How to accelerate within high school Integrated Math

Hi…

My son is a rising 9th grader in a district that does Integrated Math (common core). He was tracked on the regular math path way back in 5th grade and is now yearning to accelerate. Big goal has always been to be an engineer (aerospace, as of lately).

Test scores are always high, but I think no teacher ever recommended him into the “advanced math” program due to his immaturity (also, he’s young for his grade). This, he will be in IM1 (integrated math 1) freshman year. He would like be to in IM2.

We didn’t realize the math path he’s on didn’t track to Calc AB or BC senior year. How would we have known this back in 5th grade?!

My son is despairing over the math path he’s on. He’s bored in class and grades slipped. He would like to accelerate, but how?

The big problem is that our California district recenty adopted Integrated Math. There are no classes offered outside of his school to accelerate. All the classes are traditional math: algebra, geometry, algebra 2, trig. District will not accept these traditional classes! Must be an IM class!

We are thinking of having him take a summer online algebra course via BYU online. He’s enrolled in an academic algebra class at a local Catholic school. Our high school will accept neither class, since neither used Integrated Math. I guess he could always submit these classes when applying for college, but not sure.

We feel so stuck!

Where is the loophole in this?

Tl;dr Rising 9th grader with affinity for math would like to accelerate but the school district said there are no options because they use Integrated Math.

Thank you!

I wonder how many schools let the parents know that they “tracked” their kids. The fact that THEY (yes, I meant the teachers) decided a kid’s Math sequence when a kid was in 5th grade made me sick. I didn’t find out they “tracked” the kids until I went to court with them for my older kid for other issues…

Is there any way you can find out how to skip the HS Math sequence ? May be talk to the Principal?

In the case of my younger kid. She found out her friend took a summer course, then went back to the HS to take the same exam he other 9th grader had and got an A, hence she asked me to let her take a summer course and successfully skipped Algebra 1. She did that so that she could be with her friends. I do not need them to accept the class, my kid just showed them she was capable of doing the same work.
It turned out to be a good plan as she could easily take her SAT/ACT in Junior year.

I know your school district said there are no option, but I can’t see how they can keep your kid if she can take the same exam as the 9th grader and scores a high grade.

We aren’t in California so I don’t know if this is possible at your school, but I would explore if your son could double up in math at his current school either this year or next year, so he’d be on track for Calc by senior year.

I would start by getting over the boredom and pulling up the grades.

It’s hard to make a case for accelerating if a kid doesn’t have top grades, no matter what the explanation.

If it were our school district, the student could enroll in one of the BYU online courses over the summer to complete Algebra. (Our school only accepts BYU online courses for whatever reasons.) But, I’d talk to the counselor and perhaps math department head in advance to see what other hoops they want you to jump through.

And in our district, it’s 3rd grade where they start the math tracks. Very limited mobility to join the most accelerated math track once you’re beyond 5th grade. By 7th grade, everyone is pretty much locked in.

We were able to get our middle schooler skipped in math by having him take the final exam of the course he skipped. Although we tried to arrange it in the spring it was like pulling teeth and in the end he didn’t even get to take the exam until school started in September. Integrated math sucks - our school system finally got rid of it, but too late for my kids.

My BFF made a D in 5th grade math because she was so bored. That was back in the days of the stupid self-paced cards you’d pull out of a box and follow instructions. She was finally accelerated. She majored in math and went on to get a PhD.

Both of my kids accerlated into the advanced math track. Both are engineers now. I have no idea about intergrated math.

One kid doubled up geometry and algebra II in sophomore year. The other skipped a semester of pre algebra in 8th grade and self studied algebra 1 for a semester while taking pre algebra the first semester. Never got less than an A and 5 on the AP calculus test.

I hate math tracking in middle school. I hate that in our school had one classroom of honors math and only 30 seats. If the United States wants more STEM majors, they need to stop math tracking when kids are immature, not fully formed and that more kids can succeed in STEM majors if given a chance. Math tracking in middle school puts so many kids in a track that also tracks science (to get into the honors science track, you had to be concurrently enrolled in honors math at my kids HS).

Just remember that if you are not successful, it is not the end of the world. It can appear that way on CC where it looks like every kid is taking Diffy Q as a high school junior. I don’t know if any college requires Calc in HS. From CMU for engineering:

High School Course Requirements
4 years English
4 years Mathematics*
1 year Chemistry
1 year Physics
1 year Biology
2 years Foreign Language
3 electives
*Four years of mathematics should include at least algebra, geometry, trigonometry, analytic geometry, elementary functions as well as pre-calculus. Advanced mathematics courses are encouraged.

Our HS curriculum has integrated math for grades 9-11 and it is offered at 3 different levels: for students headed to the workplace after graduation, for those headed to 2 year diploma programs or 4 year degree programs that do not require math, and for those headed to 4 year degree programs requiring math. At a few select schools AP may also be offered though it is not part of the standard curriculum and is not recognized for university admissions.

Tracking in grade 9 is primarily based on middle school teacher recommendation (there is no streaming at the middle school level, everyone takes the same integrated math). There are pathways to move between levels at the lower grades either with upgrade summer courses or doubling up during the school year (most of our schools are semestered). You should see if your school district offers either option.

When my D went to her highly selective college and my S went to his not selective but technical college, most if not every kid in engineering had ap calc ab and many had ap calc bc. I’m sorry, but to not have had ap calc in HS puts kids behind if they are to major in engineering, which is a major I have had knowledge of. Yes, CMU can say that ap calc is not mandatory but it will be the very rare exception for the kid that doesn’t.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t change that, by accelerating or going to community college. But know that the vast vast majority of the kids in your introductory calculus class have already had the material at a much slower pace.

Which is why there should be no streaming in elementary school. There is talk now in our school system of postponing streaming until grade 11 when students will have a better idea of their intended post-secondary pathways.

Some schools/districts used integrated math before Common Core, and some have it now with Common Core (which can be done with either integrated math or traditional algebra and geometry courses).

It does make it more difficult to accelerate compared to the traditional arrangement, where a student who wants to accelerate can take algebra 2 and geometry in the same year.

Some schools/districts do offer starting the integrated math sequence in middle school. Some offer an accelerated integrated math 3 course that prepares the student for calculus (e.g. the “Integrated Math III STEM” course at https://branham.cuhsd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=441549&type=d&pREC_ID=953673 ).

Very few colleges require calculus in high school, even for engineering majors. The short list: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/2015601-what-us-universities-explicitly-state-that-calculus-is-required-or-expected-for-frosh-applicants-p2.html .

Note that no UC or CSU requires calculus in high school. Engineering course plans start in calculus 1, assuming that the student has completed precalculus in high school. For example:
https://engineering.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate-guide/degree-requirements/me
https://flowcharts.calpoly.edu/downloads/mymap/17-19.52MEBSU.GENMEU.pdf

It is a good idea for students who complete precalculus in 11th grade to take calculus in high school if offered and they are aiming for a more selective college and/or a math-heavy major.

My daughter is a freshman who just finished integrated math 2 enhanced. They are recommending she skip integrated 3 and just move on to honors precalculus. If your son does well in the first year or two of high school, I bet you will have the same option so your son can take Calc AB before the end of high school. It is indeed a disadvantage to not experience slow paced calculus at the high school level before a college course.

@Eeyore123 Harvey Mudd requires it. My kid had just through AP Calc AB, and she really scrambled her first year there with other kids who pretty much all had at least through BC.

But I agree that getting acceleration is hard if the kid isn’t getting top grades in his current classes. If you really can’t get him accelerated, encourage him to try AoPS for fun.

There are two issues: one is your son preparing to successfully accelerate, and two is getting the school to agree to acceleration.

I’ll talk a little about the second issue first. As background reading, search for “Mathematics Framework and Acceleration to Higher Mathematics” (it will be at the California Department of Education website) or for a more detailed discussion, “Appendix D: Course Placement and Sequences of the Mathematics Framework” (also at the CDE website). As you’ll read, the California official stance on accelerating in math as of the adoption of integrated math and the Common Core is inherently rather negative, though there is some somewhat more accepting wording in Appendix D, wording which you may find useful when talking with your school. Regrettably, it doesn’t sound like your school district is offering any of the suggested acceleration pathways. [And this is why the CDE talk of “equity” regarding the CC/IM math pathways is so disingenuous: knowledgable parents in high-performing school districts ensure that their districts offer and their kids are placed in compacted, accelerated classes and tracks before or during middle school. Whereas kids in other school districts can end up “locked out” of straightforward options for accelerating in math, and then at something of a disadvantage for college admissions and college success. Grrr.]

You mention that your son tests well. That’s good, because as several posters have already mentioned, your son should plan on being able to demonstrate his readiness for IM2 by taking and doing well on the 9th grade end-of-year IM1 test. In the absence of taking a class labelled “IM1”, it is extremely likely that showing he can do well on the end-of-year IM1 test will be necessary to convince the school to allow him to go directly into IM2.

As far as learning the IM1 material goes: an Algebra 1 class isn’t going to cover exactly the same material. I suggest also taking a look at Aleks Math, which offers an online IM1 course. In theory, you could learn all of IM1 online with Aleks; in reality, I’d have grave doubts that most kids would do well with just Aleks. However, it could be an efficient way to find and fill in any “gaps” between what an Algebra 1 class covers and what IM1 covers. But take a look now (I think Aleks offers a couple hour free trial – maybe get through the diagnostic test) and check where your son is at now. Taking an actual algebra 1 class over the summer is probably a good idea (unless the diagnostic test shows your son is really, really strong at algebra already!) – he needs to have a really solid algebra introduction to keep progressing in math. But if he remains motivated enough (and not burnt out on summer math by the algebra class), he’ll still need to follow-up on the algebra 1 class to be ready for the non-algebra, alternate material that’ll show up on an IM1 test.

Aleks is well-suited for kids who intuit math concepts, don’t like/need much drill, are self-directed and curious, and just need to fill in gaps. The Aleks theory is that it just naturally expands one’s math understanding without really needing lectures/detailed explanations, using an artificial intelligence engine to keep presenting kids with the “next step” of math; it sort of works, but when a kid does hit something that really isn’t making sense to them, the terse Aleks explanation probably isn’t going to be much help. (So if you were trying to rely on Aleks alone to learn IM1 material, I’d expect you’d need additional resources – maybe also hire a tutor to supplement with direct instruction when appropriate.)

Finally, it is true that your kid doesn’t necessarily need to get to Calculus in high school to get into engineering in college – but lacking it is a disadvantage compared to the other kids who’ll be applying who have taken Calculus. If trying to accelerate at the beginning of high school doesn’t happen, one more way to get to Calculus in high school is to take a pre-calculus at a community college or even online (if sufficiently motivated and responsible) the summer between junior and senior year. Pre-calculus is a course that, thirty years ago, was an optional course: extra-strong students sometimes skipped it to go straight to Calculus. I don’t recommend skipping it entirely – lack of adequate pre-calculus preparation is probably the biggest single problem for students in Calculus. But it’s a class where the community college version of the class should be more than adequate preparation (possibly better) than the high school year-long version. And I’ve known several kids who successfully studied pre-calculus online over the summer to get ready for Calculus senior year.

It is going to be difficult to argue for acceleration if his grades are not good. Are there tracks within the IM? That is, is there IM1 honors and regular? The best approach is for him to start doing well in the math class he is in, regardless of boredom. That may be the best way to convince the teachers and administrators he can handle the faster pace of the accelerated classes. What is the school’s criterion for moving kids up a level?

Some districts are very strict about kids being in honors or accelerating, while others will allow a parental over-ride, even if everyone thinks it is a bad idea. Find out the policy in your district. But make sure your son understands that even accelerated math is going to require some boring, time consuming problems. He may still be bored so he has to be willing to do the work.

His school’s math pathway (with no acceleration so far): Math 8 (middle school, the masses take this), IM1 (grade 9), IM2 (grade 10), IM3 or IM3 STEM (grade 11). Grade 12 options are: precalc/IM4, AP statistics, AP Computer Science, Statistics, Senior Math seminar.

If a child was accelerated somewhere along the line, they can reach Calc AB or Calc BC.

My child’s big hangup in every class is “playing the game,” which means even through he’s mastered concepts, he still has to do the pointless busywork (like coloring graphs, maps, historical pictures).

I wish that at the time my son was tracked, that we had been informed of this. I didn’t know anything about it until my son received his middle school classes and friends’ schedules said “Advanced math” and his did not. I might have put him in summer school or had him test out. I didn’t know that the math pathway started so young and was pretty much locked in until I went to the high school orientation and they showed a slide about pathways. WOW. That was eye opening. But other people knew about these pathways way before I did and helped their kid to be in the right path. Mostly those parents had older kids, so they knew the system.

Check if “IM3 STEM” is an accelerated course that allows the student to take calculus the following year.