Anonymous wrote:
There appears to be at least one elementary school with enough parent push and administration acquiescence to have some variation of Math 5/6 given to a group of 4th graders, who then take AIM (or a variarion) in 5th via a MS teacher and then take Algebra 1 in 6th grade. It is almost certain that this group engages in significant outside enrichment (home study/tutoring) to get their children to the point where they can make such a request in numbers great enough to have that arrangement.
For any real outlier, not having the cohort, there is the possibility of such Math grade-skipping on an individual basis. However, it appears to be heavily resisted by schools/the county, and may take a number of repeated requests/appeals to make it happen (and not as a whole cohort, of course).
Why MCPS doesn't make this clear is, well, pretty clear, even if rather unjust and counter to their equity focus. Just to be clear, myself, I'm not advocating for gunning for Algebra in 6th, but I think MCPS should be working to identify and accommodate giftedness regardless of locale or parent push, whether in Math or another subject.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Echoing the above, to down-shift in 6th grade after Math 5/6 in 5th, take one of:
Math 7 -- a year ahead, but only a year's worth of curricular content, and neither omits nor repeats content from the overall curriculum, typically leading to the same pace in 7th (Math 8) and 8th (Algebra 1). This is a good option if the student absorbed the Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 content well enough, but didn't like the faster pace.
AMP6+ -- will repeat 6th-grade content and then half of 7th-grade content, delivered with the same pace as the ES Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 courses, typically leading to the same pace in 7th (AMP7+), then delivering Algebra 1 in 8th (there is no accelerated Algebra 1 course, itself, it's just a matter of when a student reaches it). This is an option if the student had some trouble absorbing the Math 5/6 content, but wants to get to new content within the year.
Math 6 -- returns the student to the base curricular pathway, repeating the 6th-grade content at a less strenuous pace, leading to Math 7, Math 8 and Algebra 1 in 7th, 8th & 9th grades, reapectively. This is a good option if the student had considerable trouble absorbing the Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 content at the pace delivered. If considering this as a likely choice at this point of the year, one might ask the ES to down-shift the student, now, by moving them from Math 5/6 to Math 5.
There are still other options, but these make the most sense given the OP's description. Talk to your teacher, school Math specialist and, perhaps, the Math 4/5 teacher (to get feedback on the student's experience last year/figure whether they think things might change as the student gets back into the swing of things/gets used to the new teacher).
Do 6th graders take Math 7? It seems logical but maybe not enough students to make it worth while. I thought that this path would be Math 6+ then 7+ (then Algebra).
ES Math 5/6 is Eureka, but MS Math 6 is Illustrative, so it's a different ordering of topics from Compacted. Doing Math 6+/7+ covers all of Illustrative 6-8 in 2 years, which may be more coherent than switching from Eureka 6 to Illustrative 7.
It's not a big deal either way, though.
That used to be an option but is not anymore. At our school 6th graders who previously were out in Math 7 are now in 6+.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Echoing the above, to down-shift in 6th grade after Math 5/6 in 5th, take one of:
Math 7 -- a year ahead, but only a year's worth of curricular content, and neither omits nor repeats content from the overall curriculum, typically leading to the same pace in 7th (Math 8) and 8th (Algebra 1). This is a good option if the student absorbed the Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 content well enough, but didn't like the faster pace.
AMP6+ -- will repeat 6th-grade content and then half of 7th-grade content, delivered with the same pace as the ES Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 courses, typically leading to the same pace in 7th (AMP7+), then delivering Algebra 1 in 8th (there is no accelerated Algebra 1 course, itself, it's just a matter of when a student reaches it). This is an option if the student had some trouble absorbing the Math 5/6 content, but wants to get to new content within the year.
Math 6 -- returns the student to the base curricular pathway, repeating the 6th-grade content at a less strenuous pace, leading to Math 7, Math 8 and Algebra 1 in 7th, 8th & 9th grades, reapectively. This is a good option if the student had considerable trouble absorbing the Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 content at the pace delivered. If considering this as a likely choice at this point of the year, one might ask the ES to down-shift the student, now, by moving them from Math 5/6 to Math 5.
There are still other options, but these make the most sense given the OP's description. Talk to your teacher, school Math specialist and, perhaps, the Math 4/5 teacher (to get feedback on the student's experience last year/figure whether they think things might change as the student gets back into the swing of things/gets used to the new teacher).
Do 6th graders take Math 7? It seems logical but maybe not enough students to make it worth while. I thought that this path would be Math 6+ then 7+ (then Algebra).
ES Math 5/6 is Eureka, but MS Math 6 is Illustrative, so it's a different ordering of topics from Compacted. Doing Math 6+/7+ covers all of Illustrative 6-8 in 2 years, which may be more coherent than switching from Eureka 6 to Illustrative 7.
It's not a big deal either way, though.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Echoing the above, to down-shift in 6th grade after Math 5/6 in 5th, take one of:
Math 7 -- a year ahead, but only a year's worth of curricular content, and neither omits nor repeats content from the overall curriculum, typically leading to the same pace in 7th (Math 8) and 8th (Algebra 1). This is a good option if the student absorbed the Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 content well enough, but didn't like the faster pace.
AMP6+ -- will repeat 6th-grade content and then half of 7th-grade content, delivered with the same pace as the ES Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 courses, typically leading to the same pace in 7th (AMP7+), then delivering Algebra 1 in 8th (there is no accelerated Algebra 1 course, itself, it's just a matter of when a student reaches it). This is an option if the student had some trouble absorbing the Math 5/6 content, but wants to get to new content within the year.
Math 6 -- returns the student to the base curricular pathway, repeating the 6th-grade content at a less strenuous pace, leading to Math 7, Math 8 and Algebra 1 in 7th, 8th & 9th grades, reapectively. This is a good option if the student had considerable trouble absorbing the Math 4/5 & Math 5/6 content at the pace delivered. If considering this as a likely choice at this point of the year, one might ask the ES to down-shift the student, now, by moving them from Math 5/6 to Math 5.
There are still other options, but these make the most sense given the OP's description. Talk to your teacher, school Math specialist and, perhaps, the Math 4/5 teacher (to get feedback on the student's experience last year/figure whether they think things might change as the student gets back into the swing of things/gets used to the new teacher).
Do 6th graders take Math 7? It seems logical but maybe not enough students to make it worth while. I thought that this path would be Math 6+ then 7+ (then Algebra).
ES Math 5/6 is Eureka, but MS Math 6 is Illustrative, so it's a different ordering of topics from Compacted. Doing Math 6+/7+ covers all of Illustrative 6-8 in 2 years, which may be more coherent than switching from Eureka 6 to Illustrative 7.
It's not a big deal either way, though.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's hard to get on an offramp. Around the class of 2025 MCPS started accelerating the majority of the kids. Now many are struggling in pre-calc and calculus and having to get tutors to keep up.
Officially, MCPS offers off-ramps every year in middle school, and allows repeating 8th grade Alg1/Geom/Alg2 in 9th, and allows course retakes in hight school, and offers 2-year Algebra 2, as well as 2 levels of Stats and 3 levels of Calculus 1.
The main "problem" with the pathways is that a student might switch from Honors one year to non-Honors the next, instead of doing both Honors but a year later, which slightly decreases weighted GPA.
Do you know someone who requested an off-ramp and get rejected?
What I see is kids that stayed on the ramp all through MS and now in HS there is little option other than taking a non-honors class which affects weighted GPA as you mentioned.
There are many parents pushing their kids to be in the highest class possible in MS without thinking of the long term impacts. Clearly some kids belong on this path and some don't.