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<p>You must be kidding.</p>
<p>Any kid of average intelligence can learn Algebra by grade 12. There’s just a lot of stuff that gets in the way. Unfortunately that stuff is very hard to fix.</p>
<p>I don’t know, YDS. I haven’t been affected by any math changes prior to precalc. I’ve never heard of Alg IC. I don’t think we have that.</p>
<p>TWO years of Algebra II? First time I’ve ever heard of that kind of plan. I know of at least one school district that spreads Algebra I over two years, starting either in 6th or 7th grade. That kind of plan makes a lot of sense to me, as it takes the kids slowly through their first high-school-level math course, making sure they have a good foundation of the concepts. By the time students get to Algebra II, there should be no need for this kind of reiteration. Does the data analysis include statistics?</p>
<p>D1’s school has the Calc AB then Calc BC sequencing, which I suspect is done for administrative purposes. It’s a small magnet where the incoming 9th graders range from just having completed Algebra I to just having completed Calc AB. The majority of kids end up taking AB in 10th or 11th grade. AP Stat is the substitute math class for kids who don’t want to take BC or the lumped-together independent study post-BC math class.</p>
<p>OK people now you’ve really got me worked up. The new course descriptions are as follows. (The “old” Alg II description is no longer available since that’s no longer taught.)</p>
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<p>Now that I see this and notice “old” Alg II is no longer offered, I’m having an ah ha! moment. It could be that only D’s class is stuck with “old” AlgII and “new” Alg II DA. Future classes may be able to go from Alg I DA to Alg II DA. But this one class completed plain Alg II in the transition year. That stinks.</p>
<p>DB:</p>
<p>If your D is as good as she seems in math, as you portrayed, she should petition to get out from under this transitional nonsense … if you feel that’s the right thing to do.</p>
<p>I’d have her start with the math teacher that knows her best, move on to the math dept chair, then the Asst Principal … whatever the chain of authority for these decisions is at your school district. (This is what I did to get HS approval of math credit for S’s online math classes in Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calc.)</p>
<p>Our HS offers both AP Calc AB and BC. It’s the rare student that takes both. Typically, the Trig/Math Analysis teacher will make a recommendation as to which level of Calc the student should take. For about 90% of the interested students, that would be Calc AB. The more math/sciency students will try to opt for BC, thus feeling better prepared for the AP Physics C class.</p>
<p>I concur that Stats is a good class for those considering a career in health, and many others fields as well. The reason my DS did not take AP Stats, which is offered at his HS, is two fold. His AP Calc teacher suggested a more rigorous route for S due to his talent and possible college major, and because he felt S could pick up a better version of Stats later in college if he so desired (or self study it.)</p>
<p>DB, something is still rotten in Denmark. Everything you’ve listed in the curriculum is covered in the usual two year sequence of Algebra II and Trig/Math Analysis/Pre Calc. It sounds like there is some reapportioning of topics, maybe moving some things that were in one class to the other. It is ludicrous to expect students to take a whole year of reruns just so they could get to a handful of topics that weren’t covered under the transition year. </p>
<p>Definitely go push with the math teacher, the math department, and the school. There must be some other way to provide these kids with the few bits and pieces they’ll need to finish the classic 4-year high school math curriculum. There must also be a way to address the state graduation requirements for the few kids caught by this.</p>
<p>Didn’t mean to get you worked up. But, really, the description of Alg II as something only for “students looking to continue their education after high school” irks me. Makes it sound like anything more is just icing. Unless I’m reading it wrong. And then the note about how it fulfills Maryland requirements makes it sound like we only care about meeting the minimum standard.</p>
<p>I hate when rules get changed midgame. I would try to get dd’s graduating class exempt from the new policy.</p>
<p>ETA: When would kids take the Math II subject test?</p>
<p>DB:</p>
<p>Our HS offers similar courses, but the first is not labeled “honors” – well, the HS calls it that, but the students do not, nor does UC. It’s designed for those who wish to continue education past high school, but typically at the juco or Cal State level. However, it’s also attractive to those non-math kids targeting a lower UC. The Honors PreCalc/trig course is designed towards those who are seeking a top four-year Uni or top UC campus.</p>
<p>bluebayou:</p>
<p>At you at a Socal public HS? I only ask because if I saw our HS move to the sequencing that DB shows here, and rightly called out by others as not adding much and requiring a re-run of already addressing topics, I’d be calling it out as a foul ball.</p>
<p>I’ve seen an odd change in Community College programs lately and I wonder if it is to line up with this new approach. There are a lot of adults that struggle through Algebra II.</p>
<p>You might want to look at the descriptions of Calculus AB and BC on the College Board web-site. Calculus AB is basically one semester of Calculus spread over one year. Their site says that it is designed for students who don’t have a strong Pre-Cal background.</p>
<p>Calculus BC is two semesters of college calculus taught in two semesters. It is supposed to be a good class for a student who has already had a year of Pre-Cal. </p>
<p>In other words, a student who goes directly into BC is not “skipping” any content. They are just going to get 2 semesters of college calculus in two semesters of high school.</p>
<p>Now, whether individual high schools follow these recommendations is another question!</p>
<p>Our high school does something unusual. A community college teacher teaches Calculus at the high school. The grade goes on the college transcript, not the high school. It is two semesters of college calculus. Many juniors take this class. Their senior year they take two more semesters, Linear Algebra in the fall, and the spring is called Discrete Math. Just to add to the confusion, there is also a high school class called discrete math, which is different, much lower level, which some students take instead of Calculus.</p>
<p>50isthenew40’s description sounds about right. DS’s calc BC class covered calc 1 (AP calc AB) in the first semester of senior year and calc 2 (AP calc BC) in the second semester. He earned a 5 on both the calc AB and calc BC exams by taking the AP calc BC exam only. When he took the calc placement exam at his university, he placed into calc 3 which seems to support that calc BC covers both calc 1 and 2. As 50new40 pointed out, calc BC doesn’t skip any content. Sorry if I misled you about the importance of calc AB before calc BC. DS just clarified all this for me. Sounds like your DD can/should go right into calc BC if she’s done the precalc work. I would definitely petition the school/school board to let her go into the BC class.</p>
<p>It might be that students moving along on an honors track will be placed in either Calc AB or, for the strongest students, directly into Calc BC senior year - that’s how our local public high school handles AP Calc. The junior year math teacher makes the recommendation.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about what to take senior year if the student finishes BC Calculus as a junior. High schools usually have lots of interesting elective choices for seniors. They may not necessarily be math courses, but this doesn’t matter much. </p>
<p>In the high school my daughter came from, quite a lot of people took BC Calculus as juniors. Some then took multivariable calculus or AP Statistics as seniors, but others chose to take an extra elective in some other academic area – such as an additional AP social studies or science course. This didn’t seem to harm their college admissions prospects.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s important to find out whether the high school requires four years of math taken in high school for graduation. This one did not. It required four years of high school level math, and algebra and geometry taken in middle school counted toward the total.</p>
<p>My BC class was primarily juniors (I went to one of those schools…) while I took it as a senior (and still found it really hard).</p>
<p>Most of the kids who took Calc BC as sophomores or juniors at my school are taking Calc 3 right now. </p>
<p>PreCalc would be the prerequisite. My school was set up so that you took either AB or BC. Different schools do things differently.</p>
<p>I’m a junior in BC this year. At my school, almost everyone takes AB prior to BC (I did). Doing a two-year setup for AB + BC is easy because the BC year moves at a slow pace and is very methodical.</p>
<p>Next year? I suppose I’ll either take something at the local university or just self-study.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why, but our school encourages the juniors to take AP Stat, and then either Calc AB or BC as seniors. When my D gets to that level, I am going to investigate the choices more thoroughly.</p>