Summit Middle School Math Department Placement Recommendation
and Acceleration Process
Placement Recommendations
The Summit Math Department makes placement recommendations with care, based on thorough
knowledge of the curriculum and the skills and knowledge required to be successful at each level. In
order to serve the needs of a diverse learning community, Summit’s Math Department is committed to
thoughtful and appropriate placement for all students. We acknowledge that there exists a fine balance
between success and challenge in any math class. We use a data driven approach to placement
decisions. We confirm math placements within the first three weeks of school as the pace and content
covered in classes diverges and students could have gaps in understanding if a change in placement
occurs later in the first quarter.
Incoming Student Placement
For incoming students, a placement assessment will be administered to determine students’ prior
knowledge and mathematical skills. The assessment consists of math facts, computation, and word and
thinking problems. An optional algebra section can be completed if a student wants to be considered for
placement in Accelerated Algebra as a sixth grader. After the Math Department reviews the placement
assessment data, parents will be notified of their child’s placement at Registration Night (approximately
mid-March. Math teachers are available to discuss the initial placement at this time. To provide the
optimal level of challenge to all students, Summit’s math teachers gather data and verify that students
have been placed correctly during the first three weeks of school. Based on knowledge of the curriculum
and years of interaction with and observation of students, teachers use classroom assessments and MAP
(Measures of Academic Progress) data to confirm or change student’s placements.
Returning Student Placement
Returning students are placed according to classroom performance and mastery of course benchmarks.
Teachers make placement recommendations for returning students in the second semester for the
following year. If a student is recommended to repeat a course parents will be contacted by our
counselor and his/her math teacher. In the 4th quarter, the Math Department reviews a final roster of
placements and makes any appropriate adjustments based on new data, such as student work products,
benchmark mastery, or MAP test results. Parents will be informed of any placement recommendation
changes that ensue. The department will then forward this list to the Registrar for course enrollment.
End of year Acceleration
The Summit Math Department does not recommend that students skip an entire level of Math,
specifically Algebra B, through individual summer work. Essential algebraic skills are taught and
practiced in this course, and given the foundational nature of algebra, we are committed to students
completing this coursework for their future math learning and success. On very rare occasions a math
teacher might recommend acceleration at the end of a school year. The teacher will meet with the
family and create a learning plan that could lead to acceleration. This is rarely recommended and does
require significant work on the student’s part. The student will be expected to complete an assessment
to demonstrate mastery with the material and readiness for acceleration.
General Acceleration Requests
Math Pathways
A note before you turn to acceleration as an option: Summit’s curriculum is designed so that
conscientious and properly placed students should achieve mastery. That is, they should receive A’s and
B’s. If a student earns A’s, especially early in the school year, this is not a sign that he or she needs to
accelerate. Rather, it indicates a combination of correct placement and good work habits. Parents or
students who desire acceleration should submit a written request to the math teacher or school
counselor detailing the rationale and interest in acceleration. Our math department will make every
effort to fully consider and analyze the request by examining the student’s current and past academic
performance and considering the potential for success at the requested level. If acceleration is not
recommended by the math department, a math teacher and/or administrator will contact the student
and parent(s) to explain the results of the analysis. The department decision is final and can only be
appealed to the Principal. Regardless of the method of acceleration, students who are accelerated are
expected to work hard, make adequate progress, and master the essential benchmarks of the course
they’ve joined. Although the school and teachers will provide appropriate support via Math Lab and
office hours, parents and students should not expect alternate/easier tasks, lower expectations, or
private tutorials with the teacher to make up for substantial skill gaps caused by skipping portions of the
previous course. Students who perform poorly should not expect to advance to the next level the
following year and may need to repeat coursework if there is not mastery of benchmarks.
Algebra B
Pre-Algebra
Algebra A
Acc. Algebra
Acc. Pre-Alg
Acc Algebra
Geometry
Acc. Algebra
Geometry
Algebra 2