The counselors decided that you must make a 97+ in Algebra 2 Honors to move on to precalc. Below a 97 and you move on to Algebra 3 (this class is an extension of algebra 2 and looks over algebra and trig) and then precalc after. I’m devestated and believe the required grade is too high. What do i do? I have an A, but it’s not a 97+.
Is it Algebra 2/Trig Honors?
What grade are you in?
That is outrageous. Tell the teacher or counselor that there is no significant or meaningful difference between a low and a high A. Stick to your guns and get support from others. Is this a public or private school? What state?
They have too many students and not enough competent math teachers to teach an honors course. I’m sorry. It is too high.
It’s algebra 2 with trig. I’m in 10th
Stick to your guns and get support.
Our public school implemented something like this when they were in the middle of budget cuts. They only had enough teachers to teach one honors section so the bench mark was ridiculously high.
I would have your parents help advocate ASAP.
Can you take precal at community college or online this summer and leap frog to the next course in the sequence in 11th grade?
We can take summer classes, but I would rather take other courses instead of taking a math course
I would fight it too. You want pre-calc next year and calc 12th grade.I would talk to teachers, counselor. Principle, maybe your parents get involved.
That’s crazy. If they have such a high supply on qualified kids that requires to make the cutoff unreasonable strict they should have one of the teachers give another Pre-Calc class instead of Algebra 3. Those teachers are supposed to have an university level math degree and should be able to teach every level of algebra and pre-calculus. It could be that they don’t have enough teachers that are certified for AP calculus in future years though.
@nypapa my daughter’s Algebra teacher at a highly selective magnet school flunked Algebra every time she took it - she never passed HS Algebra except by going to summer school. I loved her but come on! Math teachers don’t usually have university level math degrees. Often they just have education degrees. In my state, you can certify to teach math through the back door after getting your initial teacher certification sometimes without even taking a test and teachers are not always prepared to teach higher level courses. My daughter’s HS had exactly this problem all the time.
Another possibility is for the school to place some students in Calc-bypassing pre-calc-but providing a brief review prior to calc.
@CCtoAlaska , wow, thanks for pointing this out, at least in NY it looks like the math teaching certification exam goes up to calculus and statistics. Still, one would hope they could find at least one teacher that would be up for the task and perhaps just read up on pre-calc.
This is outrageous. At my schools, there are plenty of students who gets B’s and even C’s moved into precal. A low A a great grade as it is, but a high A is outrageous. Heck, even a B is outstanding and should even allow you to move on to it. Stick to your gut and find support/other options.
@nypapa shocking, right? Most math teachers that I know never studied math in college. They just managed to get in some other way.
I think it is the opposite in Massachusetts - teachers need at least a bachelor’s degree in math and to be certified need to pass a test that covers:
As a prospective math teacher, you will need to complete one of the following options for mathematics testing,
Operations and number sense
Relations, patterns, and algebra
Calculus, trigonometry, and discrete mathematics
Data analysis; statistics and probability
Measurement and geometry
All prospective math teachers must earn a bachelor’s degree at minimum in the field of mathematics. If you are just beginning your education, you will have the opportunity to choose a math degree combined with an educator prep program designed to confer a license to prospective math teachers in the state.
These programs typically start with a focus on advanced mathematics offering courses that include:
Calculus
Geometry
Advanced algebra
Discrete mathematics
Statistics and probability
@momtogirls2 I bet it depends on the state. Mass spends money on education so they can get math majors to teach math. My daughter is a HS math teacher and majored in Math and then got a Masters in MS/HS math education.
1° have your parents advocate for you
2° get your parents get involved WITH OTHER PARENTS: you’re not the only kid getting screwed.
an 88 should be plenty to get into Precalc
3° if the above doesn’t work, look into taking precalculus through dual enrollment at a college next year or through a virtual school, or through summer school so you can skip to calculus.you may want to take other summer courses but this isn’t about “want”, but rather “need”.