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^^ Well, in Wake County if you say - when your child is in 5th grade - that you expect them to go to college, they put them on a certain track. I've posted about this before, but my DS was in the lower math in 6th and 7th grade. I ran into the grade level V.P. over the summer and we talked about my other child, and then I said I hoped the other one would be ok in math for 8th grade and she mentioned him going into Math 8....which is CCMI just at a slightly slower pace. I was distracted as it didn't sound right to me...fast forward to October and he's failing and the guidance counselor (who was new) was like "why is he in this math"...."because his parents said they want him to go to college"....egads. I need him to get through high school first without we all make ourselves insane! We were gonna move him but it would have meant moving around his schedule. We got him squared away with some remedial math in HS and he's coming along now (he's also been dx with a math LD).
In Chapel Hill it goes solely by standardized test scores - no teacher involvement in the decision. I've been dealing with the math issue here in Chapel Hill Schools for three years. We have spoken to the teachers, the principal, and the district math coordinator. You don't get the score, you don't get into Algebra 1 in 8th grade.
We moved here from Virginia which doesn't follow Common Core, but the math classes were similar to what is here in CH. We had Math 8, Algebra 1, Algebra 1 Honors, or Algebra 2 as 8th grade options in Virginia. CH has the same except that there is only one Algebra 1 class - no differentiation between Alg. 1 and Alg. 1 honors, and they are much stricter about who they allow in to Algebra 1 here. It's not like Wake County.
I guess that's how CHCCS maintains their status as the best district in NC, huh? lol I suspect that Wake's threshold is lower.
We moved from Georgia which does follow Common Core but which actually made a distinction between Algebra and Geometry. Unless I'm missing something somewhere, I've not seen anything similar in NC's curriculum.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Originally Posted by papilgee4evaeva
I guess that's how CHCCS maintains their status as the best district in NC, huh? lol I suspect that Wake's threshold is lower.
We moved from Georgia which does follow Common Core but which actually made a distinction between Algebra and Geometry. Unless I'm missing something somewhere, I've not seen anything similar in NC's curriculum.
Geometry comes after Algebra 1, I believe.
I'm not sure that this is why CH maintains its reputation. It's a new policy in CH as of only about 3-4 years ago. It used to be that about 70% (I believe) took Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Then they changed it apparently because too many people weren't doing well in high school. Unfortunately, I think they made the rules too restrictive. My daughter, who gets about 85% on her math standardized tests could not be on the track to take Math 1 in 8th grade (as she was in our old district). And instead was put in general ed. math. In general ed. math there is no differentiation between students. So while someone in compacted math can be assured they are in class with students like them (95% or better on test), someone who has an 85% on standardized test can be in class with students who have 50% or 30% or 10% on standardized tests. She's been in two horrible math classes out of three years in middle school.
My belief of why Chapel Hill is "the best in the state" is because they have a lot of smart students here (children of doctors, professors, etc.). And Chapel Hill educates and challenges their upper tier (top 3-5% of students) very well. Beyond that, I have not been very impressed with the school system, particularly at the middle school level.
Oh, and I just remembered for the upcoming 6th graders, students need a "5" on the EOG in either 4th or 5th grade AND a 92% on a performance-based assessment to get into compacted math next year. CH has changed their qualifications every year for the past 4 years. It was 95% on a certain standardized test my older daughter's year, then it was 90% the following year. Then they started letting in kids with 95% on the fall performance-based assessment (my daughter got a 95% on the winter one, but that didn't count). Not sure what the standards were for this year's 6th grade class. I'm not convinced that they know what their doing, to be honest with you.
All this to say, the OP will have to call the district to find out.
Honestly, sounds pretty confusing to me. I definitely don't want to push my incoming 8th grader into something he wouldn't be able to handle so I will be perfectly happy with Math 8.
I guess I will call the district to see how they decide when someone transitions into the system from a different state. I don't think we have the same structure here in Florida.
That's how it's been in my experience, as a student in VA and then on the periphery of the school systems in MD and GA. I've been perusing the NC course descriptions for literally the past couple of hours and can hardly find a system offering a course that just teaches geometry (Charlotte-Mecklenburg is the one exception). They incorporate it into Math I through III, but I doubt it gets the attention it deserves.
Quote:
I'm not sure that this is why CH maintains its reputation. It's a new policy in CH as of only about 3-4 years ago. It used to be that about 70% (I believe) took Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Then they changed it apparently because too many people weren't doing well in high school. Unfortunately, I think they made the rules too restrictive. My daughter, who gets about 85% on her math standardized tests could not be on the track to take Math 1 in 8th grade (as she was in our old district). And instead was put in general ed. math. In general ed. math there is no differentiation between students. So while someone in compacted math can be assured they are in class with students like them (95% or better on test), someone who has an 85% on standardized test can be in class with students who have 50% or 30% or 10% on standardized tests. She's been in two horrible math classes out of three years in middle school.
My belief of why Chapel Hill is "the best in the state" is because they have a lot of smart students here (children of doctors, professors, etc.). And Chapel Hill educates and challenges their upper tier (top 3-5% of students) very well. Beyond that, I have not been very impressed with the school system, particularly at the middle school level.
Oh, and I just remembered for the upcoming 6th graders, students need a "5" on the EOG in either 4th or 5th grade AND a 92% on a performance-based assessment to get into compacted math next year. CH has changed their qualifications every year for the past 4 years. It was 95% on a certain standardized test my older daughter's year, then it was 90% the following year. Then they started letting in kids with 95% on the fall performance-based assessment (my daughter got a 95% on the winter one, but that didn't count). Not sure what the standards were for this year's 6th grade class. I'm not convinced that they know what their doing, to be honest with you.
All this to say, the OP will have to call the district to find out.
That sucks for your daughter. In Wake, students who finish Math 7 Plus automatically get placed in Math 8 regardless of their EOGs. (I just asked my wife, who teaches Math 8 and Math I, what the policy was.)
The bolded part of your statement is a fair point, though the same can be said of Wake and Durham. I'd say that the percentages of smart -- or, "highly motivated" -- students in CHCCS are higher, for various reasons.
But yeah, the OP won't know just by watching us discuss the mishandling of middle school math by this state.
Michgc: you said your daughter couldn't take Math I and was put into the general math class. While I understand that the level of instruction might be different, but how does that affect the classes she can take in high school?
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Michgc: you said your daughter couldn't take Math I and was put into the general math class. While I understand that the level of instruction might be different, but how does that affect the classes she can take in high school?
I have a sheet with the pathways, and if I find it, I will post it. But basically, it's Math 1 in 9th grade then Math 2 in 10th. I forgot what 11th is called. Most kids on this track end up in Pre-calc. in 12th grade. However, a student can diverge in 11th grade into an honors class and then do Calculus in 12th grade.
However, most of the other students in calculus in 12th grade are the ones who did algebra 1 in 8th grade and will have had pre-calc in 11th grade and then calc in 12th grade. To me, it is very foolish to think that putting kids like my daughter in general math in 8th grade who have potential to possibly end up in calculus in 12th grade will do better in calculus skipping the pre-calculus class versus compacting 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math into two grades and taking pre-calculus before calculus. It puts her and other students like her at a serious disadvantage. I honestly have no faith in the powers that be at CH-Carrboro schools.
As I said, these pathways are all new to Chapel Hill, and there are many people who are against the way they are doing them, not allowing flexibility as they do in most other school districts.
If you are going to be living in CH-Carrboro school district you have good info from michgc. If you are living in Wake County, the parents ultimately can override the school decision. However, Wake uses block scheduling so once you realize a class is not the right fit, it can be too late to change.
And no - they're not going to hold your kid back if they fail the EOG. IMO, the EOG has nothing to do with my kid -- it's a test to score the school.
And also evaluate the teacher - which is why they all freak out about them so much.
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In Wake, students who finish Math 7 Plus automatically get placed in Math 8 regardless of their EOGs. (I just asked my wife, who teaches Math 8 and Math I, what the policy was.)
