A new approach to accelerated math puts parents and educators at odds

Little math whizzes in Montgomery County are used to flying through their lessons.

Educators place precocious 4th graders in math classrooms alongside other advanced students, where they learn to multiply fractions by whole numbers before plowing onto 5th grade material.

This “compacted math” track — in which schools compress multiple years’ worth of elementary math lessons — sets students up to take Algebra I by 7th grade. By high school, they can enroll in courses like calculus or statistics.

But Montgomery County Public Schools leaders say this longstanding approach no longer adds up. Too many students are struggling because they missed foundational skills due to “over-acceleration,” and too many capable kids are left out of advanced math because they aren’t identified for it while they’re young.

“We believe that acceleration needs a different approach,” chief academic officer Niki Porter said.

MCPS is eliminating compacted math next school year.

The change comes as Maryland education leaders are pushing local districts in a different direction. A new state math policy requires schools to offer children multiple pathways into challenging classes.

“Whenever possible, students should be served within on grade-level classrooms to maintain open access, promote peer learning, and avoid rigid ability grouping that has historically contributed to inequitable outcomes,” state guidance reads.

In place of compacted math, the district will roll out a model called cluster grouping. A cohort of advanced learners will sit together and receive accelerated instruction, but they’ll remain part of the regular classroom. The teacher will bounce between supporting them, as well as other groups of students who are similarly clustered based on their level of math mastery.

This model, officials say, allows students to more easily slide into advanced learning as they become ready to tackle it.

“Some of our kids were over-accelerated, and I’ve actually heard from parents and kids that they ended up hating math,” school board member Laura Stewart said. “We don’t want kids to hate math because they felt like they were pushed too far, too fast.”

Many parents of advanced learners feel the opposite. They worry that the district’s new approach will leave their kids bored and disengaged.

“They are eliminating a program that many families see as highly successful,” said MCPS dad Christopher Hertz. “The challenge you have when you have these mixed classes is that it sounds great on paper, but then it hits the messy realities of the classroom.”

These parents think teachers won’t be able to effectively accelerate their children’s math education while balancing the wide range of needs in a single classroom.

Both sides of the debate are pointing to equity to support their argument.

A change.org petition aimed at preserving compacted math reads: “Equity is achieved by opening rigorous opportunities to every student who is prepared and ready to succeed.”

MCPS leaders, meanwhile, believe their cluster grouping plan will give more students what they need — including kids who are typically underrepresented in advanced math.

“I understand that many parents want to have their children in separate classes, and they see that as equitable,” Porter said.

“We want to approach the acceleration model in a way where there are clusters of highly able and gifted students in a class that can receive that instruction, but other students have the opportunity to come in or out of that model as well.”

The case for clusters

Under the current model, MCPS students are identified for compacted math at the end of 3rd grade.

Students on this track can take up to six years’ worth of high school-level math rather than four.

“Because compacted math accelerates so quickly, it can be very difficult for there to be on-ramps,” Porter said.

A child who isn’t initially identified may not be prepared for high-level math courses when they’re older. And the methods for selecting kids vary from campus to campus, with some sticking to strict criteria and others weighing parent requests.

It’s not just the dearth of entry points that worries district officials. It can also be difficult to move off the accelerated path, should a child struggle to keep up.

“In our current configuration, there’s a considerable amount of social stigma when an off-ramp needs to be engaged, and that’s something we need to remove in order to make sure we’re preserving students’ math identities,” said Sheila Berlinger, who oversees elementary mathematics.

Officials believe cluster grouping will reduce that stigma.

Advanced students ‘left behind’

Sarah Teplinsky, 12, remembers racing against her 4th grade classmates to see who could solve equations the fastest, pushing each other to improve.

If she hadn’t enrolled in compacted math, Sarah imagines that math class would’ve been boring.

That concern is echoed by parents of advanced learners, who feel the district didn’t listen to them before making the change.

“Too often gifted students are left behind,” said Susanna Montezemolo, who leads the gifted education committee for the Montgomery County Council of PTAs. “This decision raises serious concerns about whether students’ needs will be met.”

It could increase inequities, she said, because wealthier parents can pay for tutoring and other academic opportunities that some families can’t afford.

Bee Farsh’s 7-year-old son can already handle 4th grade math concepts. She pays for an online enrichment program, along with a tutor-slash-babysitter, to ensure he’s exposed to more challenging lessons than what he gets at school.

She was looking forward to his launching onto the compacted math track. Now that it’s disappearing, she’s weighing how much more time and money she’ll have to spend on extracurricular math activities.

“If this continues, then unfortunately, we have to potentially look into the other options,” Farsh said, including private school.

Among the parents skeptical of the district’s plan is school board member Rita Montoya, who said the schools ask too much of their teachers.

“I don’t want a ceiling on my kid’s head,” she said. “And I know you’re going to tell me, ‘But Ms. Montoya, we’re going to differentiate.’

“With all due respect to all of our staff in MCPS and all of our teachers, we’re not able to pull that off.”

District officials say they will work with educators to prepare for this new model, as well as the rollout of a new math curriculum.

“These are the perfect opportunities to begin to make the change,” Porter said.

Math problems

Montgomery County students, and Maryland kids as a whole, struggle with math.

About 36% of MCPS students are considered proficient in the subject across all grade levels. Black and Hispanic students score lower on average than their white and Asian classmates.

A strong math foundation can propel a student into a college STEM program and then a well-paying career. Low math proficiency isn’t just an education issue — it’s a workforce one, with high stakes.

Sarah’s mom, Melanie Teplinsky, works in cybersecurity law and sees it up close.

“If we want our country to continue to be a leader in technology-related fields, the only way to do that, I think, is to have our kids have the ability at an early age to access these accelerated pathways,” she said. “Without them, they’re not on a path to explore more difficult math when they go to college or when they go to grad school.”

Her 7th grade daughter, who is already taking algebra, isn’t ready to commit to a specific career path yet.

“But I can see myself teaching math,” Sarah said, “and I will definitely love math for the rest of my life.”