Middle School Advanced Math

History of Advanced Math in Galloway Prior to : o Highest 8 th grade course available – Algebra I o Reasons to Consider a Change… Students who wish to take Calculus BC in High School would need to skip their study hall as freshman and take two math courses (Geometry and Algebra II) Other districts in the area offered Geometry to 8 th Graders present: o Highest students took Algebra I in 7 th and Geometry in 8 th o Eliminated the need to take 2 math courses as Freshman

Common Core Pathways 7th Grade 7 Common Core ½ Grade 8 Common Core 8th ½ Grade 8 Common Core Algebra I 9th Honors Geometry 10 th Honors Algebra II 11 th Honors Pre-Calculus 12 th AP Calculus AB

High School Mathematics in Middle School “Skipping material to get students to a particular point in the curriculum will likely create gaps in the students’ mathematical background, which may create additional problems later, because students may miss important content from eighth-grade mathematics.” To prepare students for high school mathematics in eighth grade, districts are encouraged to have a well-crafted sequence of compacted courses compress content, which requires a faster pace to complete, as opposed to skipping content

Content that would be skipped if Algebra I was taught in 7 th grade Grade 8 Irrational Numbers Transformations – translations, reflections, rotations, dilations Pythagorean Theorem Volume of cylinders, cones, spheres Grade 7 Proportions Percents Scale drawings Area & Circumference of Circles Supplementary & Complementary angles Random Sampling Probability

Achieve Group’s Recommendations content should compact 3 years of content into 2 years, at most compacting content from 2 years into 1 year would be too challenging So…. o compact grades 7, 8, and High School Algebra I into two years: “Accelerated 7 th Grade” and “8 th Grade Algebra I.”

Achieve’s Guidelines Compacted courses should include the same Common Core State Standards as the non- compacted courses. Decisions to accelerate students into high school mathematics before ninth grade should be based on solid evidence of student learning. Placing students into tracks too early should be avoided at all costs. It is not recommended to compact the standards before grade seven. A menu of challenging options should be available for students after their third year of mathematics— and all students should be strongly encouraged to take mathematics in all years of high school.

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