Reply to Is a good performance in 7th grade a good predictor for HS performance?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Former math teacher here. Anyone who tells you that 100% in Math in 7th grade is easy don't listen to them. Its an impressive performance. I taught 7th grade at both top and public middle school before switching career to be an actuary. 100% as a final grade is not common.

Congrats to your daughter. [/quote]

Disagree.  It’s easy and schools often offer kids opportunities to do corrections.  Any kid with math aptitude isn’t going to be in 7th grade math in 7th grade [/quote]

Ridiculous statement.  First, it’s not easy for everyone, second, 7th graders take 7th grade math.  A tiny amount of students whose parents are obsessed with math have been in extra classes, tutors, math camps, math books at home will be ahead by a couple of grades. But most 7th graders are taking 7th grade classes.  [/quote]

I think that depends on where you are. DS is at Carson, I promise you that it is more then a tiny amount of kids doing extra math work. DS attends RSM. A lot of his friends attend a program like RSM. Some are in the grade level math, some are doing the math competition program. Around 120 students try out for the 30 spots in the MATHCOUNTS club. A large number of kids are taking Algebra 1H in 7th grade, pretty much everyone else is taking it in 8th grade. Those numbers are going to shift because of the number of kids taking Algebra 1 in 6th grade now. About 20% of FCPS students take A1H in 6th or 7th grade, that is not an insignificant number.

That said, there are plenty of kids who struggle with math and are in Math 7. There are kids who will struggle with Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Math is not easy for a lot of kids. I struggled with math due to learning issues and only took three years of math in HS. I earned a PhD in a Humanities field. Surprisingly enough, I taught statistics to undergrads. I understood the concepts and usage, I could not derive the proofs and struggled to solve problems by hand because numbers moved on me.

And there are plenty of kids living around the world with similar experiences. They are weeded out of college prep programs at an early age because of their struggles in many countries. When you are testing kids to enter MS you are likely removing the kids who are capable of doing well in school but whose math skills are not great for a variety of reasons. The countries that people love to tout with kids doing Algebra in 7th grade because it is easy are the countries that don't provide support for kids with learning disabilities or similar issues. The early testing weeds those kids out. [/quote]

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