<p>@mathyone, got it. I understand now. Your school sounds like mine. Parents push administrators to place their child into 7th grade algebra I because, well, little Suzy or Tom is in 7th grade algebra. The problem is a student can be smart and hard working and still not be ready for algebra I.</p>
<p>I actually held my daughter back - she’s STILL pretty upset about this as a high school senior. In 7th grade, the teacher said she could skip (ha! wrong work to use) 7th grade math and do algebra I with the 8th graders. I told the teacher, D could do <em>both</em> if she wanted but she certainly couldn’t just bypass a whole year of math. Don’t get me wrong, I know (and am related to) kids who are/were more than capable of jumping into algebra I in 7th grade. I didn’t think my child was one, and coming from a math geek family, I was well aware of the consequences. </p>
<p>I see the results now of the push into 7th grade algebra I. Oddly (?) it seems to show up in standardized tests, especially in the ACT. The kids who were pushed but not quite ready have pretty weak scores relative to their current math level. Even more telling, when they get results back, the students find they get the pre-algebra and early algebra questions wrong (I thought these are the gimmees). The excuse I hear is that they forgot what they learned so long ago.</p>