Blending 7th and 8th grade CCSS to create a Pre-Algebra course

[Anonymous]

Hi.

During the implementation year of the CCSS in 2014-2015, the school district I work for will be offerring a middle school course called Pre-Algebra, which will be a blend of the 7th & 8th grade CCSS. 

Under the current pathways middle school students progress from 6th grade math, into Pre-Algebra, and then to Algebra 1.  In our current Pre-Algebra course 7th graders are taught 7th grade standards and 8th grade students remediate their 7th grade year.

What are your thoughts about creating a Pre-Algebra course using the 7th grade and 8th grade CCSS?

Thanks.

[Jim]

See the comments contained within the standards on this issue here:

http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf?#page=83

[Bill McCallum]

Note that there is some overlap between the Grade 8 and High School Algebra standards, with material on linear equations being revisited at greater depth in high school. Students who can handle an acceleration can probably also afford to eliminate this overlap. Otherwise squeezing two grades into one would be an awful stretch (or do a mean an awful squeeze?).

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Bill, for your feedback.  I have also been reading your comments on “CCSS Alg 1 in 8th Grade”.

At the middle schools in my district, we offer the following classes:

6th grade: regular, honors, and Pre-Algebra

7th grade: Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1

8th grade: Pre-Algebra (this class is a mix of 7th and 8th grade students), Algebra 1, and Geometry

When we implement the CCSS, we will still be offerring the same courses.  What are your thoughts on that – particularlly the 8th grade courses?

Thanks.

[Bill McCallum]

Without knowing the syllabus in detail it’s hard to say much. But one question: is there a regular curriculum based on the CCSS Grades 6–8? Apart from that question, I would just say that whatever the acceleration scheme, it should be based on thorough knowledge of what’s in the standards, since that provides the foundation for more advanced courses.

[Bill McCallum]

Without knowing the syllabus in detail it’s hard to say much. But one question: is there a regular curriculum based on the CCSS Grades 6–8? Apart from that question, I would just say that whatever the acceleration scheme, it should be based on thorough knowledge of what’s in the standards, since that provides the foundation for more advanced courses.

[Anonymous]

Thank you again, Bill, for your response.

When we implement the CCSS in 2014-2015, grade 6 will be based on the CCSS.  Grade 7 will become a blend of CCSS 7th & 8th grade standards and then titled “Pre-Algebra” or 7th grade students will take HS Algebra 1 (based on CCSS). In Grade 8, students will either take “Pre-Algebra” again if they need to remediate, take HS Algebra 1, or HS Geometry (also based on the CCSS).

Honestly, our accelerated pathways were not designed with the standards in mind, but are meant to support past practices.

As a HS Department Chair, I am concerned that our middle schools are not taking a more CCSS aligned pathway.   Is there cause for concern?  Can we effectively provide our middle school students will a deep mathematical understanding with our current design for implementation? Should HS Geometry be offerred at the middle school?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Cathy Kessel]

If you haven’t already done so, I suggest checking out the acceleration thread. That also discusses middle grades: http://commoncoretools.me/forums/topic/acceleration/page/2/#post-1750

[Bill McCallum]

Well, I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know (or haven’t already heard from me), but it’s nuts not to have a straight CCSS middle school curriculum available. Look in particular at the group of students who takes pre-algebra in Grade 7 and then takes it again in Grade 8 to remediate. From your description of pre-algebra it seems it is CCSS Grades 7 and 8 squashed into one year. So, instead of taking CCSS Grade 7 in Grade 7 and CCSS Grade 8 in Grade 8, these students take both CCSS Grades 7 and 8 in Grade 7 and then take them both again in Grade 8. Sorry to be blunt, but it’s this sort of madness that got us into the mess we are in now.

Massachusetts has some reasonable acceleration plans here. One of them is to take both Algebra I and Geometry in Grade 9. This is a non-acceleration acceleration scheme that recognizes the time it takes for most students to learn mathematics.

[pherman]

I realize this post is over a year old….but I am in a district working with the same issue/concern originally posted.

I am definitely curious as to how her district resolved this issue.

In my area there is a trend to have students take Algebra I as early in their educational experience as possible. My district typically offers it to “high achieving” students in Grade 8. (Many districts even offer it in 7th.)

Thanks for the links to some other sources, I plan to check them out next.
THEN… I may be back with some additional questions!

[Bill McCallum]

I don’t know how the district resolved the issue. I continue to think that for many students acceleration leads to shallow grasp of the mathematics, which ultimately leads to them hitting remediation when they get to college. Acceleration is like adderall: appropriate for some students but way over-used. Parents and schools are beginning to appreciate the problems with over-prescription of adderall; it’s time that started appreciating the problems with over-prescription of acceleration.

[Author]

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