Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Skipping a year of math in junior high?

At my son's high school, the catalog description of BC differs from what the counselor says is actually done. The catalog says it is a one year course that can stand alone, meaning that AB is not a prerequisite. But the counselor claims that everyone takes AB and those who go on take one semester of (I think she said) linear algebra using some MOOC and one semester of BC. I'm not overly happy about the MOOC thing, but I am happy that this school is finally giving options beyond AB.

Trig/Calc A is a prerequisite for BC in our district.

According to College Board AB is not supposed to be a prereq. to BC. I know some schools do it that way & turn it into a 2 year sequence. The schools I know all offer Calc AB OR Calc BC. AB covers 2/3 of the material BC does. If you were to take BC after AB, you would be covered the same information for most of the year. I don't think our H.S. even allows you to take Calc BC if you passed Calc AB.

If like my son you want to continue after taking AB you can take multi-variable (3rd semester) at the local community college. We aren't going to do that for DS because he's way to busy with other things.

bluemagic, is it not a requirement that they have to take 4 years of math in high school. If your DS does not take BC what does he take?

AB in our district is intended for seniors. Also only three years of math is required to graduate.

We are in a very competitive public school district in California. One of my friends' daughters just got into MIT. She is a real math whiz. She skipped pre-calculus and took two years of AP Calculus (AB and BC) at our high school, then took an advanced calculus class at our state university her senior year.
Several of her friends skipped AB Calculus and took BC Calculus. They said that was "really hard." (hard to skip AB and go into BC).
If 4 years of math aren't required to graduate, my son still plans to take 4 years since he wants a math/science career.

It seems strange not to have Calc A combined with something else. Our district has a track Algebra 2/Pre Calc, Trig/Calc A, Calc B/C, Multivariable Calculus. Some even have Multivariable junior year.

The recommended progression at our local public high school is: Alg. 2/Trig; Precalc; Calc AB and then Calc BC.

Due to a phenomenal Alg. 2/Trig. class made up of kids who had all been subject accelerated, our twins hated the slow pace and repetition of PreCalc the next year (mostly seniors). Fortunately, the school let them work independently and compact Precalc and Calc AB into a single school year (they got credit for Precalc but not for Calc AB). They were in a regular class for Calc BC this past academic year and it worked out well.

You only need two years of math and at least Algebra I (or now CC Integrated I) to graduate from High School. There is a two year Algebra (not Integrated I) class offered for the most struggling students. For the programs DS wants to take in college, 4 years of math is highly recommended.

The top math kids take AB or BC Calculus Junior year. Then AP Stats or AP Computer Science senior year. DS is taking AP Computer Science and he will take AP Physics I.

All these class are really easier math than Calc. AP Stats is an easier class, AP Comp Science is not math IMO but most H.S. & colleges consider it that way, and our school doesn't even offer Physics C (with Calculus). It's honestly a problem because these kids get to college and have had a year without Calculus and need a refresher. But DS is too busy with other things in his life & adding college applications to the mix to add taking a community college math class. And it won't really make or break anything in the long run.

I still think it's odd to have Calculus broken into two years. This wasn't the way it was done when I was in HS and it's not the way it done at the local one.

It's all in how you break up the material though... We have a years of Pre-Calc. Regular pre-calc leads to AB, H. Pre Calc leads to BC. The H. Pre-Calc includes some beginning Calculus topics to get a jump start on the next year. Kids who go right into BC, don't skip AB. I agree it would be difficult if it's broken up that way.

Why it's strange is because of how the AP tests are given & colleges give credit. One university DS is looking at gives credit for 2 'quarters' of Calc for the AB Calc Test, and 3 for BC Calc. IF you take both tests on different years, you only get credit for the later test. It's also odd since the letter ABC are meant to be break the material into 3. So if you take Calc AB one year, the next year of Cal BC would just be the C part and be slower? Or do they add extra material?

Edited to add: I've figured it out the reason schools turn Calculus into a "2-year" course is so students have more AP classes on their transcript. This looks "better" on their GPA & makes it easier for kids to get AP awards. And makes your school sound better because it offers more AP classes.