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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools have revised their math pathways a bit, and the qualifications to get into compacted math are now very narrow. My rising 7th grade daughter is above average in math but does not have the 95% EOG score to get into compacted math (which leads to Algebra 1 in 8th grade). She found the 6th grade math class to be ridiculously easy, and we were strung along all year by the school and district - being told that she could do compacted math next year which moves a bit faster and leads to Alg. 1 in 8th grade. We were told there would be a summer school class students can take, we were told they would look at broader qualifications for inclusion in compacted math like teacher recommendation, how they perform in class, etc. rather than just a one-day test score. When all was said and done, they went back on their word and based it totally on the 6th grade EOG score.
My daughter was advanced in math in our former school district (which is a very highly-rated district), but now she is being kept in general math and there is no discussing it with the school or the district.
I've heard that Wake County's requirements are less strict and I'm wondering if most pretty smart kids are doing Algebra 1 in 8th, and if this is ultimately going to hurt my daughter down the road when she gets to high school and applies to college. I'm curious how she stands against other bright students in the area as far as what math class she's in.
I have been beyond unhappy with my daughter's middle school, Culbreth Middle School - and this is just one of the issues, but the one I am most riled up about.
For my middle schooler to accelerate in WCPSS' 6th grade, there were two tests + EOG scores from 4th and 5th grades. It resulted in doubling up i.e., skipping 6th grade math and completing 7th grade math and Common Core Math 1 (Algebra 1) during the 6th grade academic year.
To continue doubling up in grade 7 i.e., to take both Common Core Math 2 and 3 (Geometry and Algebra 2), the criteria includes quarterly results from CCM1, EOC result for CCM1, and EVAAS prediction.
My kids struggle with math, but as the above poster has good info. Wake County is also using what they call "single subject acceleration" for math and LA - you can do SSA for ONE of those subjects and you skip a grade level of content. I haven't paid much attention to the criteria for getting in. My DD wants to do it for LA but I told her we will wait till next year to think about it.
If you go to wcpss website you can get more info on how their SSA works.
FWIW I know a couple kids who were in the accelerated math (which I think they called Math 7 in our school) in 6th grade and really struggled with it. But yet they were trying to open another section of that math due to all the parents wanting their kids to go into it.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools have revised their math pathways a bit, and the qualifications to get into compacted math are now very narrow. My rising 7th grade daughter is above average in math but does not have the 95% EOG score to get into compacted math (which leads to Algebra 1 in 8th grade). She found the 6th grade math class to be ridiculously easy, and we were strung along all year by the school and district - being told that she could do compacted math next year which moves a bit faster and leads to Alg. 1 in 8th grade. We were told there would be a summer school class students can take, we were told they would look at broader qualifications for inclusion in compacted math like teacher recommendation, how they perform in class, etc. rather than just a one-day test score. When all was said and done, they went back on their word and based it totally on the 6th grade EOG score.
My daughter was advanced in math in our former school district (which is a very highly-rated district), but now she is being kept in general math and there is no discussing it with the school or the district.
I've heard that Wake County's requirements are less strict and I'm wondering if most pretty smart kids are doing Algebra 1 in 8th, and if this is ultimately going to hurt my daughter down the road when she gets to high school and applies to college. I'm curious how she stands against other bright students in the area as far as what math class she's in.
I have been beyond unhappy with my daughter's middle school, Culbreth Middle School - and this is just one of the issues, but the one I am most riled up about.
Based on my personal experience, yes, it will impact her college applications. If you are confident that she can successfully do the work, fight for this one. If it's too much for her in the end, she can always drop back, but it's impossible to "catch up" if she misses this placement. I was put in the mid-level math in 7th grade, which put me a year behind in high school compared to the students who were otherwise my academic peers. That meant I was in pre-calculus during college applications, while my "competition" were all in AP calculus. For me, it ended up being the difference between my dream school and my "match" school. I ended up at UNC-CH, so it wasn't an academic tragedy, but the placement in 7th grade definitely play a huge role the in the trajectory of my education.
I will say that this is one of the rarely discussed drawbacks of CHCCS. I love Chapel Hill, and would have happily lived there my whole life if I didn't get an amazing opportunity to get my PhD elsewhere. But, Chapel Hill is like Lake Wobegon - All the kids are above average. It's a small pond full of big fish. I'm sure I could come up with a few more cliches... There are legends of kids applying to Harvard as a safety school with UNC-CH as a reach, because the majority of the kids qualify for UNC-CH, but they can only take so many students from one town. All of this is to say that I sense the schools are more rigid and narrow when it comes to defining achievement.
Michgc, math is not my rising 8th grader's strong suit and she's in a charter so I have no words of wisdom on the CHCCS front there, BUT, I did experience a very similar situation growing up. My cohort was the first year in a newly built middle school in 8th grade after we had one year in junior high in 7th grade. (Changed schools every year for 4 years, too, 6th=elementary, 7th=jr high, 8th=middle, 9th=highschool.) For my 8th grade year in the brand new school they didn't really have their shtuff together and they did not offer Algebra I in 8th to anyone, so a whole bunch of the smart kids ended up going to summer school and picking up Algebra I or II or Geometry so they could get to Calculus by senior year. I didn't do it because math was not my thing, but I had lots and lots of friends who did. I have heard that some kids in CHCCS do take summer school courses in high school to improve their standing, so I would imagine (don't have any first hand info) that something similar could play out with Math here.
I am sorry she didn't get into Compacted Math. I haven't been down that road with my rising 5th grader yet, but it is something I should probably be thinking about. She doesn't really like math, but she does well in it, but not 95% on the EOG, more like 90%. She excels in the language arts — way above grade level, so they keep giving her advanced math work, too, but she doesn't want it. Wonder if I need to push her toward a track to get advanced Math in high school. Grrr...
Sorry Culbreth has not been a good fit. I don't really know many folks over there. We're slated for Smith.
WCPSS now uses Math 1, Math 2 and Math 3 for high school level math course names (as opposed to Algebra 1 and geometry) because the required courses aren't all exclusive anymore.
That said, my 8th grader is math 2 (second year of high school math which used to be geometry) but she was accelerated during elementary school and that was based solely on test scores at that time (she was in the very first cohort to do SSA). My understanding now is that WCPSS uses other measures as well as EOGs and at the middle school level, they have been allowing students to move up to Math 1 who got an A in their 7th grade math class, who express a strong interest in doing the work and whose teachers think they are good candidate.
Ditto what Lamishra said. Taking "Algebra 1" in 8th grade does not involve SSA in Wake County.
"Algebra 1" is now "Common Core 1", and the pathway to CC1 in 8th grade is:
6th grade -- Math 6+
7th grade -- Math 7+
8th grade -- Common Core 1
My daughter is also a rising 7th grader and was in Math 6+ last year. In her "team" (6th grade was divided into three teams for core subjects), there was only one Math 6 class. I'd say about 75% of the kids in her grade were in Math 6+ or Math 7+.
I'm not sure what the qualifications are for Math 6+/Math 7+, but it seems pretty subjective. It's not nearly as strict as SSA, and I'm pretty sure parents can have some influence.
I'm kind of suprised that a CH middle school is resisting moving her up, typically the more kids in CC1 or Algebra 1 in 8th grade is often used as a measure of how good a school is. Unless they only want kids they are confident will do well so they don't muddy the school's test scores.,
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,779 posts, read 15,793,171 times
Reputation: 10888
Thanks for the replies, everyone. That's what I was thinking - that most bright children would have the opportunity to reach Algebra 1 in 8th. Chapel Hill is pushing hard to make it 9th grade high school class for most students. It's frustrating to me because it sets the track for high school, and she will be competing for college admittance with all the kids in other school districts who are not making it so restrictive to take Alg. 1 in 8th, which was pretty much the norm in our old district. The really smart kids were advanced 2 years and doing Algebra 2 in 8th and the kids who needed help were doing Algebra 1 in 9th. But most regular smart kids did Algebra 1 in 8th. Ugh, I'm so annoyed!
Based on my personal experience, yes, it will impact her college applications. If you are confident that she can successfully do the work, fight for this one. If it's too much for her in the end, she can always drop back, but it's impossible to "catch up" if she misses this placement. I was put in the mid-level math in 7th grade, which put me a year behind in high school compared to the students who were otherwise my academic peers. That meant I was in pre-calculus during college applications, while my "competition" were all in AP calculus. For me, it ended up being the difference between my dream school and my "match" school. I ended up at UNC-CH, so it wasn't an academic tragedy, but the placement in 7th grade definitely play a huge role the in the trajectory of my education.
I will say that this is one of the rarely discussed drawbacks of CHCCS. I love Chapel Hill, and would have happily lived there my whole life if I didn't get an amazing opportunity to get my PhD elsewhere. But, Chapel Hill is like Lake Wobegon - All the kids are above average. It's a small pond full of big fish. I'm sure I could come up with a few more cliches... There are legends of kids applying to Harvard as a safety school with UNC-CH as a reach, because the majority of the kids qualify for UNC-CH, but they can only take so many students from one town. All of this is to say that I sense the schools are more rigid and narrow when it comes to defining achievement.
I have mentioned this on here and in person to folks who I helped relocate here. When you have schools full of high achieving kids, it makes it hard for some kids to stand out, or have opportunities they would have in other districts. And your point is well taken, very accurate, regarding college admissions. My friend whose kids went thru CH schools tells me that the pressure is so intense in HS that many kids take Adderall so they can handle the pace, especially exams. She had an A++ grade child and a B/C child. Her B/C was lost, felt she had a very low intelligence level. Her A kid joined the others in doing Adderall to keep up. Sad.
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