Algebra in 6th grade - new selection process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A pass advance on the 6th grade SOL is an invitation to skip 2 years of prealgebra? Ooof.

Advance pass on 6th grade SOL plus 1125Q on math iReady - based on previous posts here. This is for rising 6th graders who took 6th grade math last year.

It seems no one knows what 1125Q on math iReady corresponds to on the iReady scores released to parents. ~OP

Ask ChatGPT. It'll give you a full breakdown with sources. Sift through the two main sources and you'll know exactly how your kid's score on his iReady report means in relation to a quintile ("Q") score. You're welcome!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th AAP teacher here. Some schools are piloting this. Some are doing virtual and some are making teachers teach it and they have a year to get certified. It is a mix of all school types doing this. I teach AAP math and am certified in Algebra 1 but our school is not a pilot.

Personally, I don’t agree with this pilot. Are there kids ready to tackle Algebra 1 as a 6th grader? Yes, but the percentage is very small. Not enough to warrant this full blown pilot in 15-20 schools.

I posted my kids scores, he should have had the chance to take Algebra in 6th grade but it wasn’t an option. I think that having the class as an option at Center schools where there are enough kids to make a class is appropriate. My concern is that parents will push to get their kid in the class when they are not ready. I wish this had been an option for my kid.

I don't think most parents view it this way. I certainly am not viewing it as a "push". My kid got selected (Haycock) and I'm looking to opt out. However, I've also made it clear to my kid that my expectation is that she will get an A in the course and if the teaching is poor or she's struggling, not to sweat it. We will withdraw and expunge the grade. It's not that big of a deal. If they do great, fine. If they don't, they get a taste of what 7th grade Alg 1 HN will be like.

Did they share the name of the teacher? Are they bringing some from Longfellow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th AAP teacher here. Some schools are piloting this. Some are doing virtual and some are making teachers teach it and they have a year to get certified. It is a mix of all school types doing this. I teach AAP math and am certified in Algebra 1 but our school is not a pilot.

Personally, I don’t agree with this pilot. Are there kids ready to tackle Algebra 1 as a 6th grader? Yes, but the percentage is very small. Not enough to warrant this full blown pilot in 15-20 schools.

I posted my kids scores, he should have had the chance to take Algebra in 6th grade but it wasn’t an option. I think that having the class as an option at Center schools where there are enough kids to make a class is appropriate. My concern is that parents will push to get their kid in the class when they are not ready. I wish this had been an option for my kid.

I don't think most parents view it this way. I certainly am not viewing it as a "push". My kid got selected (Haycock) and I'm looking to opt out. However, I've also made it clear to my kid that my expectation is that she will get an A in the course and if the teaching is poor or she's struggling, not to sweat it. We will withdraw and expunge the grade. It's not that big of a deal. If they do great, fine. If they don't, they get a taste of what 7th grade Alg 1 HN will be like.

Did they share the name of the teacher? Are they bringing some from Longfellow?

I've asked and I think more Haycock parents should ask. As many noted on this thread, parents need to opt out by next Friday and in order to make an informed decision, we need much more info than what has been provided. (1) Is the teacher certified to teach Alg I HN? (2) Has the teacher ever taught Alg I HN? (3) Does the teacher intend to use the county's pre-designed testing protocol for all summative grades or develop his/her own testing? (4) Are high school level retesting policy in place? (5) Will Haycock's teacher provide a briefing for parents prior to the opt out date.

And many more...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My current 7th grader would have been a good fit for this, but honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted her take it in 6th. I mean, truly, what is the point? I don't think she is going to major in math...

Anyway, I'm kind of glad it didn't roll out last year, as I think it would have been a hard call for us (and I know she would have wanted to do it). I have one more but she's younger, so we've got time for all the kinks to get worked out.

Kids don't even get grades in ES, so how does that work??

It is a high school class, they will get a letter grade. It goes on their transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My current 7th grader would have been a good fit for this, but honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted her take it in 6th. I mean, truly, what is the point? I don't think she is going to major in math...

Anyway, I'm kind of glad it didn't roll out last year, as I think it would have been a hard call for us (and I know she would have wanted to do it). I have one more but she's younger, so we've got time for all the kinks to get worked out.

Kids don't even get grades in ES, so how does that work??

It is a high school class, they will get a letter grade. It goes on their transcript.

FCPS policy: Middle school students have a choice of purging their high school credit course from their transcript at beginning of 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My current 7th grader would have been a good fit for this, but honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted her take it in 6th. I mean, truly, what is the point? I don't think she is going to major in math...

Anyway, I'm kind of glad it didn't roll out last year, as I think it would have been a hard call for us (and I know she would have wanted to do it). I have one more but she's younger, so we've got time for all the kinks to get worked out.

Kids don't even get grades in ES, so how does that work??

It is a high school class, they will get a letter grade. It goes on their transcript.

FCPS policy: Middle school students have a choice of purging their high school credit course from their transcript at beginning of 9th grade.

Honestly, this is a double-edged sword. You might choose to purge the grade because your child didn’t do well—largely because none of the elementary school teachers had ever taught Algebra 1 HN before. At Haycock, for example, the teacher couldn’t answer even basic questions, and the Math Resource teacher had to step in—only to admit she didn’t know many of the answers either.

But if you purge it, your child will have to sit through the course again in middle school, which could lead to boredom and zoning out. On the other hand, if your child did “okay” and you keep the grade, they may still have weak foundations, since the teacher had never taught Algebra before and wasn’t even hired to do so—just happened to have the certification without any real experience.

It’s a deeply flawed execution, forced by Gatehouse, without giving schools the chance to prepare. A year’s notice could have allowed schools to build in foundational pre-algebra concepts before dropping full Algebra 1 HN content on elementary students and allowed schools to find teachers who have had real teaching experience in the curriculum.

And to underscore the concern: when I asked the Haycock Algebra 1 HN teacher (who is certified) a curriculum question, she couldn’t answer and referred me to the Math Resource teacher—who ultimately told me to just attend the virtual meeting. That hardly inspires confidence in the pilot program.

For the kids who can handle the content, we’re still giving them poor foundational skills—skills that are essential for all future math courses. It’s the exact opposite of what this program is supposed to achieve.

[Anonymous]

^*he couldn't answer

[Anonymous]

The virtual option is available at schools with fewer than 15 qualified students. They are using a vendor for it, so not FCPS teachers but VA certified teachers who have experience teaching 6th graders Algebra. They say there will be tutoring available and they'll be on the same pacing as FCPS teachers but use their own curriculum. All digital, which I really don't like.

[Anonymous]

Our school is doing it too and we got the email. I don’t think we got anything to lose by participating. We will know right away if it is not a good fit

[Anonymous]

I wish we are participating it. My kid is qualified based on the information here. I think it's not fair to be offered only few schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish we are participating it. My kid is qualified based on the information here. I think it's not fair to be offered only few schools.

During today's webinar, they said 11 schools are piloting the program. So it's very limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we are participating it. My kid is qualified based on the information here. I think it's not fair to be offered only few schools.

During today's webinar, they said 11 schools are piloting the program. So it's very limited.

11 schools with 500 kids? That’s a lot of kids for each school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
For the kids who can handle the content, we’re still giving them poor foundational skills—skills that are essential for all future math courses. It’s the exact opposite of what this program is supposed to achieve.

Many of the kids who qualify for early algebra are taking outside enrichment classes. Kids who are taking Algebra at AoPS or RSM already have strong foundations and will be fine in 6th grade Algebra. If your 6th grader hasn't done enrichment and qualifies for 6th grade algebra just from school math, it's a sign that the kid already needs more depth than they're getting in FCPS and would be well served by a deeper program like AoPS or RSM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we are participating it. My kid is qualified based on the information here. I think it's not fair to be offered only few schools.

During today's webinar, they said 11 schools are piloting the program. So it's very limited.

11 schools with 500 kids? That’s a lot of kids for each school.

Who told you there are 500 kids. There will be only about 15 in each class

[Anonymous]

My son has been in Aops program for several years now. We moved online (beast academy) in 5th grade because we couldn’t juggle sending him in person with his travel sports. I signed him up for Aops virtual prealgebra last week and now I’m not sure whether to move him to algebra. I’m leaning towards keeping him in prealgebra since the Aops curriculum is much more challenging and it hopefully will fill any gaps he may have with skipping prealgebra at school.