Anyone wavering on whether or not to do Algebra in 7th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 2021-2022, there were 2042 FCPS 8th graders taking Geometry and another 221 taking Algebra II. Among those, 150 of the kids in 8th grade Geometry and 11 in Algebra II are marked as 'disadvantaged.'

If she's in the top 15% of FCPS math students, she should be fine in 7th grade Algebra.

Interesting to see the large increase from Alg I 6th to Alg II in 8th

The 8th grade Alg II students in 2021-22 took Alg I in 2019-20 pre-covid. Once on the track, most students continue on it even with covid. However, for students just starting Alg I in 2021-22, they had the choice to start or not and given learning gaps, some may have waited. However, as learning gaps subside, the early grade Alg I numbers may increase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take it in 6th if possible.

DC is in 6th grade now. Algebra is not offered to 6th graders in FCPS.

It is! If you know the rules, which are not advertised or transparent.

Not disclosing these options is theft.

Now that’s some thing to dig upon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doea the report show
~8000 students in Geometry (all grades, through 12) but only ~3000 in Algebra II?

Surely most of the Geometry students in grade <=9 continue to Algebra 2.

https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/apex/f?p=152:1:16274727012747:SHOW_REPORT::::

These figure show the number of students who took the SOL in the associated course, not the number of students enrolled in that course. If you go back to 2017-18, the Geometry and Algebra 2 SOL takers are similar, with Algebra 2 only slightly lower. However, with covid, kids could opt not to take the SOLs if they wanted. The number of SOL test takers went down for all math courses during and post-covid.

However, there's another factor amplifying the covid decline. In 2017, VA decreased the number of verified math credits needed for an advanced diploma from 2 to 1 starting with kids entering HS in 2018-19. (Verified credits are earned when a kid passes the SOL in the associated course). So if a kid earns a verified credit in Geometry this year, they have met their requirement for an advanced diploma. Thus, they don't have to take the Algebra 2 SOL if they don't want to. This has resulted in a drop in kids taking SOLs once they have a verified math credit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different district altogether, but also an option of algebra 1 in 7th and geometry in 8th. I pushed him, he struggled somewhat in 6th, I thought about bringing him down a level but he did well on the end of year exams and lo and behold, in 7th he is doing much better! Little help needed from me, he has As and Bs mostly.

This is dangerous. Getting a B in math means some material was not mastered. But later material depends on earlier material. It's not like English or History where you can miss some stuff and move on.

He mostly miscalculates or puts a plus instead of a minus or doesn’t show his work sufficiently - things he would unfortunately do in any level class.