Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Gifted Language Arts curriculum in Middle School

Our district TAG pullout classes for Math and LA starts in 3rd grade. Math TAG students are accelerated and they do Algebra in 7th grade and Geometry in 8th grade which earns them 2 HS credits in MS. But I recently learned that LA TAG students are supposedly challenged but they will not earn a single HS credit.

Now, I am going to advocate for changes (it will be uphill battle and many parents do not care about LA). I am thinking 6th grade LA and part of 7th grade LA in 6th grade (TAG) LA, the rest of 7th and 8th grade LA in 7th grade (TAG) LA and English I for 8th grade LA. And they would do ENG II, III, IV and creative writing in HS.

Any thoughts?

I don't think that parents don't care about language arts. The issues in language arts are different than math. For myself, I don't really care about my DD earning high school credits in middle school. My concern is that my DD is learning and being challenged.

She is gifted in both language arts and math, but she is only subject accelerated in math, and I don't feel the need to advocate for subject acceleration in language arts for many reasons. I find that in my DD's school, language arts classes are much more differentiated than math classes. My daughter chooses what she reads in language arts, for example. She is not prevented from reading more challenging texts nor from writing in a more advanced writing style and in more depth and complexity, even if her classmates can't do the same. I do realize not all schools are like this. However, I think parents find it easier to offer challenging material at home if students are being held back to the level of the rest of the class. Many parents have math anxiety. They may find it easy to go to the library and pick up higher-level reading material and to discuss that material with their child. However, they may be too intimidated to try handling AP Calculus or linear algebra at home.

Many parents won't see the need to advocate for receiving high school credits in middle school language arts because that won't hold them back later from receiving college credits in language arts in high school. Students need to start high school math in middle school to be prepared for college math in high school. However, in English students only have to read and write well enough meet entrance requirements and being able to do so is far less dependent on taking a specific language arts class.

There is also the concern of the content of reading material. Although a fifth grader may be capable of reading at a twelfth grade-level, that doesn't mean the child is mature enough to deal with some some of the adult subject matter adult books contain. I still keep an eye on what my DD reads. I don't want her reading sexually explicit material or graphic depictions of rape; she simply too young. I think this is where you'll find the biggest roadblocks to offering high school language arts classes in middle school. I think you'll find many parents and school personnel object because the subject matter is to mature for young students.

In my district while students can take Algebra as early as 7th grade, they do not get "High School" credit for math classes taken in junior high. These classes do not go on their High School transcript. (I am aware some schools do give credit.) When they get to High School they are enrolled in a higher level math class Geometry or Algebra II but still need to complete the minimum of 2 years of math. On the other hand 4 years of High School (or AP) English is required.

My district offers GATE/Gifted LA for 7th & 8th grade. The 8th grade honors LA is similar to a regular 9th grade English class and expects higher level reading & writing skills. They effectively do what you are describing, but it's not labeled 9th grade LA & no credit it given. This then progresses with honors English in 9th grade, and kids start taking AP Language classes as early as 10th grade. The "honors" track in English in my district is "honors" 9th grade English, AP Language (10th grade, or 12th grade) and two years course of AP Literature broken into American & English literature (10 & 11th grade, or 11th & 12th). Different schools do it differently, I know not why.

This issue here is if you want subject acceleration vs. "honors" classes. I do think parents want their kids challenged in LA. It's just that unlike math where you really do need to learn X before you learn Y. Like the previous poster said, you HAVE to take Pre-Calculus to be enrolled in AP Calculus, but you all you need to be enrolled in AP English is write well enough. You don't NEED to read one particular set of books before you move onto the next. The task is to learn to read critically and write well enough to be successful in college.

Does your H.S. not offer AP English classes? Have you really checked what your local H.S. offers for their most advanced students?

My DD10 (DYS) got 95 percentile in English on EXPLORE in 4th grade and read and comprehended HP books at 6. So, yes, it's not challenging enough for her in 6th grade.

In Math, there are regular classes for 6-8th graders.
Also, accelerated Math for 6th- 6th+part of 7th, acc Math for 7th- part of 7th+ 8th, acce Math for 8th- Algebra I. TAG Math for 6th - part of 7th + 8th, 7th- Algebra I, 8th- Geometry.

In LA, they have regular classes and TAG classes. It uses the same books but discussion and the work is supposedly more challenging. But the pace is very slow (at least for my DD).

My DD took the test and accelerated to Algebra I and she will need to go to HS in 8th grade to take Algebra II. There will be logistic nightmare since she will miss some classes in MS to make that Algebra II but it will be easier since some of her friends will be in the same boat. She was thinking about accelerating in LA as well but none of her friends are interested and scheduling will be harder.

We don't want her to skip again and finish HS early. We thought she could do dual credits and finish HS and Community college when she graduates. Their HS has many AP classes so We are not worried about HS. But the pace is just too slow for her in MS.

The State requires at least Eng I, II, and III and recommend I-IV. But I don't think our kids want to stop there.

So what you are saying is your daughter isn't being properly challenged NOW, but you think she might when she gets to H.S.?

I can easily believe the pace is too slow in your daughter English class because most LA classes usually read books at a snails pace, partly so they can slowly analyze every little detail. It's frustrating your TAG classes do not do any different books or material. Do you think a grade acceleration in LA would be enough to challenge her?

I'm curious if she accelerates in LA, would she also accelerate in Social Studies/History. The school my son went to junior high, those two classes were taught by the same teacher in a double period. The LA curriculum is tied to the History Class. This is true in H.S. as well American Literature is taught the same year as US History for example.

Peter, fwiw, our district tracks students in middle school, so even though there is not as explicit of a differentiation for LA as for math, the students who are at our HG magnet program have one level of instruction vs the students who are in the honors track at each neighborhood school have one level of instruction vs the students who are at the neighborhood schools and not in the honors track. The base curriculum is the same for each LA program (i.e., same focus and same generic set of books) but the depth is different, and the writing instruction is at a higher level for the higher levels of ability. Our schools also have Social Studies and LA loosely tied together. This does lead to somewhat the same effect as accelerated math - the kids who are in honors LA and social studies in middle school go on to take honors/AP in high school, and some take AP before their senior year.

None of our students earn high school credit for either honors LA or accelerated math classes. They can have high school level courses taken in middle school in math and foreign language added to their high school transcript, but it doesn't count toward graduation credits. I see the issue of receiving high school credit for courses taken in middle school as separate from the issue of providing appropriate level of instruction/challenge in middle school courses such as LA. At least I see it as separate in how you advocate for change, kwim?

polarbear

I have a similar problem with my DD's school. She is in 8th grade and is taking two HS classes for credit (math and foreign language) but can get nothing for language arts. Every assignemnt has to be the same as the rest of the class and at the same pace as everyone else. I have been arguing for changes since September, with another meeting on Monday. Not surprisingly, this is the one class in which she exhibits any behavioral issues.

The classes taken before HS will not get in HS transcript but they do get credits toward graduating HS.

Does that mean she needs two less classes in high school to graduate? Just curious if Colleges would be questioning why it would appear there is two less classes on the transcript. Our district appears to be like bluemagic my daughter has 7th grade geometry but wouldn't get credit.

Well, I think that you may end up confusing the dialog when presented that way because it's a confounding of two distinct complaints. One, you want more challenging ELA curriculum in middle school. Two, you want high school credit for more challenging ELA curriculum in middle school. In my opinion, the first complaint is worthy of battle but the second is likely pointless. Your situation may be completely different as I obviously have not researched every district, but I do have personal knowledge of a number of high school districts in several states spread across the country. The number of credits required for graduation in these high schools are very minimal so that even an average student graduates with far more credits than the minimum. For example, my DS' high school only required 20 credits and he graduated with 32 without taking extra classes or summer school or earning any credits prior to high school.

Regarding the changes that you want to advocate, I am not sure that they are appropriate or sufficient. You are proposing a 1/2 year acceleration/compacting each in 6th and 7th to lead to a single year acceleration in 8th. That's not much. Why must the TAG curriculum mirror the regular curriculum? Our GT (TAG) ELA curriculum was one year ahead with enrichment during elementary school and in middle school has different curriculum altogether and higher writing expectations.