I’m generally for whatever the students legitimately wants to do (as opposed to what they think the parents want). They usually know themselves and even if they make a mistake and end up in a class too hard, that’s a great lesson for them if it was their call. Ours has resisted our appeals for moderation numerous times and has usually been proven right.
FWIW, a lot of parents have complained about the math supervisor in our district blocking their kids advancing in math. Meanwhile, my S23 was eventually able to convince the same supervisor to move him up two levels in the 11th grade (or technically he talked his way into a placement test he wasn’t eligible for an got an A which did it). I strongly suspect the answer would have been no if it came from us – we never met or had any communication with her ever, it was all him. Every situation is unique, but I suspect teachers/administrators appreciate passionate/committed (and persistent) kids over parents where its less clear what is being pushed vs pulled. (Of course that may be totally different if its a private school with large tuition.)
Not necessarily. It may well work at some schools - pubblic or private, but at my HS, there was no way on god’s green earth a kid was getting their placement adjusted based on parental intervention no matter how loud the parents screamed.
My younger kid was a straight A student in high school, and not moving up to a higher level on math has not held her back one bit. And yes, she was a STEM major in undergrad and attended professional school which was very STEM.
Taking calculus in college is not the worst thing in the world, and plenty of kids do that.
@tsbna44. In this case, the grade is not the only indication that perhaps she should be in the honors math. They take lots of standardized tests. With the exception of 1 test in the end of 5th, she has always tested high on standardized testing for math. Her most recent test put her in the 98th percentile on the national norm. The other indicator is that she wants to move to the honors math - after she has been in the regular track.
Thank you all for the responses. I do not think they will move her for 9th. But, I think staying actively in touch with the school in 9th as the first semester progresses about her willingness to take math over the next summer to transfer to honors in 10th, and bringing in the data showing her consistent math ability, is perhaps the best path. She - at her initiative - is doing some math this summer.
OK - that’s fair - but then what’s their response? They’re not telling you no because of crowding - so there’s another reason. Could they add extra enrichment in her current class - more advanced assignments?
I’m sure you’ve pressed for a reason but maybe you can compromise via extra enrichment with an offer to move up if its handled. I get it - you don’t want your student bored.
It’s rash but can you consider changing schools or finding an out of school program?
Back to your original question - it won’t impact her college chances and shouldn’t hurt merit - and at schools with a table (publics), it may help - in the case that she got a B as many are based on unweighted GPA and don’t factor in rigor at all.
I stated earlier that not being in honors will not hurt her college or merit chances. The fact that your daughter will reach calc AB by senior year suggests to me that she is on a rigorous path despite not being in honors her first year.
My daughter chose calc AB despite being recommended for BC. She was accepted to very competitive schools and also received a lot of merit (merit was from great schools, but not from the very competitive schools). She was also very successful in college despite “only” taking AB.
Please forgive me for saying this, but it seems to me that if your daughter is in a private school, there should not be an issue with having too many students for a given path. That doesn’t sound right to me. A competitive private school should have enough spots for all students who qualify, imo (at least that is what I see in our area). My kids went to a very strong public school, and parents always had the right to waive their kids into honors even if they were recommended for regular (that is a whole other discussion). I don’t know any student who was denied due to a lack of space.
I would sit down and ask them to explain exactly why she does not qualify. They may have a logical reason beyond not having enough space (which I do not think they actually said?). If your daughter truly qualifies for a higher level math and the school refuses to place her, that is a problem. I would start by talking to the teacher.
Your D sounds like a great kid and I wish her the best!
If she’ll get to calc AB by senior year, you are fine for college preparation and admissions, so in and of itself, this is not a reason to accelerate.
If your D is genuinely seeking more challenge, I would talk to her current math teacher about the suitability of accelerating next year. It is possible that having divided the class up for math, she is on the cusp – at the top of one group and the bottom of another – and that it is both convenient for the school and advantageous for your D to stay put. (My kid was on the cusp, and hadthe experienceof killing himself for a C or cruising for the A. Unfortunately, there wasn’ta Goldilocks solution in the middle.) Or it’s possible that the way the next class up is taught will not be good for your D. (Again, my kid’s experience. ) Or it’s possible that nobody really sat down and reevaluated her placement and that she belongs in the next level up.
The priority should be strong mastery of the material and confidence in her skills. It’s easy to end up with “holes” if a class is too hard or if a skip in the sequence causes you to miss material. This can be a permanent problem as math builds on previous material and becomes a bit more abstract/complex. This argues for starting the harder class sooner AND making sure there are no gaps in getting there. Personally, I am no fan of summer classes, but an online class could help bridge a gap if that’s likely to be an issue and give her a taste of the challenge.
Remember that if any class requires a lot of time and energy for a student to just get through, that time and energy will not be available for other classes, including the ones they love. Getting the balance right so they can enjoy their classes and shine where they have strengths is important too.
I encourage you to have this conversation with her teacher as a discussion about what to do, starting with your D’s request to move up. Find out why this hasn’t been recommended and take it from there.
It depends on the school. Most private schools have much smaller student bodies than public, so there’s not unlimited classroom space or teachers. Students at our private high school had to take departmental tests in order to qualify for the most popular AP’s. A student could be straight-A but not do well enough on the test to get one of the spots. Additionally, they were not allowed to enroll for AP’s until junior year, and priority for the popular AP’s was given to rising seniors. Some families would leave over the policy and go back to their public where there was more flexibility.
OP, I think you and your daughter are taking the right steps in showing that she is serious about building her proficiency over the summer. I would continue to advocate and push for what your daughter wants in the next school year. In our school community, I was warned early on by OG parents to make sure our kids got routed into the right track in middle school and high school because with many kids being high achievers, it would be hard to switch.
Yes, it depends on the school. My kids went to public school, so I admit to not knowing much about private schools. I do know people whose kids attended private HS’s and they did not have these issues, but I recognize that all schools are different.
In any event, I would talk to the school so that they have an understanding as to why this student was placed where she was. If she really belongs in honors math, why wasn’t she placed there? I don’t know.
If she is “on the cusp” then not moving up is to her advantage, imo.
So my kid was at a private school. Most of the kids in the higher level class were on the math team, which was consistently one of the top 20 in the country. Most were AIME quaoifiers/winners/whatevers - my kid was not in that league.
Even at privates, it’s really about grouping kids with a group of kids who would learn at a similar pace and in similar way. I would say, fwiw, that a lot of time was invested in ensuring kids had a great classroom experience- which happens in part by correct placement . But tuition didn’t buy access to any class the parents thought was the right one!
At my D’s public middle school - honors was capped to the top 30 out of 1000 students in a subject area because they were short teachers. Lots of the kids who were 31-50 left for private school or to home school. (District changed their approach after that).
At my D’s private HS, math tracks for 9th grade was 100% determined by the school’s own placement test. (There were 6 math tracks). If you didn’t track into the highest honors then, students were able to double up in math in 10th grade to “catch up” if they were doing A level work in their 9th grade class. That was the only option to reach the highest track.
But, the school was very upfront about the math placement criteria, even before applying to the school. Middle school grades and standardized tests were not considered.
I would hope the OP’s school has a well defined placement methodology that they would share.
What were the six math tracks? When I was in (public) high school, there were only two math tracks, regular and honors. Most (not all) in honors were also +1 advanced (hardly anyone was +2 or more advanced). Most in regular were at normal progression or +0 (algebra 1 in 9th, precalculus in 12th), but a few were +1, and a few were -1. Calculus (BC) was only in the honors track, and algebra 1 and remedial courses were only in the regular track.
The track for advanced math in our district begins in 6th grade (regular or advanced in 6th grade). The kids come from the GT program and special math program which begins in 4th grade (testing is required for these programs and they send parents the national as well as local results).
When I was in high school I was in the top “gifted and talented” track and that ended with Calculus senior year, LOL. (We had no APs and G&T was the equivalent to honors.) Now at my kids public HS, the top track finishes AP Calc BC junior year and does Multivariable Calc and Linear Algebra senior year. And even then there are some kids who complete all those sooner (sometimes even by Sophomore year) and take classes at the university. It’s crazy how much the needle has moved at least compared to what I experienced. Same, to a lesser extent, for science. There was no calculus in the HS physics classes at my HS, even for G&T.