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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I spoke to a teacher who teaches Algebra i in middle school and she said only consider Algebra I in 7th IF your kid is interested in Math AND scores in the 95th percentile or higher on the IAAT. She said in her opinion 91th percentile is too low of a threshold. The class uses high school level books, moves fast, lots of homework, and will count on the high school transcript. Kids who are not ready will also struggle in Algebra II because the won't have the foundation. [/quote]

MoCo was the same way when I was there, but they opened algebra to far more students. It's insane how much FCPS builds up algebra as a difficult class when it really isn't [/quote]

The bigger issue is if you sit in algebra for a year in 7th grade and are over your head, you have no way to recover.  You can't go back down.  It's a big leap for a borderline kid.

Suppose you take algebra in 7th but really struggle.  You expunge the grade to save your high school transcript.  Then what?  Retake the course and still struggle because you're missing foundations?  Move down to prealgebra (going from 2 years advanced to on level?)  Suppose you take algebra again in 8th.  You muddle through and get a B, then move on.  You will never be taught how to solve an equation with variables on both sides.  This is covered for weeks in math 7 honors, covered for a day in algebra 1 as review, and then utilized for the rest of your high school career.

It's not a hard class at all for a kid with solid foundations.  It moves exceedingly quickly though compared to all prior math classes, so a kid who struggles needing time to process will struggle without solid foundations or outside help.

I've taught 8th grade algebra for years and years at one of those schools that lets in kids with below a 91.  They almost all, with the exception of 1 really unique kid, have struggled immensely that first quarter.  I think they would have been fine in gen ed algebra, but the honors course throws in quite a few extensions from algebra 2 if taught fully, and it's just too much for a kid who is lacking math fluency and quick applications.[/quote]

They didn't say they didn't have solid foundations, just that they needed more time to get through questions.  It is quite possible that someone could do very well in Algebra 1 while scoring less in this way on IAAT.[/quote]

Anything is possible.  Some thing's aren't very likely, and this is one, as teachers say about the subject.  [/quote]

I disagree.  I'm a math professor who works with highly gifted math students of all ages.  I have found there's a fairly bimodal distribution among top math students in terms of speed.  There's a sizable number who are very, very slow--take a long time even on problems that are very easy for them.  They are just deliberate and careful. They are the ones who are usually very accurate and also the ones who are tend to think in large numerical systems and are very good at understanding the why of math.  Then there's a sizeable number who are  very, very fast--they are the ones people readily recognize as math geniuses because they fit the stereotype.  They tend to think visually/spatially in their math problems and are very good at intuiting answers without knowing quite why.  They can also make a lot of dumb mistakes and don't seem to mind them because they know they are 'on the right track' whereas even a tiny mistake will drive the slower ones crazy and they won't move on until they find it.  I always encourage math teachers to allow for more time on tests so that really good students don't get blocked by their more slow, deliberate care and thinking.[/quote]

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