Anyone Have An 8th Grader in Accel Math Wondering About Which "Math Path" To Take in H.S.? (home, middle school)

[oldhousegirl]

Hey there. We live in Fayette county and returned from a rising 9th grader math meeting last week. The two different paths offered to our son in accelerated math have us wondering what other folks are experiencing with the new math standards.

My son is hanging in there and has received a mid to lower level "B" throughout the school year. If he takes "Track 1" in H.S. he would go into Accel Math II. If he chooses "Track 2" he would be in Accel Math I, which would esentially be a repeat of his 8th grade year in course work, but a different teacher because he would be in H.S.

I'm leaning toward having him take Accel Math I again - because I don't feel he has a solid grasp on the material. In the meeting last week, I really felt the parents were being steered toward having their child repeat the course.
Comments were made by the administration suggesting that only a handful of the brightest of the bright should continue onto Accel Math II.

The final paths would involve AP courses whether he took Accel I or II. I just don't want him to not be challenged sufficiently or not be on the "favored path" where the kids get the most attention, etc.

This is something to consider if you are new to Ga. Also what are others doing? Thanks.

[netdragon]

It's best to be a little challenged than be bored. I didn't grow up in GA (grew up in CT), but I can say this kind of thing is common due to limited spaces in advanced classes everyhere. They go by statistics and past experience, but if you don't think your situation fits that, then make your own choice since they are often wrong. I as always getting switched between high and average math because I was getting too high a grade in average math but was getting an average grade in high math. I finally said enough is enough and for the last 3 years of school, I stuck to high courses and got an A in Trigonometry junior year and an A in calculus my senior year of high school.

Re-taking the class doesn't necessarily mean he'll learn any more if he is bored and just coasts through it. It could be a little regressive.

[oldhousegirl]

Thanks for your response. Sadly, once he picks a track, he can't change out of it due to how they are rolling out the new math standards programming.
That is a problem.

[netdragon]

So he still has a choice at this point but once he makes it he's locked in? It may be best for him to make his own decision and he can live with the choice he makes. He's almost an adult and he may need help guiding him through the choice and advocating for the choice he makes, but he can probably make this decision in the end. The follow-through after he makes the choice with living up to the responsibility he takes on is just as important as initially making the choice. If he chose to challenge himself, then it's up to him to make sure he succeeds and puts in extra effort if necessary. If it turns out to not have been the best choice, then it's a learning experience. The choice he makes now will be nothing compared to the choices he'll need to start making 4 years from now.

[RainyRainyDay]

Yes, I have an 8th grader in Accelerated Math I in Cobb. She pretty much is "the brightest of the bright" as you put it, but really struggled with math at the beginning of the school year. She got her first B since 3rd grade (in any subject) on the first report card, and I think if she hadn't had a lot of support and attention at home (she's an only child), plus a really great math teacher, she might easily have gotten turned off and decided math wasn't for her. However, she hung in there and her teacher gave her what seems to have been a very influential pep talk around Christmas, and since then she's been much more confident and successful in math.

So, our daughter has been recommended for Accel Math II at high school, and in view of her recent performance we haven't felt a need to consider other options. I don't know if it's a matter of school or Cobb county policy, but for my daughter and her classmates, their middle school teachers propose what course they should take at high school. I heard it's more up to the parents in some other counties, which sounds like it would include Fayette.

I'm a pretty lucky parent in regard to academics, obviously, but I sympathize with your dilemma. Do you like your son's teacher? If you do, I suggest you try talking with her/him. How does your son himself feel about it?

About the rolling out of this new curriculum, the curriculum itself seems OK, but our kids are unlucky to be not merely on the leading edge of implementation, but in effect, ahead of the leading edge due to being the accelerated program. It's very much the bleeding edge! The curriculum designers have been just a few months ahead of our kids, this year, and the ongoing absence of textbooks drives me CRAZY.

[lastminutemom]

I agree speak directly with the teacher.

I disagree with Rainy Rainy Day. I believe that the curriculum changes brush off what is the underlying problem in GA related to math -- which is mastery of the basics and instead is a lot of fluff and stuff.

I also object to how it has been rolled out. Terrible. I am not a fan of Kathy Cox, state super. of education, at all and this just seals the deal.

I know numerous public school educators who are going to pull their own kids out of public school because they are so concerned about the math curriculum.

[RainyRainyDay]

From the Georgia standards:

Accelerated Mathematics 1
This is the first in a sequence of mathematics courses designed to prepare students to take AB or BC Advanced Placement Calculus. It includes radical, polynomial and rational expressions; functions and their graphs; quadratic and radical equations; fundamentals of proof; properties of polygons, circles and spheres; coordinate geometry; sample statistics and curve fitting.

Yes, that's what my daughter has been learning this year. It's all fundamental material I studied in high school math long ago - although not until a much higher grade level than 8th grade. Where's the "fluff and stuff" exactly?

I do agree the change could have been rolled out better, and this is hard on the class of 2012, including my child.

I guess those public educators planning to pull their kids out of public school must have rich spouses, since I can't imagine how anyone could afford to send a kid to private school on a teacher's salary.

[oldhousegirl]

The replies give me something to mull over, that's certain. Netdragon, you're so right about choices. My son's current teacher seems to think that he can handle going into Accel Math II, but he would have to "work very hard", to use her words. Initially my son wanted to go into the tougher course but after the meeting, he has reconsidered, for now atleast.

I considered private H.S. for about 2 seconds while scanning the colorful websites and reeling at the high costs!! Grad school cost less. I know that whatever happens, it will work out in the end. I just hate being the Guinea pig family.

[lastminutemom]

Actually, nationally a disproportionate number of teachers do send their children to private schools -- usually they are in two income families. I sometimes equate it to watching sausage being made -- you know what they say about that.

Nationally, every state that is doing better than us (opps, depending on the measurement that is anywhere from 48 to 25 states) doesn't teach math this way. It seems to work for them -- why should we try something new. By the way -- the only test that will measure (anytime soon) whether this curriculum is working will be designed by educators in GA. No independent evaluation anytime soon.

Also, this type of curriculum has failed in multiple states. Our children are being experimented on ... and it is a shame.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I believe that the curriculum changes brush off what is the underlying problem in GA related to math -- which is mastery of the basics and instead is a lot of fluff and stuff.

That's a problem everywhere, even in the northeast. To make school more interesting, they try to borrow ideas from programs like Montessori, however the teachers were never properly trained and the classes are too large. I don't believe in memorization and routine, but students shouldn't be taught basic geometry before they have mastered arithmetic. I believe that schools should do more to make school more interesting and make student well-rounded, but not at expense of the basics. It's more about the teaching methods than the material. Schools usually have it backwards -- same "spoon-feeding" teaching methods, more interesting material instead of having the children take more responsibility for their own learning (like college). The end result is they are even less prepared for higher learning because not only do they not know how to take responsibility for their own learning, but they also were taught a lot of trivia that won't really apply later in life.

I'd like to hear comments on how Bush's "No student left behind" plan has affected education because my take is that he's further deteriorated the educational system with more time spent on standardized testing and less federal resources provided to school systems.