Open enrollment for Math 7 Honors

[Anonymous]

I read that Math 7 honors is open enrollment on this FCPS page: https://www.fcps.edu/academics/middle-school-academics-7-8/mathematics

I am hoping some middle school math teachers can weigh in - what has the experience been like for students who were not in FCPS advanced math at their elementary school but then elected to take Math 7 honors? (I am assuming you can tell/review what math the student completed in 6th grade?)

Will a student not be successful if they weren’t in Advanced Math during ES, especially during 6th grade?
Would a student who has had consistently strong scores on tests, 4s on report cards, 475 or higher on SOLs for “gen ed” math struggle?

Any insight would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

[Anonymous]

PP here again - just wanted to point out that all honors classes in MS are open enrollment - not just math. Strong, but not necessarily gifted/advanced students commonly enroll in honors classes that suit their skills and interests, assuming other options are offered, i.e. not honors for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

Another parent here with a different experience. No one in our DC AAP class made it into Algebra. They are all taking Honors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

Another parent here with a different experience. No one in our DC AAP class made it into Algebra. They are all taking Honors.

I agree that OPs kid would be fine in Math 7 H, but I have noticed fewer kids going into Algebra 7 H--likely due to disruptions from the pandemic. Our kid qualified and we opted out.

[Anonymous]

I think how many in a class that make it into Algebra depends on the teacher. My DC's class had about 70% of the class qualify. The other AAP class where (based on hearsay) the teacher didn't focus intensely on math only had a handful of kids qualify. I am eternally grateful my kid had the math focused teacher. Hands down one of the best teachers and classroom I've seen so far.

To answer OP, I think most kids with a solid math foundation would be fine in honors 7 math.

[Anonymous]

FCPS is weird about math. Told our grade school gen ed math kid she couldn't take honors math in middle school and she was very upset. We enrolled her anyway (open enrollment) in honors math and she got As all through middle school. She's now in a very good college.Have faith in your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

AAP teacher here.

The above is absolutely incorrect. Approximately 20%-50% of my students, depending on the year, take Algebra HN in 7th grade. The others take Math 7 HN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

AAP teacher here.

The above is absolutely incorrect. Approximately 20%-50% of my students, depending on the year, take Algebra HN in 7th grade. The others take Math 7 HN.

Different AAP teacher here. Agree. It also varies year to year. Some years more test in than others. Honestly, if the IAAT wasn’t 10 mins per section, you would see more students qualifying. I hate the Iowa because kids think they are dumb if they can’t work as fast, which is completely false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

Another parent here with a different experience. No one in our DC AAP class made it into Algebra. They are all taking Honors.

ouch. Why didn’t anyone make it? It seems like the program isn’t working well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

Another parent here with a different experience. No one in our DC AAP class made it into Algebra. They are all taking Honors.

ouch. Why didn’t anyone make it? It seems like the program isn’t working well.

Read above post. Many kids are strong in math but not fast in math. Many AAP kids like to check their work which slows them down. If the IAAT was not timed, more kids would be testing into Algebra.

[Anonymous]

Going from gen Ed math in 6 to math 7 honors can work if kids are good at math and willing to work hard to learn anything they might have missed. Keep in mind that they essentially will be skipping a year of math. Kids taking advanced math in 6 (not just AAP kids) took the 7th grade SOL at the end of 6th grade. Math 7 honors is 8th grade math/pre-algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going from gen Ed math in 6 to math 7 honors can work if kids are good at math and willing to work hard to learn anything they might have missed. Keep in mind that they essentially will be skipping a year of math. Kids taking advanced math in 6 (not just AAP kids) took the 7th grade SOL at the end of 6th grade. Math 7 honors is 8th grade math/pre-algebra.

Which SOL did they take at the end of Math 7 honors?

[Anonymous]

Both of my kids took Math 7H after advanced math in ES. The one who had a 99% on IAAT and 590 on SOL found it easy but sometimes interesting. The one who performed poorly on the IAAT and only passed the SOL found it challenging and had to work hard. They had the same math teachers in ES. One of them is good at math and one isn't so they took different tracks in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here, so a different perspective... In my experience, kids who were in AAP or otherwise advanced in math in ES typically take Honors Algebra in 7th, not Math 7 Honors. Our MS has already moved to an Honors for all strategy so all 7th graders not enrolled in Algebra or a remedial course take Math 7 Honors. Based on what you've stated about your child, I assume they would be fine.

AAP teacher here.

The above is absolutely incorrect. Approximately 20%-50% of my students, depending on the year, take Algebra HN in 7th grade. The others take Math 7 HN.

Different AAP teacher here. Agree. It also varies year to year. Some years more test in than others. Honestly, if the IAAT wasn’t 10 mins per section, you would see more students qualifying. I hate the Iowa because kids think they are dumb if they can’t work as fast, which is completely false.

That's a very feel-good statement but processing speed has always been considered a major component of intelligence. It is a big contributor to IQ scores. In addition, even in practice (like in a work environment), people who very quickly solve a problem or pick up new information and are able to quickly form a judgment about it are considered by others to be more intelligent. Therefore, if a student cannot solve math problems quickly, they are in fact less intelligent.