Algebra 1 Honors in 7th - yay or nay?

[Anonymous]

Hello! Would love thoughts on this among other rising 7th grade parents. I received a letter from DC's MS today saying that the MS would like to enroll student in Algebra 1 honors.

Student was only 82nd %ile in the Iowa and did pass advanced on the Math 7 SOL, but in the 530s, not near 600, so I was thinking DC wasn't a candidate and in years past, I wouldn't have pushed for Algebra in 7th.

With the Iowa requirement being removed, though, is this really just a case of "everybody in the pool!" and everybody with a 501 or higher on the SOL will be enrolling? If so, I assume DC should go for it, as the overall class will be in the same boat in terms of preparedness and it looks like the whole cohort in AAP would be enrolled, not just the exceptionally prepared students.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I have the same question. DS scored 89th percentile on the IAAT and 495 on the math SOL. We were not planning for him to take Algebra in 7th grade, and he does not officially qualify. We could ask for him to be pushed in, if they are going to lower the class with the new lower prereq. Although we are inclined not to do that.

[Anonymous]

Do you think your child should take multivariable calculus? Because that's generally the end point to algebra 1 in 7th.

[Anonymous]

No way. Need to solidify understanding before rushing ahead.

[Anonymous]

The old bar was the 91st percentile on the IAAT and pass advanced on the SOL. I have seen MS teachers suggest that the bar should have been 95th percentile on the IAAT.

The question I would ask is how much does your child enjoy math? Do they really like math class or is it a chore? What does your childs math teacher think?

About half of my son’s friends who were eligible under the old standard choose not to take Algebra 1 in 7th grade. The kids did not want to take the class and/or their parents did not think that their child needed to be taking DE math as seniors.

[Anonymous]

6th grade AAP teacher here. I would ask your child’s teacher. I have had several kids in your son’s situation who did fabulous all year(all 4s) but didn’t score 91st percentile due to it being a timed test. They appealed and took Algebra and were very successful. Get feedback from teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think your child should take multivariable calculus? Because that's generally the end point to algebra 1 in 7th.

Nah, I took algebra in 7th,sr yr was calc ab. Or jr yr can be calc, sr yr stats, or vice versa.

[Anonymous]

Yes, expose the to it this summer.

[Anonymous]

My son is in a different county but did Algebra I Honors in 7th and did great. He tested 98-99th percentile on all his standardized tests, but tons of his friends did the same and they're not all testing that high.

[Anonymous]

I would not enroll your kid with an Iowa score that low.

DS had 98% and we enrolled him given a recommendation from his 6th grade teacher to do so. He is a good but not amazing student. Algebra 1 honors was a struggle and he eked out an A- only due to me grinding it out with him on reviewing stuff and being on his case about the retakes. Geometry has been similar. I wish in hindsight we had had him just do Math 7H but it is hard to go backward.

[Anonymous]

DC did Algebra 1 in 7th, and followed normal FCPS math progression, did Calculus BC in junior year, and AP Statistics in 12th grade. More than 3/4th of their class followed this normal path.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the school too. I didn’t want my child in Algebra 1in 7th but was told that it is either they are in A1 with motivated peers (motivated b/c interested or strong or from parent pressure) or they are with the kids who don’t know to care. This was Herndon MS. We chose A1 and the child did really well. Did take multivar and linear algebra as a senior and did well. But many of her classmates from that same A1 class in MS stopped with math much earlier - took Precalc and AP Stat or Calc AB. My point is the A1 was not for geniuses but for kids with good motivation/work habits/parents who cared and who were not too bad in math.

[Anonymous]

Most stem majors have both calculus as well as statistics components. So good to do both AP Calculus AB/BC and AP statistics.

[Anonymous]

If your child is a strong math student (loves math, doesn’t need a ton of help with homework), I would do it. If not, maybe wait. My current 8th grader scored much lower on Iowa and thus went into 7H, which was appropriate. My kid found the class very easy — it’s open enrollment, so many of the kids in it didn’t even do advanced math in elementary school.

About half of the kids from DC’s 7H went into honors Algebra I in 8th and half standard. Algebra I H has been much more challenging (lots of studying, homework), but again math isn’t my kid’s strongest class. This is completely a guess, but I would guess the 7th graders in the class are doing better than the 8th graders.

[Anonymous]

Getting early exposure to algebra is good but it's not like you can take it twice.

If I could have done anything different with my kid, I would have given him algebra enrichment over the summer. He got an A but those algebra skills are important for the test of your math career.