Reply to Is 8th grade pre-algebra or algebra?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I teach algebra 2. Last year I had a handful of seniors in my class (meaning algebra 1 in 9th, geometry 10th, AFDA 11th, and algebra 2 12th). One is now a freshman at George Mason, one is at JMU, one is at VCU. A fourth is down in Norfolk area doing a mechanics training for some fancy car (maybe Porsche? I forget, I remember we joked that he’d never be working on my cars since I drive a Kia)

This year I have a larger group of seniors. 1 got accepted early to university of Kentucky to study marketing, 1 has been missing class all quarter to audition for elite music programs, two have every intention of NVCC and transfer, and 4 are still waiting to hear.

The ones who take algebra on 9th and go to AP precalc or AP stats as seniors? I can’t even begin to list the amazing schools they end up at. Sure, not MIT, but that doesn’t mean you fail!! An engineer from university of South Carolina or nc state or Mason or Penn state is still an engineer! A career in nursing depends way less on the school you attended and more on the student. I’ve had kids leave my room with full rides to nursing school after taking algebra 2 as juniors and a less strenuous math class senior year.

You can have a fine future, collegiate or otherwise, with algebra in 9th. While you obviously have more options the higher the math you take, it’s not a death sentence to slow down and be confident![/quote]

Some people can’t afford the out of state mediocre options that would be available. They will have to fight for an in state position and they don’t want Radford.[/quote]

Those people have not looked at the aid that a good GPA student with a bunch of APs can get from many OOS public universities. A decent number give high amounts of merit aid to kids with 3.5s coming out of NOVA because they are looking for kids to boost their stats. Calculus is good to have but not a must have. Only 16% of high school students had calculus in 2019

https://maa.org/math-values/the-decline-in-high-school-calculus/#:~:text=First%20is%20that%20only%2015.8%25,is%20down%20from%2019.3%25%2C%20671%2C000
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=97
https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-high-school-calculus-college-admissions-survey/

This report goes into the rise of AP Stats and how the math landscape in HS is starting to shift. It acknowledges that calculus is still something colleges like to see while addressing the fact that colleges understand most kids don't need calculus.

https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/calculus-or-statistics-does-it-matter[/quote]

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