Reply to Algebra in 7tb - why? Whats the big deal?

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Reply to "Algebra in 7tb - why? Whats the big deal?"

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[quote=pettifogger][quote=Anonymous]Some kids are fully ready for Algebra in or even before 7th.  Making them take M7H when they've already mastered all of the pre-algebra concepts will do nothing for their algebra foundation.  I don't like the idea of restricting access to early algebra for the kids who absolutely belong there, just because some kids or families are making poor decisions.

I'd prefer to have them use a [b]much more comprehensive test and make it significantly harder to test into algebra if they're worried about unready kids in the program. [/b] Or, I'd prefer to have them force any kid who doesn't at least earn a B, B+ or whatever in 7th grade algebra to retake it in 8th.  [b]Or there could be a rule that any kids in 7th grade Algebra who don't at least have a B or whatever at the end of the first quarter are automatically dropped into M7H[/b].[/quote]
I agree with the bolded but I don't think kids should be forced to repeat a year class, unless absolutely necessary. I agree that for some of these schools with large groups of students who have been accelerated since elementary school (but who nevertheless have a large subset of these kids who really aren't fully ready to commit to the work/pace of a rigorous algebra class), they should definitely have a more selective test to be in an honors algebra program. For your second point, I think there should be a bit more choice; i.e. there should be two separate algebra tracks, regular and honors. If kids can't handle the pace/rigor/etc. in honors algebra, they can drop just down to either regular algebra which would move more slowly, or just repeat M7H as you suggested. I'm not sure why this isn't the norm in middle school given how two separate tracks is very typical in high school curriculums (I'm assuming it's mainly a resource/funding issue).[/quote]

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