6th grade math placement letters posted

[Anonymous]

Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm I wasn't going to email to ask for placement but seems like my kid needs to take Algebra intensified or geometry to have a shot at TJHSST, which is his dream. No idea if he can even get in given he didn't get placed initially but also don't want to reduce his chances already in 6th. Again I know it's a long shot school, he is just so obsessed with science

Wow. He’s in fifth grade and he’s dreaming of TJ? My kid didn’t even know what that was…

Yeah he wants to go into chemistry and we went to the science fair at TJ and he fell in love with the School. I think he felt like he found his people? None of his friends are interested in science so he gets bummed out.

APS middle schools offer some fun science extension work.

They do? Please describe. Is this a very new development?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

They set the MI score quite high (for good reason imo)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

I did the same thing also because my kid is STEM obsessed and has been since he was a toddler. He was also moved to pre algebra. For us CoGat was above cutoff, SOL was slightly under 550 and MI was slightly under 900. The kids i know that got in at our MS had either MI above 900 but below 950 and SOL score below 550 OR SOL scores above 550 and MI below 900. The math coach described my kids scores are JUST under the cut off. So the letter doesn't tell the entire story IMO.

[Anonymous]

Also, this is the last year for MI (I believe) so who knows what next year will bring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

I did the same thing also because my kid is STEM obsessed and has been since he was a toddler. He was also moved to pre algebra. For us CoGat was above cutoff, SOL was slightly under 550 and MI was slightly under 900. The kids i know that got in at our MS had either MI above 900 but below 950 and SOL score below 550 OR SOL scores above 550 and MI below 900. The math coach described my kids scores are JUST under the cut off. So the letter doesn't tell the entire story IMO.

What happened to the kids who were over 950?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

I did the same thing also because my kid is STEM obsessed and has been since he was a toddler. He was also moved to pre algebra. For us CoGat was above cutoff, SOL was slightly under 550 and MI was slightly under 900. The kids i know that got in at our MS had either MI above 900 but below 950 and SOL score below 550 OR SOL scores above 550 and MI below 900. The math coach described my kids scores are JUST under the cut off. So the letter doesn't tell the entire story IMO.

What happened to the kids who were over 950?

Ha, well I am sure they exist! But I don't know them I assume they are in Pre algebra. I was just pointing out the score situations I know about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

I did the same thing also because my kid is STEM obsessed and has been since he was a toddler. He was also moved to pre algebra. For us CoGat was above cutoff, SOL was slightly under 550 and MI was slightly under 900. The kids i know that got in at our MS had either MI above 900 but below 950 and SOL score below 550 OR SOL scores above 550 and MI below 900. The math coach described my kids scores are JUST under the cut off. So the letter doesn't tell the entire story IMO.

What happened to the kids who were over 950?

Ha, well I am sure they exist! But I don't know them I assume they are in Pre algebra. I was just pointing out the score situations I know about.

Ah ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

I did the same thing also because my kid is STEM obsessed and has been since he was a toddler. He was also moved to pre algebra. For us CoGat was above cutoff, SOL was slightly under 550 and MI was slightly under 900. The kids i know that got in at our MS had either MI above 900 but below 950 and SOL score below 550 OR SOL scores above 550 and MI below 900. The math coach described my kids scores are JUST under the cut off. So the letter doesn't tell the entire story IMO.

What happened to the kids who were over 950?

Ha, well I am sure they exist! But I don't know them I assume they are in Pre algebra. I was just pointing out the score situations I know about.

That's funny. I'm the PP whose son got a 504 on the SOL and was put into math 6. He got a 1024 on the MI. I wonder if his SOL score was just considered really, really low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

I did the same thing also because my kid is STEM obsessed and has been since he was a toddler. He was also moved to pre algebra. For us CoGat was above cutoff, SOL was slightly under 550 and MI was slightly under 900. The kids i know that got in at our MS had either MI above 900 but below 950 and SOL score below 550 OR SOL scores above 550 and MI below 900. The math coach described my kids scores are JUST under the cut off. So the letter doesn't tell the entire story IMO.

What happened to the kids who were over 950?

Ha, well I am sure they exist! But I don't know them I assume they are in Pre algebra. I was just pointing out the score situations I know about.

That's funny. I'm the PP whose son got a 504 on the SOL and was put into math 6. He got a 1024 on the MI. I wonder if his SOL score was just considered really, really low.

It’s a good score but maybe not 3 years of math at once good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI I emailed the math person from our middle school and detailed exactly why I thought my son should be in pre-algebra for 6th instead of math 6, and she agreed with my reasoning and he was put in pre-algebra for 6th graders. So changes are possible.

(Please don't come at me for this, we had good reasons and from an early age he seemed destined for STEM)

How close were your scores?

CoGat was above cutoff for automatic recommendation, MI about 20 points below cutoff, and SOL was 504 (so well below the 550 cutoff). I'll add that the math coach called his MI score high, which is objectively true but I thought it was surprising that she would say that because it's obviously below the cutoff.

I did the same thing also because my kid is STEM obsessed and has been since he was a toddler. He was also moved to pre algebra. For us CoGat was above cutoff, SOL was slightly under 550 and MI was slightly under 900. The kids i know that got in at our MS had either MI above 900 but below 950 and SOL score below 550 OR SOL scores above 550 and MI below 900. The math coach described my kids scores are JUST under the cut off. So the letter doesn't tell the entire story IMO.

What happened to the kids who were over 950?

Ha, well I am sure they exist! But I don't know them I assume they are in Pre algebra. I was just pointing out the score situations I know about.

That's funny. I'm the PP whose son got a 504 on the SOL and was put into math 6. He got a 1024 on the MI. I wonder if his SOL score was just considered really, really low.

It’s a good score but maybe not 3 years of math at once good

I dunno, a 1024 is supposedly an 8th grade math level. I’m glad they are allowing him to take pre algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had though at some point folks said that the score needed to get into Algebra 1 was 1046. And that pre algebra was in the 900s. MAYBE 940 but I may have made that up.

To get into pre Algebra 7 the you need a 475 on the SOL and a 785 on MI. So it seems weird to me that you need a lower score to get into that when it comes 7/8 grade math.

Where did you get the numbers for Algebra 7, they seem low

DP. Its detailed on the letter to rising 7th grade parents. FWIW there is definitely teacher input. My DD scored very low on the MI which was weird b/c she's an A student. The teacher worked with her to see what was wrong and looks like it had to do with something that one of new 5th grade teachers at the elementary school didn't teach last year (she said she had multiple kids with the same issue and same 5th grade teacher). But then DD score very high on the Math SOL. She was put in Pre-Alg 7.

My kid is the opposite. High MI, just missed the cut off for SOL, and recommended for math 7. Kid goofs off in class so that’s probably why. Debating whether we should push it or not…

I wouldn’t put a kid who goofs off in an accelerated class like this. It’s not fair to them or the other kids.

He likely goofs off because the material is too easy. This class could be just what he needs to start taking math more seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had though at some point folks said that the score needed to get into Algebra 1 was 1046. And that pre algebra was in the 900s. MAYBE 940 but I may have made that up.

To get into pre Algebra 7 the you need a 475 on the SOL and a 785 on MI. So it seems weird to me that you need a lower score to get into that when it comes 7/8 grade math.

Where did you get the numbers for Algebra 7, they seem low

DP. Its detailed on the letter to rising 7th grade parents. FWIW there is definitely teacher input. My DD scored very low on the MI which was weird b/c she's an A student. The teacher worked with her to see what was wrong and looks like it had to do with something that one of new 5th grade teachers at the elementary school didn't teach last year (she said she had multiple kids with the same issue and same 5th grade teacher). But then DD score very high on the Math SOL. She was put in Pre-Alg 7.

My kid is the opposite. High MI, just missed the cut off for SOL, and recommended for math 7. Kid goofs off in class so that’s probably why. Debating whether we should push it or not…

I wouldn’t put a kid who goofs off in an accelerated class like this. It’s not fair to them or the other kids.

+1 and sounds like mom is already making excuses for him. (He rushed the SOL…)

Excuses? No, I’m explaining why I think the teacher input factored in - because the kid goofs off and doesn’t take it seriously. Even though kid clearly knows the content.

And pre-alg for 7th really is not all that accelerated. I have older kids who’ve taken more accelerated paths. Part of why kid goofed off is that math 6 is boring AF.

Can’t speak to “Math 6 is boring AF”, since, you know, I’m an adult and not actually in the room.

I know many kids who’ve done math 6 & kids who did pre-alg for 6th (math 6/7/8). Consensus is that math 6 is boring AF. Have you seen the syllabus? Very, very little new material after 5th.

I know kids, too. It’s not like a twelve-year-old to say math is boring! Your kid didn’t get in- because he didn't get in. I think you should trust the process and let him solidify his math skills. He’ll be ok.

Parent of a kid who just finished middle school here. No, do not blindly “trust the process” if you think your kid belongs in the higher math class. They have raised the cutoff scores in recent years in an effort to have fewer kids on the advanced track, for whatever reason. We had to push back to get our kid into the advanced class. He just finished geometry, and had no trouble earning all As all 3 years of MS math. Math ended up his favorite subject, too.

Not enough teachers to teach the advanced track. i was told this last year.

How does that work? Advanced classes don't require a lower student to teacher ratio