Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Typical middle school math progression?

Well, also understand that in some instances, those kinds of out-there placements WOULD be happening, but not for radical whole-grade accelerations-- so technically, 9yo DD was taking geometry, which would have been a "tenth grade" class, only she was only in 7th grade at the time, officially, though she was taking all 8th grade coursework otherwise. But even so, without full-grade accelerations (2 of them) she'd have only been a 4th grader at that point.

So under more normal conditions, yeah-- that does mean that she'd have been bussed to a high school for that course.

If DD takes Geometry in 6th grade (BIG if, who knows if they will allow her to progress that fast given her 2e situation, or if she will pass required tests to skip it in middle school, etc), then what is after that? Algebra II in 7th grade, then is it Calculus? I can't remember. What is there going to be left for her to take in high school?

That doesn't sound like a good idea at all. (I realize you're trying to deal with the system.) Just keep progressing at the pace that suits the student. Do college courses in high school.

I am obviously going to have to look into this. I don't even know what is offered at the high school. Maybe there are classes like statistics she could take. They just tested the kids, looked at past test scores, and placed them...they did not look for parental input or requests. Most of the info I got, I got second-hand from the parent of a child who is in DD's group. They know about her processing issues...I made that very clear. I know that in high school, they have an option to take college level courses (besides AP).

Algebra skills will not rust if the student continues with trigonometry and calculus, and the breadth of geometry tested on the SAT is not great, so I would not worry about this.

On the other hand, more sophisticated math skills can well make SAT questions more difficult, not less so. We found that this was a problem peculiar to College Board testing, though-- ACT, not so.

It's because of the peculiar "trick" or novelty style of some math entries on the College Board tests. A few mornings with a test-prep booklet should fix it up, though.

Here it is...

Standard progression...
6 th grade math
7th grade math
8th grade math---pre algebra
9th algebra

Next
6th grade math honors
7th grade math-pre algebra honors
8th algebra honors for hs credit must pass EOC exam

Some kids in the standard progression are invited to take Algebra on a trial basis 9 weeks) based on testing scores and with the support of the AVID program tutoring but if it is too hard they move back into 8th grade pre-algebra.

I have a fifth grader who next year I am going to try to get him in the 7th grade pre-algebra class as a sixth grader.

Standard progression:
Integrated Math Topics 1 grade 6
Integrated Math Topics 2 grade 6, 7
Algebra I grade 7, 8, 9

Geometry grade 8, 9, 10

Gifted progression is advanced by one year. All students, standard and gifted, are (theoretically) given math placement test and "placed appropriately". This varies in our district by principal and whether the child is in the gifted program. The district has, in the past, offered summer courses to skip a year of math in middle school (but not high school). This past summer they offered Algebra 1 and IMT2. These are standard, not gifted summer classes.

Looks like DD is doing "Flipped Math" and the kids are all going to be working at their own pace. I knew that was going to come sooner or later. They watch learning videos at home and take a quiz so the teacher can see if they understand. Then they work on the concepts in class the next day with the teachers' help. They have her started in 7th/8th grade math. It's supposedly the same thing as the previous year, just more in depth. He said he wants to see at least a years' progress in a year, although some kids will do more than that. Still not really clear on how this is going to work. If they score 90 percent on a final exam for the course they can skip out of it in middle school/high school (but get credit for it).

I have to say that I have never understood what 7th and 8th grade math mean although I see references to it on this board and other places. Six years of elementary math is already stretching it, iykwim. The best that I can figure out is that 7th and 8th grade math is a construct created to serve as a holding pattern for kids who are not ready for algebra. What my district and many others have done is to simply allow kids who are not ready for algebra to repeat Pre-algebra with some extras in 8th. I have seen other districts have kids repeat elementary math in 7th to delay Pre-algebra to 8th grade. I would also say that Pre-algebra is now a misnomer in many districts and a substantial portion (1/3 to 1/2) of the coverage is more properly Pre-Geometry. Transition math is probably a more fitting term.

So GT kids would take GT Pre-Algebra in 6th, GT Algebra I in 7th, and GT Geometry in 8th. Regular high-ish kids (becoming honors in high school) would take Pre-Algebra in 7th and Algebra I in 8th. Regular low-ish kids would take Pre-Algebra in 7th and Math 8 in 8th grade, thereby delaying Algebra I until 9th. There is also a little known (barely documented) program that allows 5th graders to take Pre-Algebra so that they can take GT Algebra I in 6th, GT Geometry in 7th, and GT Algebra II in 8th. The numbers vary from year to year but only a fraction of 1% of the kids are in this program. Of course, further acceleration is possible as my DS entered the program to take Pre-Algebra in 4th grade. He is the only kid his year but I believe there have been isolated instances of other kids in the past who have accelerated the same number of years but generally their last acceleration took place later in the educational process - middle or high school instead of 4th grade. Interestingly, once you hit high school, three tracks become four as more remedial math becomes available, perhaps in recognition that it doesn't take much to master elementary math, making it more difficult to separate until you get to Algebra and Geometry.