Upstream Advanced C1 Teacher 39;s Book

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:39:41 PM8/3/24

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Hello. Mom of incoming 9th grade freshman here. I'm getting cold feet about the Math program at Berkeley High. My daughter will not be able to enter the Advanced Math class from the start as the school is only designating a single test day before school begins, in the summer, when we and presumably many others will be out of town. The only way around this is to test during the first two weeks of school when they will again schedule a test. But that timing is of course not at all optimal with all the stress and newness of starting a new school. We aren't coming in from a BUSD school and it will be a big change. I've tried writing the powers that be to request another date somehow and am not getting anywhere. I know its a big school and they can't accomodate every need but I think it is a reasonable request and I'm getting a "don't care" attitude which is making me wonder if my kid will thrive there. For those who have had kids with advanced math skills, how has the math program been for you? Was the Math taught high enough to qualify for the more selective colleges?

Honestly, I think your concerns will probably extend beyond the math program given your questions and expectation about responsiveness. BHS is a massive school with huge bureaucratic inadequacies and limitations so this is the first of many of these challenges of this type you will face (sorry to be the bearer of bad news). My son is a 9th grader and tested into Advanced Math after taking the test in spring/summer (it was after school during the school year last year). He's done really well in the class this year; the curriculum is challenging and the students are really quite gifted. I'd note that it's accelerated curriculum and relatively high stress from the get go. For this reason, I think the test in the few weeks of school would probably be a good barometer for eventual comfort in the class. Additionally, I believe the teacher purposefully tried to set a high bar in the first two months to ensure kids were ready for the work; a number of kids dropped out. However, right before Back-to-School night (in late Sept?) some students did transfer in - not sure if it was from the test or their initial work in the standard math classes (so maybe the test isn't the only option?) Please carefully consider whether or not BHS can meet your expectations for you, your kid, and for the staff's benefit.

I believe BHS is phasing out the advanced math program, but I'm not sure when. My kids aren't in it, but we know some who are. It just goes faster than regular math (it isn't some advanced curriculum) and I believe you only end up one semester ahead of everyone else. Advanced math kids take AP Calc B/C as seniors whereas regular math kids can place into AP Calc A/B. As for BHS, it is a VERY large school (3200+) and they just can't accommodate requests like this. Taking it during the first week or two of school should be fine. Things don't really settle down until after that anyway. A lot of kids rearrange their schedules in the first few weeks, so that isn't a big deal. If you are coming from a very small school that has been accommodating, BHS will be a bit hard to navigate. They don't help you out much (I'm saying this as a parent who has been there since 2018).

My student went through advance math at BHS and is currently in a top ivy league college studying STEM. Looking back, BHS advance math is perhaps the best thing that happened to her in her entire career at BHS. Despite what people say about BHS advance math, it is THE BEST THING BHS ever offers. Not only the teachers cared deeply about the students and were highly responsible, they actually teach math the right way---not your memorization and plugging in the numbers into the formulas, but really how to think math. In the AP Calculus BC, Mr Weitz focused on doing proofs, just like what UC Berkeley wants its math students to learn, and he taught them quite a bit of multivariable calculus, not just simple AP calculus. His curriculum is much more advanced than AP calculus. My student realized how well prepared she was by Mr Weitz only after she took the multivariable calc and linear algebra in college together with students from other famous bay area high schools who have taken multivariable calc officially, and she did better than most of those students. So it is not the title of the course that matters, it is how it is taught. BHS math got a bad rap because it actually teaches to the top and at a very high level, and most students just could not keep up as the math taught in public elementary and middle schools were so bad unfortunately. There were many amazing little genius in the advance math class in our years, and they really wanted to learn. Just being in that environment was amazing. As my student put it, walking into the advance math class everyday was like "stepping into a different world with a breath of fresh air, leaving BHS behind".

OK, it was quite a struggle getting through the initial barrier. We transfered from a private school at 10th grade and had to take a special placement test in order to get into advance math with only one chance. Like you, I felt that the initial response I got from BHS officials were cold and bureaucratic. But after meeting the math teachers in person, especially Ms Kori Austera who is a head of the math department and teaches advance math 3 at 11th grade, it was not that bad. She was quite approachable and trying to be helpful. So please email her, and she always responded quickly in my experience. We went through advance math 2 all the way to AP Calc BC, and liked every teachers we had including Ms Austera and Mr Weitz. Perhaps we were lucky, but in general, advance math has great teachers who care. Some of the regular math teachers were just a joke (they should not be allowed to teach, period). So if you can, get into advance math. There your student will meet a complete different cohort of kids who love learning and who encourage each other to do better. Keep trying and good luck !

Just a data point. I think the first issue is that your child is not coming from within BUSD. I have a freshman at Albany High. Placement in advanced math in 9th grade was by recommendation of the 8th grade AMS math teacher. Sounds like maybe that is similar, or maybe the 8th grade teacher recommends the student take the spring placement test. The summer placement test at Albany High is already the "make-up" test for students who are new to the district (there is no spring placement test - it is JUST by teacher rec). They wouldn't see a need to do a fall placement test since there's already been two opportunities to get into advanced math.

OP here. THANK YOU for all the detailed honest replies. Coginitively I was aware that moving from a small private school to a large public school, and a notoriously fossilized Berkeley High would be a shift. But until I experienced it myself I couldn't really prepare myself on how to deal with it. I still don't know how to deal with it. But the shock has passed and I'm thinking more proactively on how to support my child on the things I can and let go of the things I can't change. By the way as an aside, just found out they have Freshman orientation the Friday before they start school. I'm wondering when they were planning to tell us. It's going to be a lot of things like that and I'm slowly slowly adjusting. It looks like the math issues probably won't hold her back in terms of university acceptance. But I do want her to continue enjoying math and I guess I'm going to just wait for the luck of the draw and hope we get the right teachers. Anyways, this is all a lot of excellent information and I feel more prepared now. Thanks for coming through.

Hi, I am looking for advice from BHS parents on math placement. We are moving to Berkeley, and my student will transfer to BHS at 10th grade. He is looking to go into AC. The dilemma we are having is regarding his math placement. Per BHS rule, he has to go into Math 2 or advanced math 2. But he is already doing math 2 (covering geometry, some algebra and trig) in his current school and will be doing Math 3 BC next year (10th grade) if he were to stay. I understand that math 2 in different schools may not have the exact same content, but the major portion is similar. He is a very strong math student and is already very bored in his math 2 class. It would make no sense for him to repeat math 2 again next year at BHS. Not only will it look bad on his transcript, but I also worry that he may lose motivation on math completely. Currently BHS seems to be quite firm that no exceptions will be made to allow students at 10th grade to be placed into math 3, but on the course catalog they also say that they will try their best to place students into the level that suits them the best. I am totally confused by these contradictory statements. I am therefore seeking advice from families who have gone through similar issues in recent years as to what we can do to convince BHS to place him into advanced math 3 at 10th grade. We are willing to take the placement test and have BHS math teachers review his current content. Who in the math department at BHS might lend a sympathetic ear to us? Are there anyone who have successfully convince BHS to place your students into an upper level of math recently? What other options do we have? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Worried mom.

Advanced Math at BHS goes through the same curriculum as Math 1, 2 and 3 but at a faster pace. So Advanced Math 1 students (freshmen) work through all of Math 1 and begin working on Math 2 freshman year. Advanced Math 2 students, I believe, would begin work on Math 3 in 10th grade. So I would have your student take the test to get into Advanced Math 2 as it should cover concepts in Math 3 (and maybe Math 4?) in 10th grade. I am the parent of a freshman in Advanced Math 1 so I don't know too much about the curriculum in Advanced Math 2 in 10th grade but you could ask the math department for more clarity.