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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Oh it gets worse. 27 schools are piloting algebra 1 in 6th grade next year. Multiple middle schools are doing honors math for all (no more math 7, math 7 honors is the lowest option in 7th grade).[/quote]

Bummed that this is just happening now. DS was ready for Algebra in 6th grade but we didn't push it because we didn't want him to take classes at the MS.

OP: Some kids are just good at math and enjoy it. Take a look at the SOL scores below for Algebra 1. My kid catches on to math concepts quickly and easily. We found math competitions in 4th grade and he has been happily taking math competition classes and working problems for them in his spare time. He loves the activity. Math is easy for him. Some kids love to read, my kids loves to do math. (shrugs)

The kids who are naturally strong at math tend to do well in math and find ES math to be boring. Advancing them in math at their ability level means that they are learning at their pace and not forced to just wait for more negaging math at an older age. They are able to handle a faster speed. Not all of them will continue on an accelerated path. Some will drop off in HS and take classes like Calc AB stats instead of more advanced math. And that is fine. Some might take 4 years of math, including their 2 in MS, and then use the extra periods for electives. Some go on and take the DE classes in high school.

I posted this in the Algebra 1 SOL topic in FCPS.

The average SOL score for Algebra 1 H in 7th grade for the past few years:

2023-2024: Pass Rate was 100%, Passed Advanced rate 68%, Average score 526, Number of students 1,829
2022-2023: Pass Rate was 100%, Passed Advanced rate 69%, Average score 521, Number of students 1,680
2021-2022: Pass Rate was 100%, Passed Advanced rate 70%, Average score 527, Number of students 1,503

The average SOL score for Algebra 1 in 8th grade for the past few years:

2023-2024: Pass Rate was 95%, Passed Advanced rate 21%, Average score 466, Number of students 6,766
2022-2023: Pass Rate was 93%, Passed Advanced rate 23%, Average score 462, Number of students 6,635
2021-2022: Pass Rate was 94%, Passed Advanced rate 22%, Average score 461, Number of students 6,045

[/quote]You are missing a critical piece of info in your quick to display statistics.  There are many kids who start out in Algebra 1 and begin to falter and fail. These kids are yanked after Q1 or Q2, and so on and placed in Math 7 H midstream in the year.   They weed out any faltering kids in Algebra 1 in 7th grade long before the final SOL. That’s how they achieve those high pass rates.  There are many ‘outside’ trained, supplemented, and tutored kids in that subset of the student population, so this isn’t a true reflection of FCPS education at all. [/quote]

I know that some kids drop to Math 7H from Algebra 1 H in 7th grade. I ran last year's Grade 6 who took the 7th grade SOL scores. 4,487 sixth grades took the Math 7 SOL. 2,121 sixth graders, 47%, meet one of the two thresholds to take Algebra 1H in 7th grade. A total of 1,829 7th graders took the Algebra 1 SOL this year.

That leaves 458 kids who passed the SOL threshold, but we don't know what they choose to do.

1) Some percentage of that group did not hit the IAAT threshold and took Math 7H.
2) Some percentage choose Math 7H over Algebra 1. 
3) Some percentage choose Algebra 1H but realized it was too much for them and dropped back to Math 7H. 
4) Some of the kids who completed Algebra 1 H this year will expunge their grade and take Algebra 1 again as 8th graders.

The kids who continued on, all passed the Algebra 1 SOL with the majority passing advanced. Personally, I think that it is a good thing that some kids switch to Math 7H. It is ok to try something and see that it is not working. I would be surprised to find that the percentage who moved from Algebra to Math 7H was higher than 5%. I know kids who choose Math 7H over Algebra 1 because they don't find math enjoyable, even if they are good at it, and their parents didn't see the need for their kids to take Calculus before 12th grade. We also know kids who didn't make the IAAT cut off.

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