I am curious to know the typical maths distribution for incoming 9th grade at US boarding schools. I am attempting to interpret the info relative to my child’s school/country and their opportunities at home.
Anyone willing to hazard an educated guess at what percentage of 9th graders take the following:
Algebra
Geometry
Algebra II
Pre-Calculus
Calculus (AB or BC)
Perhaps one set of distributions that reflects schools with 15-20% acceptance rates? And another that reflects schools with 35-50% acceptance rates?
At our current school, the curriculum is not as segregated by topic, but the equivalent might look something like this for Year 9:
08% Algebra
30% Geometry
50% Algebra II
10% Pre-Calculus
02% Calculus
I’m not looking to name specific schools, as I don’t think that is known (or helpful broadly). It’s helpful to me if you give an overview of a type of school. Thanks!
HS, like US colleges, will look for where the kid comes from and what is offered…
If your child is in a public school in a poorer area, it will be considered differently than a kid coming from a private school for the gifted… etc.
One of my kids goes to a very academically rigorous day school (which competes w/ lots of big boarding schools) from what I can tell:
~35% of 9th graders had taken algebra in 8th (which is the top at many public schools) - lowest cohort
~20% had already taken through calc AB or BC (or above) in 8th.
There is no algebra 1 offered - and all kids must finish calc 1
rest is in the middle somewhere…
I do NOT think this correlates to acceptance rates- I think the school could be filled easily with kids entering at Algebra 2 or higher…
Most boarding schools have a wide range of math level students. They use student records, test scores and placement tests to identify the right level for the student. They understand that students are coming from all different curriculum backgrounds. They place the student in the level that they feel will most support the student. At our school some students are in the lowest math while other freshman are taking 11 th grade+ math. Some students are repeating the grade, but do not need to repeat the math. I would not worry about the percentages and focus more on if the school has a curriculum to support your child. The schools are use to all different academic models.
Thank you all for replies. I am not concerned about admissions as that is now out of our control as of Jan 15. All of the schools that DC applied to have the clear ability to support them, likely in the middle of the pack. I am thinking about levels of differentiation and how that impacts the way students feel about their placement, as well as how it impacts their ability to thrive in some of the sciences, as well as social cohorts.
Our current school is a bit stratified vertically (no cross pollination socially between grades/age groups) and academically as well (your social life needs to stay in your academic lane.) Not a fan. I suspect this is not the case in the US. But it is helpful information to understand.
I doubt anyone’s social life / friend group is based on what math class they’re taking. And if it were, why go to that school?
My guess is that most 9th graders are smack in the middle of the bell curve with geometry and algebra 2, with a smaller percentage in algebra 1 or precalc and beyond. And this curve can be skewed if the school has a higher percentage of repeat 9th graders
Regardless, this is an example where the kid need not worry about what others are doing.
Kids do not care what classes each other is in. They are all running their own race. They cross-pollinate across grades for all the reasons previously discussed. Yes, some classes are impacted by the the math your student takes e.g., physics. But schools plan their curriculums understanding that students are at different math points in their academic careers. Nor would you want your student to take a class they they were not ready for.
I don’t know - at a really small school, math acceleration can determine all other classes; it did so at ours before we changed some things.
And kids do care about what classes others are in, or at least they use it for social positioning. I’m a teacher and hear it all.the.time. “Oh, you’re not in AP Lang?” “Why are you only in math 2?” etc. It stinks, but much like who has what clothing, who is in what class is also a thing teens look at.
When DS was at BS, there was a group (10%?) who was very accelerated (i.e., calc or precalc as freshmen) Many were from countries that had a different system for teaching math and were more “acceleration-friendly”. And many were not native English speakers so were not in the much larger cohort who did AP Lang as sophomores. The largest group followed a sequence that got them to Calc senior year. There were of course kids who got there faster and not at all. The school had paths that made it possible for a kid whose middle school preparation was weak to cover the necessary material to get to calc by senior year, but this also meant that they were likely have to forgo something else. All of this is to say that not only does preparation differ, so does aptitude and interest, but I will think most schools would have some flexibility.
FL was also determined by placement and quite dependent on where you’d come from and if you were switching languages for high school. All of this made it quite common for kids to be accelerated in one or some areas but not across the board.
At our school the majority of the students come post Algebra or post Geometry. I don’t know the distribution but would not be surprised if it were fairly balanced. Algebra 1 is offered but I would say that is no more than 10%. A handful of kids come straight into Pre-Calc and even Calc. Its not uncommon for students that were accelerated in middle school to discover they are not prepared for the rigor of the BS classes and go back a level or two within the first weeks of school.
The school is generous with this flexibility, allowing students to change levels even after winter break in some cases, as the goal is to have everyone be challenged at the correct level. They have particularly struggled with correct placement after COVID as kids come in with unknown gaps in their knowledge that the placement test don’t always catch.
I agree that this is not determinant of social group. I think Physics was the only class that had a Math requirement (Algebra 2) but that was most commonly a Jr. year class, and the vast majority of students met the prerequisite by then.
Also, Math placement will not be determinant of the rest of your schedule. You still have to take English, History, Foreign Language, Art with the rest of the students.
Math has no impact on kids’ friendship groups and social positions. There are numerous activities for them to cross paths and find mutual interest and develop friendship.
For example, my son (freshman) was placed in pre-calculus but after some conversations at home, we asked the school to move him down to advanced algebra. He came from our local public school so I wanted him to have more time to adjust to the boarding school life and enjoy different activities school has offered, instead of possibly stressing over his math grades in his first semester. He’s doing well in his algebra class but not always getting easy A’s. He also told me he’s learning new materials in his class. One of his friends is placed in calculus BC in his freshman year. They ran XC together in fall and still hang out every day after the season was over.
At both the BS my boys attend/ed, there was a summer option to accelerate for those kids who hadn’t been able to advance as quickly at prior school but were strong at math and wanted to be able to take higher level math in HS. One school offered Algebra2, PreCalc and Calc as remote courses over the summer with teachers from the school. The other allows you to take it over the summer but only up to PreCalc I believe.
Additionally, some schools allow you to combine 2 years in one. (My kid did that, courtesy of her school’s module system.)
My kid did take calculus during the summer at a local university as a rising junior, but I wouldn’t recommend that unless you enjoy spending extra money. (LOL. My kid retook AB Calculus course at prep school. Wasn’t an easy A.)
