Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Common Core

Our school district here in the northwest suburbs of Chicago has done the same. The exception is the Magnet program which my daughters in. Almost all those 6th graders take algebra. Mine is in fifth grade and takes pre-algebra. There are also neighborhood kids probably 10% in sixth grade taking pre algebra. This is actually a step up for the district. One of the junior highs(seventh and eight grade)actually teaches the advanced algebra you take before Calculus. I thought this was crazy but my daughter knows a sixth grade boy in her homeroom class that had algebra last year and has Geometry this year. They bus him to the junior high. Also the high school course offerings correspond with what the K-8 school district is doing,

I'd advise you to e-mail administration with great praise concerning what you've written, it's unusual and admirable. Also beware in a couple of years of the backlash from the HS on just what a couple of us have discussed, HS math teachers trying to make a case to get rid of such acceleration using statements unsupported by data or studies.

We were blessed, the whole school district that both our DSs went / go to school in is on one campus, 4 elementary schools, 1 intermediate school (5-6) 1 MS (7-9) and 1 HS with a Community College right across the street....which all simplifies subject / grade acceleration as well as students at the HS taking college classes when they've topped out on a subject.

I'm a social studies teacher, and my adjustment to my existing curriculum to accommodate the Common Core literacy standards in my class involved changing the word "stance" to "claim".

Officially, my school neither confirms nor denies that it provides any services to allegedly gifted students. Unofficially, the Common Core will streamline my instructions on Challenge Assignments for students who are trying to stretch from Proficient to Advanced.

Our state has adopted Common Core, which is supposed to make things uniform across the country. Our districts are providing the ability in some cases for the students to take 7th grade Algebra. However, each district has its own requirements on the requirements for the 7th grade Algebra -- one district, for example, is compacting 6th/7th curriculum, while another has compacted 5th and 6th. If you move one county over in middle school, your kid has the potential to be hosed!

According to the College Board, which collects fees for AP tests taken, a sign of "increased rigor" is more students taking AP exams, as they explain at http://apreport.collegeboard.org/goals-and-findings/increasing-rigor .

We fielded some inquiries from one of the HS teachers about "why we were pushing DS ahead," but once she got to know him a little and was made aware of his test scores, she understood his deal and had no objections to his acceleration plan. Indeed, she became a strong supporter. She warned me that we might have similar inquiries from other folks at the HS about what he will be doing there as a seventh grader.

Apparently there are lots of parents in our district who really do push their kids past what the kids can do into situations where they can't quite keep up with the math they've been accelerated to. Probably a regular feature of living in a high SES, tiger-momming district these days. I think this is a genuine reason for districts to take care with each child's placement-- I have seen the parents pressuring the kids, and it's pretty horrifying-- but not an appropriate reason for districts or high schools to be dogmatically against acceleration.

Nuanced policy appears to be hard for people.

DeeDee

Master of none, I started a thread last spring about the meaning of rigor. It's the new buzz word for the common core, and as far as I can tell, it now lacks meaning.

The switch from "mile wide and an inch deep" to "an inch wide and a mile deep" is problematic for those kids who, given and inch, will take a mile.

Our district is not starting CC math at the elementary level until next week, because training for the teachers didn't start until last week, finishing up today. So already, my 2nd grader is getting less math by nature of the inch wide, but at least with a month less of instruction time.


We're finding that DD has to prove herself every year, and we're not yet dealing with the high school. It's sad to think that the high school teachers don't trust the elementary school administration's judgment, particularly considering how conservative they are in allowing accelerations.


This jury is back from deliberations with two thumbs down. It's very similar in approach to Everyday Math, made worse by online pre-algebra homework where half the questions are multiple choice. Multiple choice is the cop out for a poorly implemented system in my book. Worse, reference materials (formerly known as a textbook) are now scattered across two sections of the website, a workbook, and the teacher notes - to be downloaded from a different website.

That approach has been around for a loooooong time. Even within schools, implementation has been patchy. With Common Core it may be more of a case of allowing good instruction than pushing it, but a great deal still depends on the administration of the district and school or the training and personal philosophy of the teacher.

Our science classes have always been taught that way, and our school district just agreed to implement Common Core last spring - so it's no where near being rolled out to actual classrooms. I'm wondering if the difference you've seen is really CC, or is it a difference in a marginal vs good science teacher?

polarbear

This is the first year for CC in our district too. I don't have much to compare it too--we came in March from a Montessori school and dd11 finished 5th grade here, which was not challenging, and has skipped to 7th. My impression is that for the advanced content classes, it really hasn't changed that much. I think the teachers were already approaching their subjects this way. The only real difference seems to be math, but I believe HS math already goes through MV calc. and AP statistics, and I suspect if a kid was beyond that they would be open to some kind of independent study or something. My dd is in the 3rd level (out of 4) of math so as long as she does well this year she will take algebra in 8th.

For dd5, the change in kindergarten is no more centers (?). I don't know exactly what that looked like last year, but parents are bummed because apparently during center time they had parent volunteers to facilitate and because of CC they aren't doing that anymore, so parents don't get as many opportunities in the classroom. I am biding my time to ask about what assesments they have done and how they are differentiating. Dd seems happy so far, and seems to actually be learning some new things.