Algebra in 6th grade - new selection process?

[Anonymous]

AAP 6th grade teacher here. I am not teaching Algebra but my math block is 70 mins daily. All ES will be a minimum of 60 mins math daily. So yes, the kids are getting more math time vs middle school students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP 6th grade teacher here. I am not teaching Algebra but my math block is 70 mins daily. All ES will be a minimum of 60 mins math daily. So yes, the kids are getting more math time vs middle school students.

At least one middle school is getting either 540 minutes per week (if the block is 3 times) or 360 minutes per week (if the block is 2 times). That's one 90-minute block of algebra and one 90-minute block of flexible instruction time with the algebra teacher. Will every FIT be 100% algebra? Probably not, but I think it will at minimum resolve to fairly equal time to the ES classes.

Kids at your school are getting 300 - 350 minutes per week.

[Anonymous]

Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

And potentially smaller class sizes.

I am curious how many parents choose to opt out of the program. I know a few people have reported that half the kids moved to AAP 6th grade class but I am curious if that is the case at many of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

And potentially smaller class sizes.

I am curious how many parents choose to opt out of the program. I know a few people have reported that half the kids moved to AAP 6th grade class but I am curious if that is the case at many of the schools.

My child's school started with 48 students and now is at 42.

[Anonymous]

I anticipate significant attrition over time.

I suspect about half the kids or more do not belong in this class. Generally speaking, very few kids who cannot pull at least a B+ should remain in algebra 1 in 6th grade. American education system wants the children to take the highest level classes they can comprehensively succeed in. Math is a sequence, it builds on itself. Any child who is struggling in algebra 1 in 6th grade would be well advised to repeat the c class in 7th.

That said, we are grateful for the opportunity for my child to take this class, and will do all the support at home to make sure that she is successful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

And potentially smaller class sizes.

I am curious how many parents choose to opt out of the program. I know a few people have reported that half the kids moved to AAP 6th grade class but I am curious if that is the case at many of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anyone’s child start the Algebra 1 HN class yet? Apparently our school got pushed back another week at least as the teacher is still going through process. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone’s child start the Algebra 1 HN class yet? Apparently our school got pushed back another week at least as the teacher is still going through process. Ugh.

Not yet. Teacher is still spending time reviewing elementary skills. Real number system, prime factoring numbers, order of operations. SIS showed up yesterday, but schoology is still blank.

[Anonymous]

Our school started this week after finishing MAP math test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

This is wild. We've gone from "this shouldn't be taught in ES" to "it's better and more consistent in MS"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

This is wild. We've gone from "this shouldn't be taught in ES" to "it's better and more consistent in MS"

*than MS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

This is wild. We've gone from "this shouldn't be taught in ES" to "it's better and more consistent in MS"

Yes i can’t believe people are thinking this is a better option than middle school. Apparently next week is such a short week because of the Election Day and early dismissal that they have pushed the classes to start another week! The fact that parents can’t see how poorly thought out this was is appalling. I guess they would rather hold on to the bragging rights that their child did algebra 1 in sixth grade and is therefore a genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Total time may be similar or even greater at MS, but I think the consistency of daily instruction is an advantage. Sure, if we were talking about like 30 mins or less a day maybe there'd be a preference for longer blocks 2-3x per week, but 60-70 minutes daily is preferable to a few days with 90-180 mins.

This is wild. We've gone from "this shouldn't be taught in ES" to "it's better and more consistent in MS"

Yes i can’t believe people are thinking this is a better option than middle school. Apparently next week is such a short week because of the Election Day and early dismissal that they have pushed the classes to start another week! The fact that parents can’t see how poorly thought out this was is appalling. I guess they would rather hold on to the bragging rights that their child did algebra 1 in sixth grade and is therefore a genius.

No one asked for Algebra in every ES every year. What many of us wanted was an understood process to identify kids that might be ready for Algebra 1 in 6th grade so that it could be offered equally across the county and not just at the 20 schools that had identified students. I don’t think anyone thinks the way this has been rolled out is beneficial for anyone. It is typical of FCPS to handle it poorly and miss what people were asking for.

They could have said that students with iReady scores in the 99th percentile and/or pass advanced SOL scores in 4th and 5th grade would be evaluated for readiness for Algebra 1 as 6th graders. That would give parents awareness that they might need to make a choice for 6th grade with some time to think about it. The school could meet with the potential students after the 3rd quarter of 5th grade to discuss what Algebra 1 would look like. It could be that Center schools would have enough kids to make a class and kids might want to move from a base school to the center school to take the class. Or the class could be offered virtually.

Instead, Reid decided to roll this out just before school started and caught the principals, teachers, and parents totally off guard. It is a mess.

[Anonymous]

Is algebra in 6th only offered to AAP ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is algebra in 6th only offered to AAP ?

Currently the pilot is at 25ish schools, to students who scored 500+ on the math 6 SOL and at least an 1125Q on the iready. So it doesn't have to be AAP but they must be in advanced math.