Prep for IOWA test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid excels in math she will be fine. I’d let her take it without prepping. This isn’t something you want to game the system on. My 7th grader has lots of friends struggling in Algebra right now and they all scored very high on the Iowa—they didn’t just barely pass. DS is doing great but he still thinks it is hard and he got 99th percentile on the Iowa (without prepping at home but an excellent 6th grade math teacher) and a perfect score on the 7th grade SOL.

I've had 2 kids meet the threshold and take algebra in 7th and agree with the above - if they don't meet the cutoff it's really not a big deal, my be a blessing in disuise. We know a kid who met the cutoff but opted not to take Algebra in 7th grade... and in hindsight that seems really smart. I don't see how having kids being super accelerated in math is of real benefit (exception for the true geniuses, who I know are out there in every school). Having kids take Algegra in 7th grade may reflect well on FCPS for offering this option, and maybe it reflects well on the sixth grade teacher to have kids qualify (reputation among the AAP parent crowd), but I don't see a strong benefit for the run-of-the-mill very smart AAP child. The grade will go on your HS transcript, how organized are 7th graders... probably less organized than 8th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid excels in math she will be fine. I’d let her take it without prepping. This isn’t something you want to game the system on. My 7th grader has lots of friends struggling in Algebra right now and they all scored very high on the Iowa—they didn’t just barely pass. DS is doing great but he still thinks it is hard and he got 99th percentile on the Iowa (without prepping at home but an excellent 6th grade math teacher) and a perfect score on the 7th grade SOL.

I've had 2 kids meet the threshold and take algebra in 7th and agree with the above - if they don't meet the cutoff it's really not a big deal, my be a blessing in disuise. We know a kid who met the cutoff but opted not to take Algebra in 7th grade... and in hindsight that seems really smart. I don't see how having kids being super accelerated in math is of real benefit (exception for the true geniuses, who I know are out there in every school). Having kids take Algegra in 7th grade may reflect well on FCPS for offering this option, and maybe it reflects well on the sixth grade teacher to have kids qualify (reputation among the AAP parent crowd), but I don't see a strong benefit for the run-of-the-mill very smart AAP child. The grade will go on your HS transcript, how organized are 7th graders... probably less organized than 8th graders.

There are kids taking algebra i in 6th grade and geometry in 7th. Now that is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Stop gaming the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid excels in math she will be fine. I’d let her take it without prepping. This isn’t something you want to game the system on. My 7th grader has lots of friends struggling in Algebra right now and they all scored very high on the Iowa—they didn’t just barely pass. DS is doing great but he still thinks it is hard and he got 99th percentile on the Iowa (without prepping at home but an excellent 6th grade math teacher) and a perfect score on the 7th grade SOL.

I've had 2 kids meet the threshold and take algebra in 7th and agree with the above - if they don't meet the cutoff it's really not a big deal, my be a blessing in disuise. We know a kid who met the cutoff but opted not to take Algebra in 7th grade... and in hindsight that seems really smart. I don't see how having kids being super accelerated in math is of real benefit (exception for the true geniuses, who I know are out there in every school). Having kids take Algegra in 7th grade may reflect well on FCPS for offering this option, and maybe it reflects well on the sixth grade teacher to have kids qualify (reputation among the AAP parent crowd), but I don't see a strong benefit for the run-of-the-mill very smart AAP child. The grade will go on your HS transcript, how organized are 7th graders... probably less organized than 8th graders.

Algebra in 7th isn't super accelerated. It used to be the norm for kids on the top track in middle school with the outliers taking it in 6th. Pretending that it's a huge lift that most 7th graders can't handle is just further dumbing down education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid excels in math she will be fine. I’d let her take it without prepping. This isn’t something you want to game the system on. My 7th grader has lots of friends struggling in Algebra right now and they all scored very high on the Iowa—they didn’t just barely pass. DS is doing great but he still thinks it is hard and he got 99th percentile on the Iowa (without prepping at home but an excellent 6th grade math teacher) and a perfect score on the 7th grade SOL.

I've had 2 kids meet the threshold and take algebra in 7th and agree with the above - if they don't meet the cutoff it's really not a big deal, my be a blessing in disuise. We know a kid who met the cutoff but opted not to take Algebra in 7th grade... and in hindsight that seems really smart. I don't see how having kids being super accelerated in math is of real benefit (exception for the true geniuses, who I know are out there in every school). Having kids take Algegra in 7th grade may reflect well on FCPS for offering this option, and maybe it reflects well on the sixth grade teacher to have kids qualify (reputation among the AAP parent crowd), but I don't see a strong benefit for the run-of-the-mill very smart AAP child. The grade will go on your HS transcript, how organized are 7th graders... probably less organized than 8th graders.

There are kids taking algebra i in 6th grade and geometry in 7th. Now that is crazy.

Not really, these kids generally do very well in the class. They would have found prealgebra very easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid excels in math she will be fine. I’d let her take it without prepping. This isn’t something you want to game the system on. My 7th grader has lots of friends struggling in Algebra right now and they all scored very high on the Iowa—they didn’t just barely pass. DS is doing great but he still thinks it is hard and he got 99th percentile on the Iowa (without prepping at home but an excellent 6th grade math teacher) and a perfect score on the 7th grade SOL.

I've had 2 kids meet the threshold and take algebra in 7th and agree with the above - if they don't meet the cutoff it's really not a big deal, my be a blessing in disuise. We know a kid who met the cutoff but opted not to take Algebra in 7th grade... and in hindsight that seems really smart. I don't see how having kids being super accelerated in math is of real benefit (exception for the true geniuses, who I know are out there in every school). Having kids take Algegra in 7th grade may reflect well on FCPS for offering this option, and maybe it reflects well on the sixth grade teacher to have kids qualify (reputation among the AAP parent crowd), but I don't see a strong benefit for the run-of-the-mill very smart AAP child. The grade will go on your HS transcript, how organized are 7th graders... probably less organized than 8th graders.

Algebra in 7th isn't super accelerated. It used to be the norm for kids on the top track in middle school with the outliers taking it in 6th. Pretending that it's a huge lift that most 7th graders can't handle is just further dumbing down education

I don't think it was ever the norm in Fairfax for most 7th graders to take algebra. Fairfax has had more acceleration in elementary school, but not as much in middle school.

[Anonymous]

We are having my 2E 6th grader prep for the IAAT so that they can do their best. We probably won’t have them take algebra in 7th grade, even if they qualify, though. When I was growing up, you only had to take 4 years of high school math so if you were accelerated and took 9th grade math in 8th grade, you didn’t have to take math senior year. In FCPS, you have to take 4 years of math in high school, so if a student is too accelerated, they will have to keep taking harder math in their junior and senior years. Doesn’t seem worth it for a kid who doesn’t love math.

[Anonymous]

I thought the IOWA was towards the end of the year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are having my 2E 6th grader prep for the IAAT so that they can do their best. We probably won’t have them take algebra in 7th grade, even if they qualify, though. When I was growing up, you only had to take 4 years of high school math so if you were accelerated and took 9th grade math in 8th grade, you didn’t have to take math senior year. In FCPS, you have to take 4 years of math in high school, so if a student is too accelerated, they will have to keep taking harder math in their junior and senior years. Doesn’t seem worth it for a kid who doesn’t love math.

This makes no sense. The IAAT is supposed to be a test for algebra readiness and is a test of at skills. If your DC is paying attention in class and learning math, that's the appropriate preparation for the test. Nothing else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are having my 2E 6th grader prep for the IAAT so that they can do their best. We probably won’t have them take algebra in 7th grade, even if they qualify, though. When I was growing up, you only had to take 4 years of high school math so if you were accelerated and took 9th grade math in 8th grade, you didn’t have to take math senior year. In FCPS, you have to take 4 years of math in high school, so if a student is too accelerated, they will have to keep taking harder math in their junior and senior years. Doesn’t seem worth it for a kid who doesn’t love math.

This makes no sense. The IAAT is supposed to be a test for algebra readiness and is a test of at skills. If your DC is paying attention in class and learning math, that's the appropriate preparation for the test. Nothing else.

The Iowa is all about speed and it’s the first timed test a lot of these kids will take

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are having my 2E 6th grader prep for the IAAT so that they can do their best. We probably won’t have them take algebra in 7th grade, even if they qualify, though. When I was growing up, you only had to take 4 years of high school math so if you were accelerated and took 9th grade math in 8th grade, you didn’t have to take math senior year. In FCPS, you have to take 4 years of math in high school, so if a student is too accelerated, they will have to keep taking harder math in their junior and senior years. Doesn’t seem worth it for a kid who doesn’t love math.

Not really. They have other math classes available like stats and math for computer science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are having my 2E 6th grader prep for the IAAT so that they can do their best. We probably won’t have them take algebra in 7th grade, even if they qualify, though. When I was growing up, you only had to take 4 years of high school math so if you were accelerated and took 9th grade math in 8th grade, you didn’t have to take math senior year. In FCPS, you have to take 4 years of math in high school, so if a student is too accelerated, they will have to keep taking harder math in their junior and senior years. Doesn’t seem worth it for a kid who doesn’t love math.

So for the kids that take algebra in 7th grade, presume they take calculus BC as a junior. If that’s right, what do they take as a senior and can they take it at their schools or do they have to do online or go to a college close by? Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are having my 2E 6th grader prep for the IAAT so that they can do their best. We probably won’t have them take algebra in 7th grade, even if they qualify, though. When I was growing up, you only had to take 4 years of high school math so if you were accelerated and took 9th grade math in 8th grade, you didn’t have to take math senior year. In FCPS, you have to take 4 years of math in high school, so if a student is too accelerated, they will have to keep taking harder math in their junior and senior years. Doesn’t seem worth it for a kid who doesn’t love math.

So for the kids that take algebra in 7th grade, presume they take calculus BC as a junior. If that’s right, what do they take as a senior and can they take it at their schools or do they have to do online or go to a college close by? Thanks,

Schools have classes for kids in this position, it is not exactly uncommon. A quick look at South Lakes High School lists Multivariate Calculus and Linear Algebra, both listed as college level classes. There are also Data Science classes, IB Math Application SL and HL (Looks like Stats and probability at a higher level) as well as IB Computer Science classes. So there are plenty of options for students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are having my 2E 6th grader prep for the IAAT so that they can do their best. We probably won’t have them take algebra in 7th grade, even if they qualify, though. When I was growing up, you only had to take 4 years of high school math so if you were accelerated and took 9th grade math in 8th grade, you didn’t have to take math senior year. In FCPS, you have to take 4 years of math in high school, so if a student is too accelerated, they will have to keep taking harder math in their junior and senior years. Doesn’t seem worth it for a kid who doesn’t love math.

So for the kids that take algebra in 7th grade, presume they take calculus BC as a junior. If that’s right, what do they take as a senior and can they take it at their schools or do they have to do online or go to a college close by? Thanks,

Something like AP stats or probability and statistics will usually be available. Some schools will have a math analysis or discrete math.

[Anonymous]

So, we purchased a workbook off of Amazon (Solomon) and there was material in one of the sections that hadn't been covered in DC's class yet. DC has always excelled at math, often getting perfect scores on tests, so I can't account for why some of the material is unknown. DC's teacher is widely considered exemplary, so I'm wondering if the workbook contains information that won't be on the test or not.