6-8 Math

All students progress through a common sequence of math courses in BSD: 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade, followed by at least three years of high school-level courses. 

In the spring of their 5th, 6th and 7th grade year, students may request Advancement Testing to be eligible to skip a course in the sequence. As a reminder, students who enroll in high school-level math while in middle school still need to successfully complete at least three years of math while in 9th - 12th grade to meet the minimum requirement of three math credits for graduation. All students are encouraged to enroll in four years of math in high school to expand post-high school opportunities.
 

Students can reach Calculus by 12th grade by advancing one year above the grade level progression of courses. This can be done in 5th, 6th, or 7th grade through Advancement Testing. After 8th grade this can be done through additional course work. BSD provides summer intensive courses at the high school level for students seeking more advanced math courses (see Flex Summer Intensive site for more information).

Students will have opportunities to study topics at each grade level in more depth and/or to study additional topics that might not have been covered in the past. The learning at each grade level provides many opportunities for challenge. By reducing the range of standards assigned to the course, there are more opportunities for students to do rigorous work that is the result of sustained and focused study of the grade level standards. 

Students in grade-level math courses can be challenged through instruction that emphasizes reasoning, problem solving, and making connections across mathematical ideas. Teachers use tasks that require students to explain their thinking, justify their solutions, and apply math in real-world contexts. This approach ensures that all students engage in deep, meaningful mathematical work and not just faster-paced content.

Our Math 6, 7, and 8 courses follow the Oregon Math Standards which organize topics into major, supporting, and additional areas. Accelerated classes try to cover about 50% more standards than a single grade, which means students either move faster through more topics or go deeper but on fewer topics.

In the regular grade-level path, learning is spread over three years (grades 6 - 8). This gives teachers more time to match the state’s priorities, so students can develop stronger understanding on a wider range of ideas.

Course offerings that are more advanced than the grade level course may be offered in a variety of formats depending on enrollment and staffing specific to each school. A course offered one year in a building may not be able to be offered the next year due to changes in enrollment and staffing and may only be available online (through FLEX) or may be only available if the student takes math with older students. Whether a course is offered in person, with same-age or older students, or at a neighboring high school is dependent upon student enrollment and staffing in each school.

Math 6/7 courses will be directed to emphasize the 6th grade standards. Math 7/8 courses will be directed to prioritize the 7th grade standards.

Students currently enrolled in Summa will follow the same course pathway and shift as their peers not in Summa. Students entering Summa next year in 6th grade will be enrolled in Math 7 unless they meet criteria through Advancement Testing to enroll in Math 8.

Please see the table below to understand how students currently in 5th grade math, Math 6/7, Math 7/8, and AGS 1 will be placed into courses next year.

For more information see the Math Advancement site.

Nothing has changed for students in AGS 1 and above.

6th and 7th graders enrolled in AGS 1 or higher will progress to the next course in the sequence. 8th graders follow the 8th-to-9th course selection process.

BSD uses advancement testing when students seek to enroll in a more advanced course than the next course in their sequence.

Students and families can access the Math 6, Math 7, & Math 8 Targets, Rubrics, and Resources via the BSD website on the Secondary Math page. Students may be able to check out a CPM Core Connections textbook from their middle school library. Students can also use ALEKS (grades 6 - 8) or DreamBox (Grades K-5) for adaptive math practice.