Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Virginia eliminating accelerated math before 11th

Eliminating accelerated math courses for middle and high school students is simply a bad idea with serious consequences. For starters, Virginia will have far fewer students accepted into engineering programs of study at U.S. colleges. Thereafter, Virginia’s engineering universities will be faced with watering down admission requirements for its own state students. Ultimately, Virginia students who are accepted into in-state and out-of-state engineering programs will not be able to compete with students from other states.

Math classes are the backbone of a high school student’s body of work for those pursuing engineering. The normal sequence of classes offered toward high school graduation is Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2/Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus. Accelerated math students can handle Algebra 1 in 8th grade, which puts them on a trajectory to take full calculus (even AP Calculus) before graduating high school.