As part of an effort to improve math instruction, the Maryland State Board of Education recommended that MCPS be more cautious with math acceleration in elementary and middle schools. The Board’s suggestions will benefit the county because they recommend that students who aren’t ready for the challenge of higher math classes remain in their grade level math course, rather than be pushed ahead.

Despite the recommendation to limit acceleration, the Board also suggests that those students who are ready to learn more advanced materials still retain the opportunity to do so. These suggestions could limit MCPS’s goal of having as many students as possible taking Algebra 1 by eighth grade.

MCPS should heed the Board’s advice and stop pushing for math acceleration in elementary schools.

Students who have mastered the grade level math material are accelerated on a track that either skips units or grade levels. If the county pursues the Board’s recommendations, students will be able to move at the proper pace for themselves, not the proper pace for schools looking for impressive statistics. Students would be able to learn math from the right grade level at the right time.

In terms of understanding the material, it’s better to be a senior in Precalculus, the on-level track, and fully understand the concepts than to be pushed into multivariable Calculus and struggle because you don’t fully understand the basics. Having a greater understanding of the topics contributes to better grades.

Math teacher James Kuhn says that the reason younger students have so much trouble with calculus isn’t because of their lack of understanding of the calculus topics themselves, but because of their gaps in more elementary skills like factoring that are taught in lower level math classes.

While providing students with opportunities to challenge themselves in important, promoting an extremely rigorous math curriculum shouldn’t come at the cost of confused and over-challenged students. MCPS should follow through with the Board’s recommendation of having a more cautious math acceleration in order to best meet the needs of all students.