<p>Is it even possible to accelerate one's high school study in NY state?</p>
<p>The problem is that one takes Regents exams in these subjects, so for math there's a Regents exam in beginning algebra, one in geometry, and one in algebra 2 / trig. There are no Regents exams in precalculus or calculus, but 11th grade is a bit late to start accelerating. I think one is required to have taken the course to take the Regents exam. So how can one accelerate, even if one learns the course by self study or other outside work? Is the only acceptable instruction "certified" Regents course instruction?</p>
<p>The same dilemma appears in some other subjects as well.</p>
<p>NYS home schoolers can take the Regents without having taken a formal course, so I can’t imagine why public school students couldn’t do the same. If a student passes the 5 required Regents, he or she can get a letter of equivalency and use it to enroll in college. I’d check the NYSED website for age requirements. </p>
<p>I know home schoolers who started taking community college classes at 14, but as part of a dual enrollment program. They were considered high school students until they met the equivalency requirements.</p>
<p>I attended a NY state public high school and did some regents courses via self study and intuition (once you know a few basic rules in math, solutions to problems can often be derived via expansion from those rules, rather than memorizing how a textbook says to solve problems), such as finishing geometry + trig in a single year. I had no homework, problem sets, or required number of hours per week on the classes. Instead I only took the midterm and final, identical exams to the ones traditional students took. The final was probably a standard regents exam. </p>
<p>You don’t need to take the high school course to take the Regents, but there may still be hoops as far as getting credits for courses for your high school. My son took fast-paced Chemistry one summer through the CTY program and then took the Regents Exam in August. The high school gave him credit for the course, but without a grade. The Regent’s score appears on his transcript though.</p>
<p>What grade is your child in? Others in better school districts may have more to add, but in our district acceleration is accomplished by skipping 8th grade math (after a ramped up 7th grade honors math) and starting Algebra. Oh I just reread your post and since you mention Calculus, apparently your school must do the same thing.<br>
If you can demonstrate that your kid is really gifted in math you could probably petition to take Algebra in 7th (which would require some logistical work to get into geometry in 8th if your Jr high is separate from your hs) but in my experience your child would need to far surpass his peers to get something like that approved.
Another option I have seen is to take Geometry and Trig in the same year. Also, a math whiz might be able to bypass precalc and go straight into calc. Either way, if your school has nothing in place, what would happen after Calculus was completed though?</p>
<p>After calculus is Calc 2,3 and 4, linear algebra and differential equations. I assume that New York kids can attend community colleges or state universities for these sorts of classes?</p>
<p>^You can - but I can tell you despite having several colleges in town, and many more in the county finding classes that work with the rest of the high schooler’s schedule is almost impossible. Thankfully, enough kids in our high school figured out ways to finish BC Calc junior year, that they offered a more advanced course for my math guy when he was a senior. (Some took pre-calc in the summer, one had been at a more accelerated private school and the rest had petitioned to start Algeba a year earlier than the normal fast track.)</p>
<p>Both of my kids took Algebra 1 in 7th (along with about 40 other kids) so they had all of their math Regents completed by 9th. Our HS offers up to Calc 3. They also take Bio in 8th so they get that out of the way in MS. I have also heard of kids that have taken two math classes during the year so they get ahead that way. Here we have a combined Alg2/pre-Calc class for kids that can progress quickly. They would run out of math classes though (unless they take stats) so I’m not sure what their next step is.)</p>
<p>@missbwth2boys Yes I am aware that math exists beyond calculus. You “assume” however that all NY kids are within a commuting distance of a college, that is a no. Also that everyone could afford it. No again. And that it can be fit into a hs schedule. Another no. I don’t know the OPs situation but at our school it would make no sense to employ any acceleration strategies because after Calc AB you are at the end of the line.</p>
<p>@ mathmom - I agree it’s always a challenge with scheduling. I’m always somewhat jealous when I read about some of the dual enrollment options some folks have, as we get to figure out from term to term how to fit all of my kid’s required classes in while still having him take a class at the local college. He only has five classes a term to begin with so losing one class a day so he can take college level math is crazy. He’s doing a self study this term of a class of his choosing to keep five classes plus math.</p>
<p>But even if I’d known all that five years ago, I still wouldn’t have said no to advancing him in 5th grade. </p>
<p>It’s interesting to read about the different options and requirements across the country.</p>
<p>Some schools (looks like at least ours and mathmoms) offer past AB. We have BC and Calc 3 that quite a few kids (20-40 a year) take right at the HS, but like i said before quite a few of them start Algebra in 7th. Here AB is not a requirement. DD will go from precalc to BC to C3. We also have 8 (actually 9 but one is always a lab) classes a term (which I think is too many). So interesting all of the differences even in the same state.</p>
<p>I know in my high school it’s possible to take Algebra and the Regents in 7th grade, Geometry at the HS in 8th, 9th Algebra 2/Trig (Honors), 10th Precalc Honors, 11th Calc BC, and they usually do different things in their senior year like Calc 2. These kids are usually accelerated enough and smart enough to stay on a honors track and do BC rather than AB</p>
<p>I second the opinion that commuting to a college is a lot harder in practice than it may seem. Scheduling can be a nightmare, calendars don’t line up, transportation can be timeconsuming and costly. Yes, it can work, but it’s not something many people can arrange.</p>
<p>But that’s not a reason not to accelerate. There are online possibilities for additional math. And if a kid finishes available math at school, the extra block(s) allow them to take addition courses in other areas of interest. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments! I’m in Westchester County but not Scarsdale or Chappaqua. We have Calc BC available at the HS for those who did the honors track, but nobody that I’ve heard of has taken Integrated Algebra in 7th grade. My son is in 7th and is taking the usual 7th grade accelerated course that includes most of 8th grade math, so he can take IA in 8th grade, then Geometry (presumably honors) in 9th at the HS.</p>
<p>Also he’s studying IA at home because of a CTY summer course where we promised them that he would have Algebra 1 under his belt. It’s good for him finally to do some math where he has to put in some work. He’s doing pretty well on Regents IA (there are lots of old tests posted by the state) and he’s really just started, so there’s no doubt he would pass and he’ll probably do quite well.</p>
<p>It would create a bit of a logistical problem for him to take a class at the HS next year, but not insurmountable since the two buildings are within the same campus. Or he could take an online math course next year, say Geometry by self study. Actually there are several courses he could take next year at the HS that would be better than the MS courses he’s scheduled for. So far I haven’t seen the tiniest bit of flexibility from the administration so I don’t know how things would go if I have to petition. But his math teacher might help.</p>
<p>Do I have to get the school’s permission to take an early Regents exam? I checked with NY state and they said you can’t just walk in and take them (unlike the SAT where anyone can register.) Presumably if he were homeschooling I could give permission on behalf of his “school”, but he’s not homeschooling.</p>
<p>I think a good level of math prep coming out of HS would be multivariable calc and linear algebra, so accelerating 1-2 years faster than the standard “accelerated” curriculum. If I had to choose only one of those I would take linear algebra. Then he would have what I consider a basic introductory education from which he can specialize, or he’ll have time to take a bit more of everything. Whereas ending with Calc BC is simply wasting a lot of time.</p>
<p>You are extremely fortunate to have a high school on the same campus–my kids had to deal with busing around town which wasn’t very friendly to their schedules and in some cases we had to drive them ourselves. Try to arrange to go to the high school for a math class next year–unless the schools operate on radically different schedules, this should work well. </p>
<p>Assuming your child is ready for all this math, I would not worry too much at this point about what happens after BC. There are online options or in the worst case, your child will be able to take stats, or extra science, or do something else he might not otherwise have had time for–science fair project? Who knows what his interests will be in a few years?</p>
<p>You probably need to contact whichever school gives the Regents and arrange for him to take it. </p>
<p>oniongrass, you are indeed lucky that middle school and high school are in the same building. It should make acceleration easier. I ended up carpooling with two other parents when my son was in 8th grade. Luckily the high school periods started 10 or 15 minutes earlier than the middle school so they did 1st period at the high school and then we parents got them over to the middle school. A previous year, when there was only one kid with a parent who worked in the city, they used a school car. It was quite a production to get permission to skip ahead. Basically my son did the final exam for the previous course and aced it. </p>
<p>As for taking the Regents without taking the course, I talked to my son’s GC. In order to get credit they wanted to see the list of labs from CTY. (CTY had all the necessary paperwork to make it work.)</p>
<p>Effective this year, your son will have to take both the IA regents exam & the common core exam in math. Find out if your middle school gives the exam to 8th graders and ask if they can order additional exams. If not, then you will have to coordinate this with the high school.</p>
<p>sybbie719 thank you! The link on credit by exam is very helpful. I am confident that my son would get over 85 on the Regents exam. I have my doubts about getting the Superintendent’s cooperation – but it’s worth a try, and having this information will be useful in trying to move the required levers.</p>
<p>Regarding the first two links, I am not sure that students will ever have to take both common core and “regular” Regents exams – my understanding is that in a year or two the existing form of Regents exams will be replaced by the new Common Core aligned exams. (There might be a rebellion if even more exams were added.) I don’t see anything in the text about earning 2 units of math credit that contradicts this idea This year according to the schedule they give some Common Core aligned exams before the normal testing period but in restricted form, same as for Regents Competency Exams.</p>
<p>RCT’s are for students, typically special ed, who cannot be taught to the level of the regular Regents Exams. Presumably not many are given, and they may be reused year to year, hence the extra security.) I am guessing that similarly, this year’s CC aligned tests are a trial run (not sure who the guinea pigs are, hopefully not my son!), and they have extra security so they can reuse the same exact questions in a future year.</p>
<p>We just got a notice that said my DS (7th grade in Alg. 1) will have to take the Common Core version of the Regents exam and may take the IA Regents if he wants to. It says he will not have learned some of the AI material. If he takes both (although I can’t figure out any benefit to this) they will both be on his transcript. Only the highest score will go toward his Regents average on his diploma. He will also not have to take the NY state math test. When DD was in this position 3 years ago she had to take both. We are very fortunate that double accelerated is a standard class with 30-40 students each year. I believe they started it about 5 years ago.</p>
<p>Starting in 2013-14, New York State is aligning the ELA and math Regents exams to Common Core standards. </p>
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<p>if your son does not take the common core exam, the regents exam will not be valid for graduation purposes. We have not received any new as to how the common core exam will be used to provide credit by exam going forward since this is the first administration of the exam.</p>
<p>RCTs are State assessments available to eligible students who entered grade 9 prior to September 2011. Through the Local diploma Safety Net provision, eligible students with disabilities may fulfill the exam requirement for the Local diploma using RCTs if they are unable to pass the corresponding Regents exam with the needed score. Students may pass all Regents, all RCTs, or a combination of both. </p>
<p>However, if a student is using an RCT score towards the fulfillment of the Local diploma requirement, he or she must have taken each of the five required Regents exams at least once. </p>
<p>There the RCT exams are no longer valid as SWD who are entering high school as there is no longer an IEP diploma. All students now have to take regents exams to receive either a local or regents diploma. The state has implemented compensation scoring as part of the safety net provision. Students with disabilities must score a minimum of 55 on ELA and math regents. after that for each regents they score a 65+ on they may compensate another exam with a score of 45+</p>