Reply to Are there advantages to 7th grade Algebra and 8th grade Geometry?

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Reply to "Are there advantages to 7th grade Algebra and 8th grade Geometry?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Does anyone take Algebra as a freshman in high school or is Geometry the entry class?  Is Algebra 1 considered a middle school class now? [/quote]

At my kids' middle school the goal is for kids to take Algebra in 8th grade.[b] Kids in "Math 8" in 8th grade are at the remedial leve[/b]l.  The advanced kids are in Geometry, but it's a pretty big group.

I wasn't thrilled with the push to get to algebra in 7th (I don't see the benefit of pushing it down) but math is my son's main strength in school.  I was concerned that holding him to math 6 in 6th grade rather than math 7 would be 1) boring and 2) make him feel like he isn't as good at math as he really is.  It's worked out fine, he's done well throughout middle school and I'm sure will do fine in Algebra II/Trig in 9th grade.  He'll have a variety of options for an additional math class in senior year, after calculus. 
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[b]But the kids who are taking Algebra I in 9th grade will still get to Calculus by senior year. [/b] How is that "remedial"?[/quote]

Not in MCPS, they won't. Algebra I in 9th grade --> Geometry in 10th grade ---> Algebra II in 11th grade ---> pre-calc in 12th grade. Grade-level is Algebra I in 8th grade.[/quote]

What confuses me is that you have posters saying that taking Algebra in 9th grade thus ending up in pre-calc as a senior is "remedial". Then you have a high school math teacher saying taking any calculus in high school is "very advanced". So 9th grade algebra 1 leading to sr year pre calc is remedial, but [b]8th grade algebra 1 leading to calculus AB sr year is very advanced?[/b]  These two scenarios are based on Algebra 1 being taken one year apart! [/quote]

I wouldn't say this is "very advanced" any more.  It used to be but now the expectation is that 8th graders are taking Algebra I, which puts them on the path to calculus.  They may choose not to take it and take something else, like statistics in 12th grade.  But it has become the expectation.  There are also two levels of calculus (AB and BC) which certainly weren't available in my HS.  In my kids' school, only a small number of kids take Math 8.  Like it or not, Math 8 (at least in some districts) has become the class for kids who can't keep up with the grade-level expectations.  [/quote]

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