Reply to Blair Magnet: what level of math do most 9th graders enter at?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can't speak to Blair but I assume Poolesville similar and most enter having taken Geometry in 8th grade.    There are a handful of kids that took Algebra 2 in 8th (not sure how, this was never an option for my kid).   They do a placement test for the "Functions" class.    Anyone scoring high enough on that ends up in the same class, regardless of whether they took Alg 2 or not. [/quote]
But you have gone to one of those wealthy W feeders that accelerate math to get to Alg 2 in 8th. [/quote]

It's mostly kids from the Takoma Magnet Middle  that take it.[/quote]

No, most TPMS take Geometry in 8th. The TP schools (at least several years ago, may have changed) did not accelerate students beyond this level. A few came into TPMS from other schools that did. Seems to be a per school basis.

But, there is a small group entering Blair (many former TPMS kids) tgat take a class which essentially combines Alg 2/Trig and Pre Calc into one year. Those students finish Calc BC as sophomores.

The majority finish up Calc BC as 1st sem juniors. Some students in Blair magnet take Geom in 9th and go from there.  So, there are several math tracks in the magnet.

Then, after Calc BC, as a PP said, they often take Multivar, Linear Alg, Complex, Discrete, Ligic, etc. There's plenty of math to go around![/quote]

My kid graduated in 2020.  There was 1 Functions class (mostly from TPMS).  2 Pre-Calcs and 1 Geometry (that had non magnet kids too).  The Functions class was the smallest and a chunk usually drop it in the first quarter.  [/quote]

What is functions?  I keep hearing people talking about it. [/quote]

I described it on the 1st page of this thread. It's a class that combines Alg2 Trig and pre calc in 1 year. Deep and intense  [/quote]

How does it go deeper if they are combining two classes in one?  That seems kinda strange to do all that in one year.[/quote]

It's that much work. The Calc classes are too. Much deeper than AP Calc BC.[/quote]

There is no way they can add 1/3 more material and go deeper.  Its just faster.  [/quote]

No, it’s deeper. For example, they’ll teach something in class, and then the homework will require them to apply it in a way that wasn’t explicitly taught.  And then the test will include a novel application that wasn’t on the homework.  Magnet Pre-Calc is 3 semesters and is much more typical in that if you understand the classwork you’ll be able to do well on the homework and tests.

They say to think of Functions as a class plus 2 extracurriculars. [/quote]

IMHO, this is not entirely correct. Magnet precal does go deeper and faster (three semesters instead of four) than regular (algebra 2 + precal). But generally speaking, because it is cohorted, students in the program are usually capable of handling this (with some exceptions I am sure) and it LOOKS typical. (I think this applies to most subjects; if you are teaching only a small group of motivated students, IMHO it is not that big a deal to take content that is covered in four semesters of regular coursework elsewhere and cover it in three semesters while going a bit deeper.)

But it is a whole new ballgame when you take that same content and compress it even more into two semesters - which is the case with magnet functions. Compared to magnet precal, the students in magnet functions do not learn anything new. In fact the teachers and/or the coordinator used to emphasize that students taking magnet precal would not miss any content by not taking magnet functions, and advise that if a kid is very into some extracurricular activities, or does not want to spend hours and hours on homework on one single subject, etc. it is fine to take magnet precal.

Bottomline - magnet precal and magnet functions have the same deeper content, but one compresses it into three semesters and the other compresses it into two semesters.

- DP[/quote]

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