District 65 Algebra For All
Starting in the 2012-2013 school year, District 65 decided to pilot an Algebra program at the magnet schools. This program combined two classes that were previously offered at these two schools, Algebra 1 and Algebra 8. By combining these courses, the pilot program contains a heterogenous group of diverse learners. As one of the teachers to start and support the pilot, I felt the need to have our students capitalize on this opportunity in our small school. I can tell you the benefits I see as an educator.
Benefits I See
Frequently Asked Questions
(please email me with any other questions you have not listed. I would love for this page to be as helpful as possible to all families)
What does it mean on my placement letter when it says I placed into "Algebra"?
Further Reading
"Why do Americans Stink at Math?" by Elizabeth Green, New York Times, July 23, 2014
PARCC- parcconline.org: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers - Information regarding stand
Math Content by Unit - Our algebra curriculum outlined by the writers of the Connected Mathematics Project
Article - "How the Common Core Will Help the United States Bring Up its Grade on Mathematics Education" by Max Marchitello and Catherine Brown, Center For American Progress, August 2015
Benefits I See
- Equality in learning: all students are given the opportunity to excel in a highly rigorous Algebra course in eighth grade, regardless of their background or test scores. This allows for more students to take Geometry or Geometry Honors as a freshman in high school if they put in the effort to reach that goal. In turn, this would allow every student to be given the chance to take Calculus in high school, which is one of the most tangible long term goals of the program.
- Embracing diversity: I have yet to be in an environment where everyone around me had the exact same thought processes, ideas, and skills. By learning to communicate one's ideas, question other's reasoning, problem solve in teams, and accept multiple correct ways of doing the same thing students are learning life skills that translate beyond classrooms and beyond mathematics.
- Less social stigma: In the other schools in District 65, Algebra 1 and Algebra 8 are just as labelled: Algebra courses. In fact, they even use the same curriculum as I am using in my pilot Algebra course. In a school where most students have been together since kindergarten, being separated into different classes based on test performance turns into self-labeling, both positive and negative. In middle school, where forming your identity is a crucial part of an adolescent's social development, ranking yourself amongst peers can be damaging. Confidence is something that is seen in all students in the Algebra class where we are able to let students show their strengths.
Frequently Asked Questions
(please email me with any other questions you have not listed. I would love for this page to be as helpful as possible to all families)
What does it mean on my placement letter when it says I placed into "Algebra"?
- In other schools in District 65, students receive a letter over the summer that indicates whether they are placed into Algebra 1 or Algebra 8. At our school, students receive a letter that indicates that they are placed into Algebra. This is because we do not have different levels of Algebra and each student in 8th that has not already taken Algebra in the District receives the same letter.
- After taking Algebra at Bessie Rhodes, students can place into either Algebra, Geometry, or Geometry Honors as they enter into high school the next year. This is the exact same as it has been since before we started the pilot program. Historically, placement has been determined by a series of course exams, MAP scores, and the EXPLORE test. Course exams can include a midterm and a final exam. The NWEA's MAP exam is given 2 - 3 times a year. The EXPLORE test is the first test in the ACT sequence and is taken by 8th graders in December. See below for a link with more information about the EXPLORE test.
- The CMP curriculum was written using the Common Core State Standards for Algebra as a guide. This program uses an inquiry based approach to learning algebra, where students are led to discover a new concept and then the results are shared and refined as a whole class. This approach encourages problem solving and reasoning shared through rich discussion among students. It is a different way of learning math than most people are used to since it is not a course where I show an algorithm and ask students to practice that algorithm on "#1 - 29 odd". These discussions are enriched even further by having a diverse group of learners in the classroom. With that said, the curriculum is designed to be challenging. In my experience teaching this course so far, I have seen all my students struggle at some point - which is a great feeling to experience and learn from!
To add additional challenge for those students that learn a particular concept rather quickly, there are additional steps students can take. Often, in each lesson there is a way to extend the concept further. Many times, it is an additional question that I pose to the groups that are ready. Sometimes it can be a hand-out or worksheet. Also daily, there will be a few additional "Extension" questions added on to the homework that are optional for all students, but encouraged if students feel like they have already grasped a concept. Going beyond the lessons, I have a challenge board in my classroom that also contains rich problems that students can grab at their leisure to challenge themselves.
- In my experience teaching so far, I have taught three different curricula for Algebra. The core to all of these curricula are very similar, covering linear, exponential, and quadratic relationships, solving these different types of equations and then solving system of equations. The depth that each curricula goes into each topic varies however. It is always my aim to add lessons in if I feel it is necessary for our students to be competitive with students that have taken Algebra with a different curriculum. However, I find myself not adding many lessons since the writers of CMP3 have been very thorough. See below for a link to the "Math Content by Unit" on the CMP website.
- Concepts that CMP3 covers really well compared to my previous curricula are the Pythagorean Theorem, Transformations, and Statistics.
- Lessons that I supplement into our curriculum include simplifying radical expressions, factoring quadratics with a lead coefficient greater than one, and vertex form of quadratics.
- The writers of CMP3 used the Common Core State Standards as their guide. This means that the content in this years curriculum is aligned to the PARCC assessment, which is replacing the ISAT in the state of Illinois.
Further Reading
"Why do Americans Stink at Math?" by Elizabeth Green, New York Times, July 23, 2014
PARCC- parcconline.org: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers - Information regarding stand
Math Content by Unit - Our algebra curriculum outlined by the writers of the Connected Mathematics Project
Article - "How the Common Core Will Help the United States Bring Up its Grade on Mathematics Education" by Max Marchitello and Catherine Brown, Center For American Progress, August 2015