What is the accelerated Math course sequence in your high school?

Parents Forum
41

Perhaps a clarification of “standard sequence” could be made.

First, some shorthand terminology:

+0: “normal” college prep math sequence: algebra 1* in 9th grade, precalculus/trigonometry in 12th grade
+1: accelerated by 1 year, algebra 1* in 8th grade, precalculus/trigonometry in 11th grade and calculus in 12th grade
+2: accelerated by 2 years, algebra 1* in 7th grade precalculus/trigonometry in 10th grade and calculus BC in 11th grade
+2-1: accelerated by 2 years through precalculus/trigonometry in 10th grade, but then calculus over two years in 11th and 12 grades

*Or integrated math 1 for schools that have integrated math 1/2/3 instead of algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2.

A “standard sequence” would mean that:

a. The middle school offers the needed high school level math courses (e.g. algebra 1 in a +1 situation, algebra 1 and geometry in a +2 situation).
b. The high school offers the needed college level math courses, or students can conveniently take the needed courses at a college with well coordinated scheduling and such (e.g. calculus in a +1 situation, calculus and post-calculus math in a +2 situation).

When I went to high school, where the sequences were as described in reply #1, the two sequences listed were the “standard” ones (there was also a lower level -1 sequence leading to algebra 2 in 12th grade). Occasionally, there would be a +2 student, but the arrangements were definitely not “standard” and involved ad hoc commuting arrangements between the middle and high schools, and to a local college if desired to take math in 12th grade after completing calculus BC in 11th grade.

42

The normal track at all the public and private high schools around here is to do algebra in 8th grade, and then proceed from there. The accelerated track begins with algebra in 7th grade.

There’s more variation at the top end, with some schools offering AP stats as their highest course, and others offering linear algebra or AP calc BC.

43

Our top-ranked large public school in Georgia has four tracks.

Support Track:

Algebra Support, Geometry Support, Algebra II, Mathematical Decision Making

Standard Track:

Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalc or Stats.

Accelerated:

Accel Algebra+Geometry A, Accel Algebra+Geometry B, Accel Precalc, Ap Calculus AB or AP Stats

(my younger one is doing this track, although she’s going into regular precalc next year instead of accelerated-so sort of a hybrid of the standard and accel).

Accelerated +:

Accel Algebra+Geometry B, Accel Pre Calc, AP Calculus AB/BC, AP Calculus AB/BC or AP Stats

(my older one is doing this track).

For senior year on the AP Calc BC they’re only letting kids in who get a 94 or better on the AP Calc AB. Since D17 ended up with an 88, she’s taking AP Stats next year (and is happy about it since she knows she’s going to end up taking more calculus in college anyway).

They can also take the Georgia Tech calculus class via live feed and electronic whiteboard, but it would mean they’d have to start school at 8 am instead of 8:25, and it messed up the rest of the schedule so not many kids do that.

We also have IB, which has an entirely different math curriculum (which is standardized so you can look it up anywhere).

44

@itsgettingreal17 My DD’s school teaches it as a full year class. In the past, it has been taught as a constorium class among independent schools in close proximity to each other as a period zero class. Our school hired a teacher last year that will hopefully be teaching the class at her school for the class of 2017. I say hopefully because the parents of the class of 2016 were told by the administration that he would be teaching their DDs last year but the girls ended up having to go to another school for the class.

45

Son’s school accelerated track is
9th grade Honors Algebra2
10th grade Honors PreCalc
11th Grade AP Calc AB or BC
12th grade AP Calc BC or take a course at the community college

Ap Stat is an elective that can be taken by anyone 10th grade and up

46

Our middle school is adjacent to the high school and 7/8 graders are able to take geometry and Algebra 2/trig at the high school as well as first year languages in 8th grade.

47

Regular
9th Geometry
10th Algebra 2
11th Pre Calc
12th AP Calculus AB/ IB Math SL or IB Math Studies

Advanced
9th Algebra 2
10th Pre Calc
11th AP Calculus AB
12th AP Calculus BC / IB Math SL

Even more advanced
9th Algebra 2 / Pre Cal
10th AP Calculus AB
11th AP Calculus BC / IB Math HL
12th IB Math HL

48

@CADREAMIN, @bookmom, @ucbalumnus - If a student takes multivariable course, do they get credit in the universities? How the course is recognized - creditwise or the student is placed in the accelerated path or the adcom recognizes it as just “rigor” ? My questions are from the Engineering major perspective.

49

If it is a college or dual enrollment course, then credit and advanced placement would be based on the university’s transfer credit policy.

If it is a high school course without college credit, then no credit or advanced placement, unless the school or its math department offers credit or advanced placement by exam or other individual evaluation made by the math department. However, even if the latter is offered, it may not necessarily be accepted by other departments to fulfill requirements.

Note that ABET accredited engineering degree programs require a certain amount of math and science course work (a quarter of the credits needed for the degree). In the case of credit by departmental exam or some such in the absence of college credit for a multivariable calculus course, the engineering student may still have to take other math and science courses to make up the needed amount of math and science credits. This can, however, give the opportunity to take more advanced math courses if desired.

50

Old Advanced:

7th: Alg I
8th: Geometry
9th: Alg II/Trig
10th: Precalc (a number of students self-studied this during 9th to skip it)
11th: AP Calc BC
12th: dual enrollment on community college campus or AP Stats (1 semester)
Kids who skipped Precalc did 2 years of dual enrollment off the HS campus.

New “Advanced”:

7th & 8th: Integrated Math 7, 8, I Compaction (covers 7th, 8th, and Alg I sort of in 2 years)
9th & 10th: Integrated Math II, II, Precalc Compaction (covers 3 courses in 2 years)

11th: AP Calc BC
12th: dual enrollment on community college campus or AP Stats (1 semester)

Old normal path was Algebra I in 8th. New normal path is Math I (integrated) in 9th.

51

2 levels of accelerated, public HS around 1200

Top track, about 30 kids per year that are tracked starting in 2nd grade or test in before 6th or 7th

7 algebra 1
8 geometry
9 algebra 2
10 pre calculus
11 AP Calc AB
12 AP Calc BC

Normal advanced starts the sequence in 8th and they only make it through AB. Standard is up to Pre Calc for senior year.

It is not an option to bypass AB and go straight to BC, kids are required to take AB first.

52

8th - grade Algebra I & 1/2 Geometry
9th- Algebra II & 2nd half Geometry
10th AP Stat
11th Accelerated PreCalc
12th AP Calc BC

53

7th Algebra 1
8th Proof Geometry
9th Algebra 2
10th Pre Calc
11th AP Calc BC
12th Calculus 3 (multivariables)

54

Most Advanced:
6th: Pre-Algebra
7th: Algebra I H
8th: Geometry H
9th: Algebra II H
10th: Pre-Calculus H
11th: AP Calculus BC
12th: DE Linear Algebra or DE MVC

Advanced:
7th: Pre-Algebra
8th: Algebra I H
9th: Geometry H or CP
10th: Algebra II H or CP
11th: Pre-Calculus H or CP
12th: AP Calculus AB or Calculus CP

Typical:
8th: Pre-Algebra
9th: Algebra I CP (no honors offered)
10th: Geometry CP
11th: Algebra II CP
12th: Pre-Calculus CP

Typically, students take Algebra I in 9th grade, but this year, we had a large number of students that took Algebra I in either 7th or 8th grade.

Students interested in math can also take any of the following:
LOGICAL REASONING AND PROBLEM SOLVING (no prerequisite)
INTRO TO COMPUTER SCIENCE (Geometry H prerequisite)
DISCRETE MATHEMATICS (Algebra II CP prerequisite)
AP STATISTICS (Algebra II H prerequisite)
AP COMPUTER SCIENCE A (Geometry H or Algebra II H prerequisite)
AP COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES (Geometry H or Algebra II prerequisite)
INTRODUCTION TO CODING

55

Normal:
8th: Pre-Algebra
9th: Algebra
10th: Geometry
11th: Algebra II/ Trig
12th: Precalculus or AP Statistics

Accelerated Track 1:
8th: Algebra
9th: Geometry
10th: Algebra II/ Trig
11th: Precalculus
12th: AP Calc AB

Accelerated Track 2:
8th: Algebra
9th: Geometry Honors
10th: Algebra II/ Trig Honors
11th: Precalculus Honors
12th: AP Calc BC

We also have about 10 kids per grade who are a year ahead, so they take the next Calc course online or with MIT open courseware. We’ve had a couple kids finish Calc BC before freshmen year in the last few years, and they just kept going with math at the local community college.

56

For brainiacs: 7th Algebra 1, 8th Geometry, 9th Honors Algebra 2, 10th Honors Precalculus, 11th AP Calculus, 12th Multivariable Calc/Linear Algebra

57

Just curious, OP, how does the fact that other high schools have certain programs help you plan for your kid? Seems like all that matters is the accelerated program at your own school. I can look at all these other schools and wish that we didn’t have the nation’s worst “accelerated” math program, but unless I pull my kid out of our school there isn’t much I can do about it.
7th honors algebra 1
8th honors geometry
9th honors algebra 2
10th honors trigonometry
11th honors precalc
12th AB calculus
13th BC calculus
No, we don’t have 13th grade. Kids who start algebra1 in 7th grade (this is roughly the top 1/3 of all students) have to take 2 math classes concurrently in order to complete BC calculus in senior year. This is usually done with algebra2/trigonometry, which our teachers require a full 90 instructional minutes per day every single day to teach. The reason for this unbelievably slow high school math sequence is that too many kids are being placed (or pushed by their parents trying to bypass teacher recommendations) into algebra1 in middle school and the high school consequently keeps dumbing down the curriculum because the kids who should never have started algebra1 so early are floundering in high school.

Parents thinking about algebra 1 placement in middle school should be aware that once you start this sequence it all builds on what came before, unlike middle school math which repeats everything over and over every year. The difficulty also ramps up considerably, and so kids who are barely grasping algebra 1 are in for a lot of trouble.

58

Inner city public school system

Accelerated
7- Algebra 1
8 - Geometry
9 - Honors Algebra 2
10 - Analysis (Honors trig/pre-calc)
11 - AP Calc AB or IB Math SL
12 - AP Calc BC

Only about 20 kids make it to the BC class each year at my kids’ high school (pop of over 2000 kids).

59

@bgbg4us My D said that was the biggest issue she had with testing, both SAT subject and ACT, that the material was things she had learned several years earlier, especially the Math.

It appears that D’s high school accelerated math track is similar to those posted here. IB is a bit different in that the HL courses are a mixture of varying focus: calculus/trig/linear alg, etc. She was able to test out of Calc2 and into Calc3 freshman semester college and even found that repetitive. I was a bit concerned when I read some of the posts about math majors and the classes they take in college but apparently she is right on track :slight_smile:

60

Suburb, public school, about 1500 students

7th grade - Algebra I
8th grade - Geometry
9th grade - Algebra II
10th grade - Pre calculus
11th grade - AP Calc AB
12th grade - AP Calc BC

Students have to have certain qualifying state test scores (MAP test) to enter/stay in the accelerated track. Not sure of exact numbers this year, but I believe only a dozen kids or less end up making it through AP Calc BC. There are Algebra III, Trigonometry, and dual credit college algebra classes for students who start accelerated but need to slow the pace a bit along the way. Nothing formal offered beyond AP Calc BC.

DS18 just finished pre calculus and did very well. DD20 just finished Geometry, but will start over again with Algebra I next year as a freshman. She struggles in math and needs more time to master.