1. Contact your child's 5th grade math teacher and/or building principal to discuss the best acceleration plan for your child and your concerns over their initial math placement.
2. If you wish to continue the appeal process, fill out this appeal form no later than May 5, 2017. The timing is critical here, as your child will need time to complete the required District Online Math 6 course over the summer. Here is a guide to the units of the course, as well as the standards aligned to each unit. (See pages 92-100 of the Common Core State Standards for Math for a reference as to the 6th grade standards studied in this course.)
3. You will be contacted by email no later than May 12, 2017 with next steps by a member of the HCSD Middle Level Curriculum Department.

1. Contact your child’s 6th grade math teacher and/or building guidance counselor to discuss the best acceleration plan for your child and your concerns over their initial math placement. This is not a path for math acceleration that is endorsed by the district, as Accelerated Math 7 not only contains 1.5 YEARS of math content, it is a foundational course filled with prerequisite knowledge necessary for success in Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Statistics, just to name a few! We want to ensure your child learns this content in a deep and meaningful way over time to improve mastery and retention.
2. If you wish to continue the appeal process, your child will need to provide evidence of mastery of the content over which he/she wishes to advance. Consider what learning plan you have for your child to support the learning of this content on their own. They will be asked to show mastery of all of the math content standards aligned to this course. Here is a guide to the units of the course, as well as the standards aligned to each unit. (See pages 92-100 of the Common Core State Standards for Math for a reference as to the 7th and 8th grade standards studied in this course.)
3. Students will have the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of this content by taking the District Accelerated Math 7 Mastery Assessment on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 or Thursday August 3, 2017. The deadline for signing up for EITHER testing time is noon on Friday, June 2, 2017. The student can only sign up and take the test at one of these opportunities. Testing will take place from 12-2pm at the HCSD Central Office Building at 2140 Atlas Street, Columbus, OH 43228 on June 6, 2017 or August 3, 2017. Students may bring a non-graphing calculator, although the majority of the assessment will be taken without the use of a calculator. To be placed into Algebra 1, the student will have to earn a minimum of 85% on this assessment. To sign your child up for one of these dates and learn more about the assessment, fill out this form.
   The deadline for signing up for EITHER testing time is noon on Friday, June 2, 2017.
4. You will receive a confirmation email or phone call by 5:00pm on June 2, 2017 from the office of the Middle Level Curriculum department.

1. Contact your child’s 7th grade math teacher and/or building guidance counselor to discuss what is the best acceleration plan for your child and your concerns over their initial placement.
2. If you wish to continue your appeal process, your child will need to provide evidence of mastery of the content over which he/she wishes to advance. It is critical that your child does not accelerate without ensuring there are no math content gaps in their foundation. Otherwise, they often accelerate only to need later remediation in the prerequisite content knowledge. They will have the opportunity to learn mastery of this content by taking the District Online Math 8 for Acceleration Canvas Course. Learn more about the course and how to enroll your child. We are also excited to be collaborating with a local business, Math Plus Academy, to further strengthen your child’s mastery of this content. Your child must finish this course by June 30, 2017 so it is critical that they begin as soon as possible. They may start it as early as April 17, 2017. Due to the rigorous pace of this course and aligned schedule with the Math Plus Academy sessions, the deadline for joining this course is April 28, 2017.
3. If you wish to opt out of the District Math 8 Online for Acceleration Course, then your child will need to provide evidence of mastery of the content over which he/she wishes to advance. It is critical that your child does not accelerate without ensuring there are no mathematical content gaps in their foundation. Otherwise, they often accelerate only to need later remediation in the prerequisite content knowledge. Your child will have the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of this content by taking the District Accelerated Math 7 Mastery Assessment on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 or Thursday August 3, 2017. The deadline for signing up for EITHER testing time is noon on Friday, June 2, 2017. The student can only sign up and take the test at one of these opportunities.
   
   Testing will take place at the HCSD Central Office Building at 2140 Atlas Street, Columbus, OH 43228 on June 6, 2017 or August 3, 2017. Testing will take place from 12:00-2:00 pm. Students may bring a non-graphing calculator, although the majority of the assessment will be taken without the use of any calculator. To be placed into Algebra 1, the student will have to earn a minimum of 85% on this assessment. To sign your child up for one of these dates and learn more about the assessment, fill out this form.
   The deadline for signing up for EITHER testing time is noon on Friday, June 2, 2017.
4. You will receive a confirmation email or phone call by 5:00pm on June 2, 2017 from the office of the Middle Level Curriculum department.

The options presently available to this student (the Online Algebra 1A and 1B courses OR District Algebra 1 Credit Flex Test) are not appropriate for acceleration. The District Online Algebra 1A and 1B courses are designed for a remedial student who has failed Algebra 1A or 1B and is attempting to recover an Algebra 1 credit. The Algebra 1 Credit Flex Test is a one-time assessment in which they have to earn an 85% mastery in order to accelerate. Neither of these options provide a student with the support they would need to study higher mathematics at a deep level of thinking. Additionally, if the student chooses either of these options and was successful in getting an Algebra 1 credit, they would still have to take the Algebra 1 State AIR test during the 2017-2018 school year, as it is a high school graduation requirement.

To get to Honors Algebra 2 more quickly would require a conversation with their present math teacher and building counselor. If this is an acceleration path the student continues to pursue, we suggest that they take Geometry in high school concurrently with Honors Algebra 2 during their 9th or 10th grade year. This way, they will receive instruction, learning, and feedback of their understanding of each course taught in a conceptual way over a long time to deeply strengthen their understanding.

Other options presently available to this student (the Online Geometry A and B courses OR District Geometry Credit Flex Test) are presently not appropriate for acceleration. The content of the District Online Geometry A and B courses are designed for a remedial student who is trying to recover a Geometry A or B credit. Additionally, the Geometry Credit Flex test is a one-time assessment in which they have to earn an 85% mastery to accelerate. Neither of these options provide the student wishing to accelerate with the support they would need to study higher mathematics at a deep level of thinking. Additionally, if the student chooses either of these options and was successful in getting a Geometry credit, they would still have to take the Geometry State AIR test during the 2017-2018 school year, as it is a high school graduation requirement.