Middle school placement in math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi All-OP here. Teacher came back and told us that there is a cutoff. Only students with MAP scores of 240 or up were recommended. My child was 5 points below the cutoff. Do you all have the same cutoff at your school?

It's been posted here before that this is standard practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi All-OP here. Teacher came back and told us that there is a cutoff. Only students with MAP scores of 240 or up were recommended. My child was 5 points below the cutoff. Do you all have the same cutoff at your school?

My son, not in compacted math, with a score below 240 in 5th grade, was bumped from his Math 6.0 to IM in 6th grade by the math department. He’s done well ever since. It’s not like any of this stuff is hard

If you think your child can handle it, you can take it up with the middle school. They will assess your child and decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grader who has been in Compact Math was recently recommended by her math teacher that she be placed in math 6.0 next year instead of IM. I was quite surprised as we never heard she was struggling and shes been getting all As in her report card plus Map scores have been great. Teacher said she thinks she would be better in the regular math as IM is very fast paced. Has anyone have had a similar experience? Just want to know if this is normal (for kids to move to math 6.0 after compact math in ES). I just want to make sure she's placed in the right class. I definitely don't want her to get bored considering a lot of the things they'll be going over next yr is a repeat of this year, no?

My son, who is now a 9th grader was in compacted 5/6 and then went to IM. He and many of his friends who were also in compacted found IM to be easier than math in elementary school because they were moving at a slower pace, in that they were covering a year of material in one year, whereas compacted covered 1.5 years of material into one year.

I thought IM was essentially Math 7 and Math 8 together. What we used to call Pre-Algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grader who has been in Compact Math was recently recommended by her math teacher that she be placed in math 6.0 next year instead of IM. I was quite surprised as we never heard she was struggling and shes been getting all As in her report card plus Map scores have been great. Teacher said she thinks she would be better in the regular math as IM is very fast paced. Has anyone have had a similar experience? Just want to know if this is normal (for kids to move to math 6.0 after compact math in ES). I just want to make sure she's placed in the right class. I definitely don't want her to get bored considering a lot of the things they'll be going over next yr is a repeat of this year, no?

My son, who is now a 9th grader was in compacted 5/6 and then went to IM. He and many of his friends who were also in compacted found IM to be easier than math in elementary school because they were moving at a slower pace, in that they were covering a year of material in one year, whereas compacted covered 1.5 years of material into one year.

I thought IM was essentially Math 7 and Math 8 together. What we used to call Pre-Algebra.

That's what it's supposed to be...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grader who has been in Compact Math was recently recommended by her math teacher that she be placed in math 6.0 next year instead of IM. I was quite surprised as we never heard she was struggling and shes been getting all As in her report card plus Map scores have been great. Teacher said she thinks she would be better in the regular math as IM is very fast paced. Has anyone have had a similar experience? Just want to know if this is normal (for kids to move to math 6.0 after compact math in ES). I just want to make sure she's placed in the right class. I definitely don't want her to get bored considering a lot of the things they'll be going over next yr is a repeat of this year, no?

My son, who is now a 9th grader was in compacted 5/6 and then went to IM. He and many of his friends who were also in compacted found IM to be easier than math in elementary school because they were moving at a slower pace, in that they were covering a year of material in one year, whereas compacted covered 1.5 years of material into one year.

I thought IM was essentially Math 7 and Math 8 together. What we used to call Pre-Algebra.

That's what it's supposed to be...

Then shouldn't the pace be super fast given it is essentially 2 years of math squeezed into a 6th grade year??

[Anonymous]

Anyone know if IM or AIM is basically grade 7 and grade 8 math rolled into one year? If that is the case, did your child find the pace overwhelming?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know if IM or AIM is basically grade 7 and grade 8 math rolled into one year? If that is the case, did your child find the pace overwhelming?

Yes, both classes are 7th and 8th grade math. My DS was in the new AIM class and the materials were from MCPS for 7th and 8th grade plus the teacher added units based on the magnet curriculum. My DS had friends in IM and they did 7th and 8th grade units only.

[Anonymous]

DD did not feel it moved very fast. There was a lot of building on previously taught concepts like movement of shapes across the coordinate plane, proportions and some geometry. If your child did well in 5/6 math it should be fine. But if your child did not really get a solid foundation in 5/6 (like still having trouble reducing fractions, word problems), it might be more of a struggle.

IMO, it's still possible to catch up in IM if your child's math is shaky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi All-OP here. Teacher came back and told us that there is a cutoff. Only students with MAP scores of 240 or up were recommended. My child was 5 points below the cutoff. Do you all have the same cutoff at your school?

No clue on what our MS does. If you think DC can handle IM and won't be upset if a change is moved, put the child in IM. In most MS the child can switch from IM to Math 6. It's harder to switch from Math 6 to IM. If you think your child will be stressed in IM or will be demoralized if moved from IM to Math 6 mid year, then consider Math 6.

We had two children go through MCPS. One did Algebra in 6th and the other did Algebra in 8th. Both have888888done very well. It's about doing the best thing for the particular child.

[Anonymous]

My then-fifth grader came from private and was placed in Math 6. It annoyed us (since she was testing several grade levels above) but she did beautifully in IM 7/8 last year and will do Algebra as an 8th grader.

[Anonymous]

If your child is just below the cut off you can appeal to the math department. I know several parents who did that and as long as their child can demonstrate interest and motivation and the parents show willingness to step in if the child falls behind the math administrators were fine with it.

They don't really care who goes into the advanced track. They just don't want to burden the teachers with having students who can't keep up and parents who are checked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the MAP score is the only thing making the teacher suggest that she not continue with her cohort, then I would absolutely push back. Teachers have too many kids to keep track of. They rely on parents to give feedback when something seems off. I would see if the teacher has any other hesitations, but if there aren't any, then I would ask that she be kept with her current cohort. Especially since she loves math- go for it!

Yes! Placement should rest solely on one data point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All-OP here. Teacher came back and told us that there is a cutoff. Only students with MAP scores of 240 or up were recommended. My child was 5 points below the cutoff. Do you all have the same cutoff at your school?

My son, not in compacted math, with a score below 240 in 5th grade, was bumped from his Math 6.0 to IM in 6th grade by the math department. He’s done well ever since. It’s not like any of this stuff is hard

If you think your child can handle it, you can take it up with the middle school. They will assess your child and decide.

I'm interested to see as these kids in compacted math get to high school how they perform. I agree that many kids would do well in the middle school math: IM, Algebra, etc - these are not hard classes. But, with Alg 2 honors, the math really ramps up. My child found the pace to be MUCH faster than his previous math courses and a lot more intense. I wonder if these kids will have the math skills and also be mature enough to handle this course, and the subsequent ones, at this younger age.