revisiting Algebra 1 after test scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:6th AAP teacher here. I had several students with those stats. They were all challenged. I did a lot of extensions into algebra 1 concepts. They were appropriately placed and will ace Algebra next year. The majority of the kids at my school are staying in the regular track because the hyper acceleration is not needed by MOST kids.

Also the kids in Adv Math 5th take a different MAP test. Only 6th graders take the 6+ test. So their score is based off the K-5 test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The top tier colleges are looking for kids who took Calculus, they are not looking for anything beyond that. FCPS is already an anomaly with 7th grade Algebra, it is just becoming more of one with 6th grade Algebra. The peer group is still going to consist of most kids taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade and a decent number in 9th grade. The kids who are waiting until 7th for Algebra are going to be just fine.

I talked to an admissions officer at Virginia Tech, and they told me that if the high school offered post-BC calc courses (such as MV), or Linear Algebra (even if only via the CC route), they expect their STEM applicants to have taken it.
Can't speak to "top tier colleges," but if a lowly state school like Tech expects this, you can extrapolate.

The majority of what you call the "peer group" of students applying to top tier colleges probably takes Algebra I/H before 8th grade, given that nationally close to 40% have taken it by 8th grade. (Back of the envelope calculations: top-tier colleges admit < 100k students/year; there are roughly ~4M per year in the US, 1.6M of which will have taken it by 8th grade, and the "peer group" applying to top-tier college is, you can reliably assume, a small subset of it.)

So yes - if your child doesn't take Algebra I by 7th, they shouldn't consider themselves competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The top tier colleges are looking for kids who took Calculus, they are not looking for anything beyond that. FCPS is already an anomaly with 7th grade Algebra, it is just becoming more of one with 6th grade Algebra. The peer group is still going to consist of most kids taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade and a decent number in 9th grade. The kids who are waiting until 7th for Algebra are going to be just fine.

I talked to an admissions officer at Virginia Tech, and they told me that if the high school offered post-BC calc courses (such as MV), or Linear Algebra (even if only via the CC route), they expect their STEM applicants to have taken it.
Can't speak to "top tier colleges," but if a lowly state school like Tech expects this, you can extrapolate.

The majority of what you call the "peer group" of students applying to top tier colleges probably takes Algebra I/H before 8th grade, given that nationally close to 40% have taken it by 8th grade. (Back of the envelope calculations: top-tier colleges admit < 100k students/year; there are roughly ~4M per year in the US, 1.6M of which will have taken it by 8th grade, and the "peer group" applying to top-tier college is, you can reliably assume, a small subset of it.)

So yes - if your child doesn't take Algebra I by 7th, they shouldn't consider themselves competitive.

Our school didn't even have advanced math available to kids not in full time...

My kids entire future is now ruined because they are on a different track/s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much does your kid love math? Maybe have your kid look at an AMC 8 test or a Mathcounts chapter test. If your kid is excited by the problems and wants to try to complete the test, then I'd go forward with 6th grade Algebra, but also supplement with AoPS or RSM.

If your kid thinks the test looks tedious and they don't want to sit down and do math problems, then your kid likely doesn't *love* math. That's fine, but I'd stick with 7th grade Algebra. Next year might be boring, but your kid won't be stuck taking 2 years of post-AP calc math in high school.

Here's the most recent AMC8:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php?title=2026_AMC_8_Problems

Mathcounts has old tests here: https://www.mathcounts.org/resources/past-competitions

This is really helpful. Thanks! I took a look at the AMC8 test and my guess is he will enjoy doing this. He likes problem solving but does not want to be involved in math competitions. I am looking into AoPS. We are too far to attend the in person classes but I see that they have a Prealgebra workbook I might get him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:6th AAP teacher here. I had several students with those stats. They were all challenged. I did a lot of extensions into algebra 1 concepts. They were appropriately placed and will ace Algebra next year. The majority of the kids at my school are staying in the regular track because the hyper acceleration is not needed by MOST kids.

He is at a local Level IV school so doesn't have a big cohort of students who are academic peers. It sounds like you did a lot of extensions for your student population. I'm not sure he will get this as there may not be enough students needing it. I am familiar with the 6th grade AAP math as my older child did it a few years ago. Unless it has changed in the past couple of years, I don't think he is going to find it too challenging. That being said he is a kid with a lot of other interests so I want to keep things balanced and just try to to supplement for math at home so he stays engaged. Do you have any suggestions for that as a teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The top tier colleges are looking for kids who took Calculus, they are not looking for anything beyond that. FCPS is already an anomaly with 7th grade Algebra, it is just becoming more of one with 6th grade Algebra. The peer group is still going to consist of most kids taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade and a decent number in 9th grade. The kids who are waiting until 7th for Algebra are going to be just fine.

I talked to an admissions officer at Virginia Tech, and they told me that if the high school offered post-BC calc courses (such as MV), or Linear Algebra (even if only via the CC route), they expect their STEM applicants to have taken it.
Can't speak to "top tier colleges," but if a lowly state school like Tech expects this, you can extrapolate.

The majority of what you call the "peer group" of students applying to top tier colleges probably takes Algebra I/H before 8th grade, given that nationally close to 40% have taken it by 8th grade. (Back of the envelope calculations: top-tier colleges admit < 100k students/year; there are roughly ~4M per year in the US, 1.6M of which will have taken it by 8th grade, and the "peer group" applying to top-tier college is, you can reliably assume, a small subset of it.)

So yes - if your child doesn't take Algebra I by 7th, they shouldn't consider themselves competitive.

Our school didn't even have advanced math available to kids not in full time...

My kids entire future is now ruined because they are on a different track/s

Correct

[Anonymous]

Above where a poster says “even if only via the CC route” is that community college?

[Anonymous]

I thought this post was to discuss results of SOL for 6th graders that took algebra this year as part of pilot. Will FCPS release the anonymized scores? Would they have had those scores back before decided to expand program for next year so assume almost all pass but curious if most pass advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this post was to discuss results of SOL for 6th graders that took algebra this year as part of pilot. Will FCPS release the anonymized scores? Would they have had those scores back before decided to expand program for next year so assume almost all pass but curious if most pass advance.

Probably many will get pass advance since the course they took was Algebra 1 Honors. SOL was for Algebra 1 without honors extensions.

[Anonymous]

At DD’s school, all remaining algebra 1 honor kids got advanced pass in SOL also 25% of kids got 600.

About 40% of kids dropped before class started or Q1 ended. So remaining ones are somewhat strong in math.

[Anonymous]

Will so many more students taking algebra 1 next year are the 6th grade teachers now teaching that for all ES students or still some have to do online?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will so many more students taking algebra 1 next year are the 6th grade teachers now teaching that for all ES students or still some have to do online?

Some schools still will have less than 15 qualify/opt in and will be online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this post was to discuss results of SOL for 6th graders that took algebra this year as part of pilot. Will FCPS release the anonymized scores? Would they have had those scores back before decided to expand program for next year so assume almost all pass but curious if most pass advance.

That's an easy one. We don't need FCPS to release the scores, since VDOE will do so. You can use this link https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/apex_captcha/home.do?apexTypeId=306
or do a search for VDOE build a table. From there, you can select the proper year, Report Level: Division, and Division: Fairfax county
Right under that, select student characteristics - Grade and pick 6. In "select test and subject", pick algebra I. For display statistics at the bottom, select everything. Voila.

VDOE hasn't yet posted this year's test results, but they will do so at some point. If you're curious about your specific school, you could even select that at the top of the page.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought this post was to discuss results of SOL for 6th graders that took algebra this year as part of pilot. Will FCPS release the anonymized scores? Would they have had those scores back before decided to expand program for next year so assume almost all pass but curious if most pass advance.

That's an easy one. We don't need FCPS to release the scores, since VDOE will do so. You can use this link https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/apex_captcha/home.do?apexTypeId=306
or do a search for VDOE build a table. From there, you can select the proper year, Report Level: Division, and Division: Fairfax county
Right under that, select student characteristics - Grade and pick 6. In "select test and subject", pick algebra I. For display statistics at the bottom, select everything. Voila.

VDOE hasn't yet posted this year's test results, but they will do so at some point. If you're curious about your specific school, you could even select that at the top of the page.

They usually post those in August. For all SOL results 3-12 state wide. Just make a mental note to look +/- a couple weeks around the start of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The top tier colleges are looking for kids who took Calculus, they are not looking for anything beyond that. FCPS is already an anomaly with 7th grade Algebra, it is just becoming more of one with 6th grade Algebra. The peer group is still going to consist of most kids taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade and a decent number in 9th grade. The kids who are waiting until 7th for Algebra are going to be just fine.

I talked to an admissions officer at Virginia Tech, and they told me that if the high school offered post-BC calc courses (such as MV), or Linear Algebra (even if only via the CC route), they expect their STEM applicants to have taken it.
Can't speak to "top tier colleges," but if a lowly state school like Tech expects this, you can extrapolate.

The majority of what you call the "peer group" of students applying to top tier colleges probably takes Algebra I/H before 8th grade, given that nationally close to 40% have taken it by 8th grade. (Back of the envelope calculations: top-tier colleges admit < 100k students/year; there are roughly ~4M per year in the US, 1.6M of which will have taken it by 8th grade, and the "peer group" applying to top-tier college is, you can reliably assume, a small subset of it.)

So yes - if your child doesn't take Algebra I by 7th, they shouldn't consider themselves competitive.

This is completely inaccurate. I know several recent STEM admits to VT who took Calculus their senior year. Stop fear mongering.