Subject: 8th grade math placement
From: <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:11:09 -0400

Dear Seventh Grade Parents,

As we enter the third trimester, your child's math teacher is starting
the process of determining the best math placement for your child in
eighth grade. Eighth graders normally take one of three math courses:
Introduction to Algebra, Algebra, or Accelerated Algebra. In making
placement decisions, your child's teacher will take many factors into
considerations, including learning style, organization, focus,
resilience, and pace, as well as seventh-grade achievement and aptitude.

We work very hard to find a course that is the best fit for your child
in eighth grade. It has long been our experience that not all students
are ready for the abstraction of a rigorous formal algebra course. Some
need more reinforcement of basic skills; some simply need time to
develop abstract thinking capabilities. Those students have been very
well served by taking the Introduction to Algebra course in eighth grade
and Algebra I in ninth grade. Of the students ready for algebra, some
are suited to the fast pace and greater independence that characterize
the Accelerated Algebra course, while others thrive in the regular
Algebra class, which is taught more directly. You will see an indication
of the teacher's preliminary thoughts in the second trimester math
comment.

Your child's placement is a reflection of where we believe he or she can
best learn at this moment. This does have some long-term implications,
since eighth grade placement and performance determine the options open
to your child in ninth grade. This placement does not put your child on
a "track," however. Students are evaluated again at the end of eighth
grade and placed into a course which will create a presumptive path
through high school, but that too is somewhat flexible. Students can
move from one course progression to another if changes in developmental
readiness or performance warrant a change. The Curriculum Overview for
the Upper School on the SFS website can give you an idea of various
possible progressions. (Go to the main website page, Upper School,
Academics, and choose the Curriculum Overview or the Upper School
Curriculum Guide from the right-hand menu.)

The Middle School Math Department