Reply to New APS Middle School Math Pathways

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To those of you whose child(ren) went from Math 7 for 6th graders to Intensified Algebra as 7th graders: did your students feel prepared for Algebra? That’s the recommendation we’re looking at now. [/quote]

[b]My son just finished Intensified Algebra at Swanson in 7th and did really well.  I was pleasantly surprised. [/b] I really think it depends on the kid.  There’s no easy answer.[/quote]

As I understand it, the issue wasn't successful completion of Intensified Algebra I in Grade 7. Kids made their way through that course as well as Intensified Geometry, as both are (relatively) basic.

Many kids were floundering as they went to Intensified Algebra II in 9th grade.  Math 8 is essentially a deeper run through Math 7, and is really what is supposed to be a pre-algebra course.  You're applying the mathematical properties in a far more complex fashion, combining with more complicated applications of exponents, fractions, and other mathematical concepts.

The upper-level kids who were selected into Math 7 for Sixth Graders could make their way through that class, even with a sub-standard teacher (more on that later). They then could pick up the relatively introductory concepts that make up Algebra I. Geometry tends to be a breather class anyway, and doesn't require as deep a familiarity with mathematical concepts. Tutors helped to fill in any gaps problem-by-problem.

When you get to Algebra II, though, you're building upon the deeper understanding of mathematical properties that you developed in Math 8. You're working through how to take a complicated problem and apply say the associative, commutative, identity and distributive properties all at once--some with addition/subtraction and others with multiplication/division. You're also doing this within an algebraic equation, rather than with arithmetic (number) terms that you can reverse-engineer.
Without Math 8, these kids were expected to process more complex algebraic concepts, while at the same time apply more complicated techniques although they had not undertaken the Math 8 problem sets that would have exposed them to those more complicated examples. A tutor can help work through an algebraic concept, or work through a more complicated application of say the distributive and commutative properties in a multi-term equation. To do both simultaneously, however, means the tutor needs to first patch the kid up on the Math 8 concept. Only then is the deeper algebraic equation approached.

The kid can seem like s/he gets it in the tutoring session. But when the kid is alone in an exam room, with a set of problems that aren't EXACTLY like what was worked on with the tutor, things fall apart. Except for those kids who somehow are able to essentially pick things up on their own, and use the math teacher to fill in a bit or two here and there.

In other words, the 5% or so who are getting recommended for the Math 6-7-8 (aka "pre-algebra") cycle.

Swanson parent, there's a good chance I know the identity of your kid's sixth-grade math teacher. Let's just say that, hypothetically, you wanted to find a spot for a teacher who's really not very effective. A spot where said teacher can do minimal harm. You're best off picking the best group of students, and having that teacher instruct in the lowest-stakes curriculum.

That's going to be Math 7 for Sixth Graders.  SOLs won't be too bad because the kids are already so bright that they can effectively teach themselves. Math 7 in and of itself is really not that complicated. Plus you have the excuse of the kids being one year younger while not controlling for the fact the kids showed substantial aptitude for math in elementary school. As I've discussed before, the problem doesn't really manifest itself until 9th grade with Algebra II.

So Swanson parent, you might want to invest deeply in tutoring support THIS summer, as well as through the year and then NEXT summer. You're looking not at one or two hours a week, but six to eight. Remember, your kid didn't have Math 8--and in practice might not really have had much of Math 7 in terms of explaining the nuance beyond "getting the answer". Make sure your kid gets to a really strong level and works through Math 8, but ALSO Math 7. In other words, review your kid's knowledge of mathematical properties, fractions, decimals, exponents, and so on from soup to nuts.

If you DON'T have those resources, well, good luck.[/quote]

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