7th grade intensified-APS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With math intensified, the teacher was very clear they are covering more material and going faster. Explicitly stated.

Other classes it seems same content is covered and they allegedly go "deeper". Seemed like slightly higher expectations for my kid but nothing crazy.

My take is in middle school parents are still forcing their students into these classes so the cohort of peers is still not always great. By high school, kids are recommended for intensified (or not) and the kids who are disruptive or asleep at the desk are more fully weeded out. That makes the bigger difference.

Intensified classes were messaged at the rising 6th grade open house as being more work and more homework. I've gotten the impression that this has led many kids to opt out or limit themselves to only one intensified class (out of 3 they can elect) as a 6th grader. I'm hoping this will lead to a self selection of students who are really interested in learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the name of equity, the bar has been lowered for everyone. This hurts everyone and especially the high achievers.

This. And the limited resources (funding, etc) are funneled toward the high-needs kids, with not much left over for the kids capable of more.

“High-needs kids”? Who exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean kids with special needs? What do you want APS to do with them?

I’m sure you are pushing the CB and Youngkin to increase funding.

High needs could be:

Kids with learning difficulties
Kids who speak no English
Kids with behavioral issues
Kids who don’t have parents who value education

No one is saying these kids shouldn’t receive a greater share of Arlington’s resources. The problem is, we have SO many high-needs kids that there really isn’t much left over for anyone else.

No one is saying these kids can’t be gifted/talented. When I say “talented” kids, I mean the ones identified by APS to be such. People are claiming that robust services are delivered to these kids in a way that they’re receiving a bespoke education. And we all know that’s not true.

[Anonymous]

My child did 2 intensified classes -
English and history- at Swanson this year and chose regular science. There is no math intensified for the record, options are math 7, pre algebra or algebra.
Essentially the English class required more hours reading outside of class (which was a push at the beginning of the year and I saw none of mid way through) and they wrote exactly 2 papers on books they read ALL year. Now those were great assignments - reading 2 different books and weaving commonalities, difference, proving a topic statement etc but it wasn’t a ton of work.
History - no idea what the extra was. Throughout the year there were complaints about having to do an extra step bc they were intensified and that extra step always seemed to be busy work vs robust learning.
My kid did say they would have preferred to be in science intensified as well bc they kids in those classes listen and want to learn and the science teacher spent a lot of time just getting kids to tune in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child did 2 intensified classes -
English and history- at Swanson this year and chose regular science. There is no math intensified for the record, options are math 7, pre algebra or algebra.
Essentially the English class required more hours reading outside of class (which was a push at the beginning of the year and I saw none of mid way through) and they wrote exactly 2 papers on books they read ALL year. Now those were great assignments - reading 2 different books and weaving commonalities, difference, proving a topic statement etc but it wasn’t a ton of work.
History - no idea what the extra was. Throughout the year there were complaints about having to do an extra step bc they were intensified and that extra step always seemed to be busy work vs robust learning.
My kid did say they would have preferred to be in science intensified as well bc they kids in those classes listen and want to learn and the science teacher spent a lot of time just getting kids to tune in.

Intensified Algebra I and Geometry are offered in middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child did 2 intensified classes -
English and history- at Swanson this year and chose regular science. There is no math intensified for the record, options are math 7, pre algebra or algebra.
Essentially the English class required more hours reading outside of class (which was a push at the beginning of the year and I saw none of mid way through) and they wrote exactly 2 papers on books they read ALL year. Now those were great assignments - reading 2 different books and weaving commonalities, difference, proving a topic statement etc but it wasn’t a ton of work.
History - no idea what the extra was. Throughout the year there were complaints about having to do an extra step bc they were intensified and that extra step always seemed to be busy work vs robust learning.
My kid did say they would have preferred to be in science intensified as well bc they kids in those classes listen and want to learn and the science teacher spent a lot of time just getting kids to tune in.

Thanks for sharing. I want to clarify that any algebra tajen in APS in middle school is Algebra I, Intensified. There is no regular algebra option before 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will read the whole book while the regular class reads excerpts. It’s all relative. Intensified compared to the remedial (“regular”) class? Yes. But hardly an honors class. If you want rigor, you’ll need to go private.

My kid was at Swanson in 7th grade before the intensified classes were offered (now a rising 9th grader so 8th grade she took intensified classes) and this isn't true. They read entire books in 7th grade.

Just throwing in some facts if it helps.

My kid read entire books in non intensified class at WMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will read the whole book while the regular class reads excerpts. It’s all relative. Intensified compared to the remedial (“regular”) class? Yes. But hardly an honors class. If you want rigor, you’ll need to go private.

My kid was at Swanson in 7th grade before the intensified classes were offered (now a rising 9th grader so 8th grade she took intensified classes) and this isn't true. They read entire books in 7th grade.

Just throwing in some facts if it helps.

My kid read entire books in non intensified class at WMS.

Same at DHMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is registered for them next year (at Swanson)-- what should we expect? More homework? More tests?

Hi OP. My kid just finished 7th at Swanson and was in all 3 intensified classes (English, Science, & Civics). It sounds like you are asking about those classes and not math...? So here are my observations...

Science- The intensified kids definitely went more in depth on the material (and I am basing that on talking to another parent who regretted not signing their kid up for intensified science). That also meant more content to study for the tests though, which could be harder at times. My kid absolutely loved science this year. All 3 teachers seemed great. There were lots of hands on experiments too.

English- As a PP noted, there were two major writing assignments this year (based on books they read) + a speech at the end of the year. The intensified kids had to do more things on the rubric to get an A, but the basic assignments were the same. There are two great 7th grade English teachers at Swanson, and one who was truly awful. If you get the truly awful one, you will know it. That particular teacher couldn't teach the content and would get hostile with the kids when they asked for clarification on assignments. She also didn't hand out the rubric until after the assignment was graded. English was my kid's least favorite class this year, but that was entirely because of the teacher.

Civics- From what I could tell, there was no difference in Civics in intensified vs not. At Back to School Night, one of the Civics teachers was open about the fact that they didn't support intensified classes because of the potential to make kids feel like they were not as smart as the kids in the regular class. I don't think the teachers did much to differentiate anything on the curriculum. There was some extension busywork offered, but it wasn't meaningful and was probably developed by the teachers under duress. (One other thing to note about 7th grade Civics at Swanson is that the teachers each specialize in a unit and then rotate, so your kid will get all three Swanson Civics teachers at some point during the year, regardless of what team they get put on.) Honestly, the VA Civics content is pretty boring, and a disappointment after coming off 6th grade US history. My kid noted (I think correctly) that most 7th graders in the DC area could probably pass the VA Civics SOL at the beginning of the year, even before taking the class-- the content is very basic and stuff that you just know from having family members and neighbors who work in the federal government.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunate reaction by the Civics teachers to the intensified courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child did 2 intensified classes -
English and history- at Swanson this year and chose regular science. There is no math intensified for the record, options are math 7, pre algebra or algebra.
Essentially the English class required more hours reading outside of class (which was a push at the beginning of the year and I saw none of mid way through) and they wrote exactly 2 papers on books they read ALL year. Now those were great assignments - reading 2 different books and weaving commonalities, difference, proving a topic statement etc but it wasn’t a ton of work.
History - no idea what the extra was. Throughout the year there were complaints about having to do an extra step bc they were intensified and that extra step always seemed to be busy work vs robust learning.
My kid did say they would have preferred to be in science intensified as well bc they kids in those classes listen and want to learn and the science teacher spent a lot of time just getting kids to tune in.

Thanks for sharing. I want to clarify that any algebra tajen in APS in middle school is Algebra I, Intensified. There is no regular algebra option before 9th grade.

This is not true. It is insane to me the level of wrong information given on this board regularly. Please people do not get your information from here. Talk to your school counselors or administrators.

Regular algebra and intensified algebra are offered to 8th graders who took pre-algebra in 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

The math paths were not explained correctly a couple posts up.

If your child does 6/7/8 math in 6th grade and is on track to do algebra in 7th grade and geometry in 8th grade, the only option is intensified. This is a smaller cohort of kids. They will drop your kid back if they are not hacking it, which happens. If your kid does pre-algebra in 7th grade, they are recommended for regular algebra or intensified algebra in 8th. It's a pretty even split and a good number of kids do not get recommended for intensified algebra. In general, APS is much more tight about who they let into accelerated or intensified math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunate reaction by the Civics teachers to the intensified courses.

+100
Indeed. And precisely the primary problem with education today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunate reaction by the Civics teachers to the intensified courses.

+100
Indeed. And precisely the primary problem with education today.

That’s far from the primary problem. It’s way behind insufficient funding and insane parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child did 2 intensified classes -
English and history- at Swanson this year and chose regular science. There is no math intensified for the record, options are math 7, pre algebra or algebra.
Essentially the English class required more hours reading outside of class (which was a push at the beginning of the year and I saw none of mid way through) and they wrote exactly 2 papers on books they read ALL year. Now those were great assignments - reading 2 different books and weaving commonalities, difference, proving a topic statement etc but it wasn’t a ton of work.
History - no idea what the extra was. Throughout the year there were complaints about having to do an extra step bc they were intensified and that extra step always seemed to be busy work vs robust learning.
My kid did say they would have preferred to be in science intensified as well bc they kids in those classes listen and want to learn and the science teacher spent a lot of time just getting kids to tune in.

Thanks for sharing. I want to clarify that any algebra tajen in APS in middle school is Algebra I, Intensified. There is no regular algebra option before 9th grade.

This is not true. It is insane to me the level of wrong information given on this board regularly. Please people do not get your information from here. Talk to your school counselors or administrators.

Regular algebra and intensified algebra are offered to 8th graders who took pre-algebra in 7th grade.

Ack, sorry— you’re correct. I was thinking of 7th grade. The only algebra they can take in 7th is intensified. As you note, regular (or intensified) algebra is available to 8th graders. And intensified geometry in 8th is also available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is registered for them next year (at Swanson)-- what should we expect? More homework? More tests?

Hi OP. My kid just finished 7th at Swanson and was in all 3 intensified classes (English, Science, & Civics). It sounds like you are asking about those classes and not math...? So here are my observations...

Science- The intensified kids definitely went more in depth on the material (and I am basing that on talking to another parent who regretted not signing their kid up for intensified science). That also meant more content to study for the tests though, which could be harder at times. My kid absolutely loved science this year. All 3 teachers seemed great. There were lots of hands on experiments too.

English- As a PP noted, there were two major writing assignments this year (based on books they read) + a speech at the end of the year. The intensified kids had to do more things on the rubric to get an A, but the basic assignments were the same. There are two great 7th grade English teachers at Swanson, and one who was truly awful. If you get the truly awful one, you will know it. That particular teacher couldn't teach the content and would get hostile with the kids when they asked for clarification on assignments. She also didn't hand out the rubric until after the assignment was graded. English was my kid's least favorite class this year, but that was entirely because of the teacher.

Civics- From what I could tell, there was no difference in Civics in intensified vs not. At Back to School Night, one of the Civics teachers was open about the fact that they didn't support intensified classes because of the potential to make kids feel like they were not as smart as the kids in the regular class. I don't think the teachers did much to differentiate anything on the curriculum. There was some extension busywork offered, but it wasn't meaningful and was probably developed by the teachers under duress. (One other thing to note about 7th grade Civics at Swanson is that the teachers each specialize in a unit and then rotate, so your kid will get all three Swanson Civics teachers at some point during the year, regardless of what team they get put on.) Honestly, the VA Civics content is pretty boring, and a disappointment after coming off 6th grade US history. My kid noted (I think correctly) that most 7th graders in the DC area could probably pass the VA Civics SOL at the beginning of the year, even before taking the class-- the content is very basic and stuff that you just know from having family members and neighbors who work in the federal government.

Has anyone had success requesting a specific English teacher at Swanson?