Fighting aps math recommendation

[Anonymous]

My son was recommended for math 7 instead of pre algebra. His sol score is two points below the cut off but his other stats are well above— has straight A’s (and a high a in math— I think it was over a 100% for two quarters) and his map score is 255. I already contacted the school but it looks like the math coach has quit (the math supervisor for all of aps is listed as the person to contact), so I’m trying to ascertain how easy it is to push back on this. My thought would be let him try and worst thing happens he retakes math 8.

I am really concerned about him not being able to take algebra in 8th grade— is there a path where he can still do that if he is in math 7? Can we do something where he takes math 8 at virtual Virginia concurrently with math 7 this year? He wants to be an engineer and right now is very motivated to get A’s so he can do the ib program. I’m very concerned about what would happen if that was no longer a possibility.

Has anyone fought a recommendation successfully?

[Anonymous]

"Fought"? You simply email the counselor. It's not a big deal.

But likely his prior teacher recommended Math 7 due to something they see going on in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Fought"? You simply email the counselor. It's not a big deal.

But likely his prior teacher recommended Math 7 due to something they see going on in the class.

I already emailed his teacher— it’s just based off of test scores not off of his performance in class.
I didn’t realize it was nbd to get the recommendation changed— thanks for really putting my mind at ease!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Fought"? You simply email the counselor. It's not a big deal.

But likely his prior teacher recommended Math 7 due to something they see going on in the class.

NP here. It definitely wasn’t that simple for us. In fact, they told us “no” initially, then finally agreed to have the child start in the lower math class, then reassess after fall testing (this was via phone). So he ended up in the higher class, but had to catch up on a month’s worth of material and work.

We were also told it’s actually told it’s the central APS math office who decides, so contact them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Fought"? You simply email the counselor. It's not a big deal.

But likely his prior teacher recommended Math 7 due to something they see going on in the class.

NP here. It definitely wasn’t that simple for us. In fact, they told us “no” initially, then finally agreed to have the child start in the lower math class, then reassess after fall testing (this was via phone). So he ended up in the higher class, but had to catch up on a month’s worth of material and work.

We were also told it’s actually told it’s the central APS math office who decides, so contact them.

Was this 6th or 7th grade? (Op asking, stressing out again)

[Anonymous]

OP- we are in the same boat with our rising 8th grader. Straight As in pre-alg last year and a MAP score well above the cut for Alg 1 Intensified. But like your kid, a few points off on the SOL and now kid is in Alg 1 non-intensified. Your post makes me think APS just ran the test scores through the computer and generated letters without even looking at the prior year grades. Nobody in Syphax cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was recommended for math 7 instead of pre algebra. His sol score is two points below the cut off but his other stats are well above— has straight A’s (and a high a in math— I think it was over a 100% for two quarters) and his map score is 255. I already contacted the school but it looks like the math coach has quit (the math supervisor for all of aps is listed as the person to contact), so I’m trying to ascertain how easy it is to push back on this. My thought would be let him try and worst thing happens he retakes math 8.

I am really concerned about him not being able to take algebra in 8th grade— is there a path where he can still do that if he is in math 7? Can we do something where he takes math 8 at virtual Virginia concurrently with math 7 this year? He wants to be an engineer and right now is very motivated to get A’s so he can do the ib program. I’m very concerned about what would happen if that was no longer a possibility.

Has anyone fought a recommendation successfully?

I could have written this post- kid is above on one metric, a few points below on SOLs, straight As in math. I emailed the math supervisor and am waiting to hear. It really does sound like it was computer generated.

[Anonymous]

It has been several years but I was able get my son’s math placement adjusted. It took some back and forth but ultimately we got him placed in algebra. He did great by the way-it wasn’t a stretch for him at all.

[Anonymous]

If your kid didn't qualify for prealg in 7th with As in 6th grade, something is wrong. That does not reflect well on the teacher or school. I would push back and if the issue was a bad teacher who didn't prepare your kid for the SOL, be ready to tutor or spend a lot of time on Khan Academy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid didn't qualify for prealg in 7th with As in 6th grade, something is wrong. That does not reflect well on the teacher or school. I would push back and if the issue was a bad teacher who didn't prepare your kid for the SOL, be ready to tutor or spend a lot of time on Khan Academy.

THIS is our situation. My DC aced almost every math test without studying and only one retake all year. DC’s math teacher thought DC had undiagnosed ADD when in reality DC was either bored in the large class, disliked working on the iPad often and hated Dreambox. So my guess is DC’s teacher recommended against pre Algebra but I plan to fight it. Why give a kid A grades and one B plus yet base placement on SOL and the perception of ADD?

Maybe DC is another victim of grade inflation, though DC was proud to be on the honor roll all 4 quarters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid didn't qualify for prealg in 7th with As in 6th grade, something is wrong. That does not reflect well on the teacher or school. I would push back and if the issue was a bad teacher who didn't prepare your kid for the SOL, be ready to tutor or spend a lot of time on Khan Academy.

THIS is our situation. My DC aced almost every math test without studying and only one retake all year. DC’s math teacher thought DC had undiagnosed ADD when in reality DC was either bored in the large class, disliked working on the iPad often and hated Dreambox. So my guess is DC’s teacher recommended against pre Algebra but I plan to fight it. Why give a kid A grades and one B plus yet base placement on SOL and the perception of ADD?

Maybe DC is another victim of grade inflation, though DC was proud to be on the honor roll all 4 quarters.

If your kid got a B, they didn't ace almost every math test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid didn't qualify for prealg in 7th with As in 6th grade, something is wrong. That does not reflect well on the teacher or school. I would push back and if the issue was a bad teacher who didn't prepare your kid for the SOL, be ready to tutor or spend a lot of time on Khan Academy.

THIS is our situation. My DC aced almost every math test without studying and only one retake all year. DC’s math teacher thought DC had undiagnosed ADD when in reality DC was either bored in the large class, disliked working on the iPad often and hated Dreambox. So my guess is DC’s teacher recommended against pre Algebra but I plan to fight it. Why give a kid A grades and one B plus yet base placement on SOL and the perception of ADD?

Maybe DC is another victim of grade inflation, though DC was proud to be on the honor roll all 4 quarters.

I don't think there was a teacher recommendation, and I don't think they took the prior year's math grade into account. The letter says the criteria that were used were the MAP score and the SOL score, and you had to hit both scores this year to place up.

[Anonymous]

It’s not too hard to change. Contact the overall math coordinator if your local one quit.

[Anonymous]

My son’s iPad glitched during one of the standardized tests in May (MAP?) so he had to borrow another iPad, started test 20 minutes late and had to rush to finish. I complained after the test but he wasn’t allowed to retake. I’m glad I have that conversation saved with teacher so I can use it to try to get him in preAlgebra as he missed the cutoff score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Fought"? You simply email the counselor. It's not a big deal.

But likely his prior teacher recommended Math 7 due to something they see going on in the class.

NP here. It definitely wasn’t that simple for us. In fact, they told us “no” initially, then finally agreed to have the child start in the lower math class, then reassess after fall testing (this was via phone). So he ended up in the higher class, but had to catch up on a month’s worth of material and work.

We were also told it’s actually told it’s the central APS math office who decides, so contact them.

Was this 6th or 7th grade? (Op asking, stressing out again)

Stop stressing. You haven't even requested yet. Just send the email then see if you need to take additional steps.