<p>“Isn’t this a sign that many kids in the 7th grade algebra class weren’t ready for it?” Of course it is. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about how they were unable to apply simple algebra in subsequent courses. But when you have an administration in place that isn’t willing to say no to parents or to tighten standards when there are obvious problems down the road, this is what you get. Perhaps the teacher cited by the OP has similar feelings about their program. I think a lot of parents simply aren’t aware how important a firm grasp of algebra1 is. They also apparently don’t realize that once you start the track of high school math, the difficulty keeps ramping up and if you can barely handle year one, you are headed for trouble down the road. The students are tracked by 5th grade teachers and I have to think that they don’t follow up to see how the kids they put in algebra are doing several years later. With a weak administration, and with parents either unaware or unwilling to let Johnny be behind Susie in math, the only thing that can be changed is the course progression itself. </p>
<p>I actually don’t have a problem with putting a lot of kids in algebra1 in 7th grade because it can be hard to judge who can handle it, and certainly many people don’t like the idea of kids being held back if they want to do something. I just think there needs to be an expectation that kids who don’t do A level work will repeat the class with no shame, and that high standards will be enforced.</p>