students, but about politics and indoctrination. 

Deacon Keith Fournier Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Lent logo
Saint of the Day logo

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.