MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH PATHWAYS

Things to think about and to have conversations with your child in regards to choosing the right math pathway.

Outside Activities: What does your child have going on after school? (Sports, Music, Performing Arts)

Child's Needs: Advancement should be placed based upon student performance not potential. A good rule of thumb: If you your child in middle school needs a tutor then they may not be in the right math class. There are numerous opportunities to advance at the high school when the child is more mature and has a better academic foundation and understanding of what they would like to do after high school.  Please check out the video(click HERE) for additional information about advancing your child in MATH. The video is from Phil Daro, who served on the writing team of the mathmatics Common Core State Standards.

If you would like to read more about early advancement, see the following article: https://www.education.com/magazine/article/higher-math-grades/

GATE Students: GATE identified students is not a factor in course admittance. 

Math Placement should be based upon a combination of data points, this should include: Math Portfolios, CAASSP Scores, Teacher Recommendations and Grades. Reminder that the goal of the middle school is to build a solid foundation in math, pushing a child to fast can create gaps in understanding and lead to additional academic concerns in high school potentially jeopardizing competitiveness for University Acceptance. 

National College Pathway

6th Grade: National College Pathway Math 6
7th Grade: National College Pathway Math 7
8th Grade: National College Pathway Math 8

Advanced Math Pathway 

6th Grade: National College Pathway Math 6 and Math 7(1/2 a year), this is a year and a half of math in one year.
7th Grade: National College Pathway Math 7(1/2 a year) and Math 8, this is a year and a half of math in one year.
8th Grade: Algebra

SHS and Calle Mayor Middle School both do NOT recommend students taking an Algebra Class over the summer in order to take a math class at the high school. Algebra is a foundational class that all math is based upon in the future.

If a student is placed in an accelerated class and they are not sucessful, it usually requires a schedule change resulting in multiple classes and teacher changes, this can be very disruptive for a student and should be considered.