Math Bridge Courses for Acceleration
Acceleration Pathways for 2024-25 School Year
Bridge courses for acceleration are offered to students as one of two pathways to Integrated Math I by eighth grade. You may access the charts that include the two pathways students in grades 5-7 may select to be considered for acceleration in the area of mathematics here.
Need assistance?
Please contact UDL Director Emilie Creehan at [email protected] regarding questions about Math Enrichment Bridge Courses for Acceleration. Dana Aviles may be contacted at [email protected] for all registration questions.
Bridge Courses for Acceleration: Key Things to Know
Eligible Students
Students who are currently accelerated in mathematics are NOT ELIGIBLE for the Bridge course, MAP pathway or Independent Study. Accelerated students must go through the single-subject acceleration process.
Course Overview
| DESIGNED FOR: |
Students in grades 5-7 who are seeking to advance to the next level of math instruction. |
| OUTCOME |
Through the bridge course, students may advance to the next level of math instruction by:
|
|
COURSES (See below for course descriptions.) |
Math 6 Bridge: Fifth-grade students seeking to test into Math 7 for sixth grade Math 7 Bridge: Sixth-grade students seeking to test into Math 8 for seventh grade Math 8 Bridge: Seventh-grade students seeking to test into Integrated Math I for eighth grade |
| WHEN/WHERE: TRIMESTER 3 |
5TH GRADE
6TH AND 7TH GRADE
Students must commit to continuing their learning during the summer in order to conclude course content and take the end-of-course exam in person on June 28, 2024. |
| WHEN/WHERE: SUMMER |
GRADES 5-7
|
| REGISTRATION | Jan. 31, 2024, through Feb. 21, 2024 (11:59 p.m.). CLICK HERE to register. |
| COST |
$150 ($25 non-refundable). The fee is reduced for students who receive free or reduced lunch. See registration page for details. |
| ATTENDANCE | Consistent bridge course attendance during Trimester 3 and summer sessions is essential for your student’s success. Therefore, the attendance expectation is 80% for all Bridge courses. We expect students to arrive and depart on time every day, and that families will inform the teacher if an unexpected illness or issue arises which impacts their attendance. Attendance will not prevent a student from taking the end-of-course exam. |
| PLACEMENT COMMUNICATION |
Brooks and Julian will communicate mathematics placement for the 2024-25 school year to families in July. Please contact Brooks Principal April Capuder at [email protected] or Julian Interim Principal William Lee at [email protected] if you have questions regarding your student’s math placement. |
*Note about IAR: The IAR is a state-mandated assessment that determines whether or not a child has mastered grade level standards. This metric is critically important in determining academic performance for all students, particularly in the area of mathematics. In order to begin to phase in IAR as a component of math acceleration, mandated participation (not performance) will continue to be implemented this year. In subsequent years, a performance requirement will be added. IAR performance will inform, but not dictate math course placement.
Bridge Course Descriptions
The course will focus on the skills and content from Math 6. Topics covered will include:
- Understanding ratio concepts and using ratio reasoning to solve problems;
- Applying and extending previous understandings of
- multiplication and division to divide fractions by fractions,
- numbers to the system of rational numbers,
- arithmetic to algebraic expressions;
- Reasoning about and solving one-variable equations and inequalities and representing and analyzing quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables.
Students who score 80% or higher on the end of course exam and participate in the 2024 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in English Language Arts/Literacy and mathematics will advance to Math 7 for the next school year. Students can expect to receive homework for this class.
The course will focus on the skills and content from Math 7. Topics covered will include:
- Analyzing proportional relationships;
- Applying and extending previous understandings of operations with fractions;
- Using properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions; and
- Solving real-life and mathematical problems using algebraic expressions and equations.
Students who score 80% or higher on the end of course exam and participate in the 2024 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in English Language Arts/Literacy and mathematics will advance to Math 8 for the next school year. Students can expect to receive homework for this class.
The course will focus on the skills and content from Math 8. Topics covered will include:
- Working with radicals and integer exponents;
- Understanding the connections between proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations;
- Analyzing and solving linear equations and pairs of simultaneous linear equations;
- Defining, evaluating, and comparing functions;
- Using functions to model relationships between quantities; understanding congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem. Students who score 80% or higher on the end of course exam and participate in the 2024 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in English Language Arts/Literacy and mathematics will advance to Integrated Math I for the next school year. Students can expect to receive homework for this class.
Independent Study
Is your student unable to participate in the Trimester 3 or summer bridge course?
Independent Study is offered to current 6th and 7th grade students who are unable to participate in the Trimester 3 and summer bridge course. Please click the button below to learn more.
Important Dates to Remember
| Bridge Course for Acceleration (Trimester 3 and Summer) |
Dates |
|---|---|
| Registration Opens | Wednesday, January 31, 2024 |
| Registration Closes and Payment Due | Wednesday, February 21, 2024 |
| Trimester 3 Session Begins |
Wednesday, March 6, 2024 (6th-7th) |
| Trimester 3 Session Ends | Tuesday, June 4, 2024 |
| Summer Session Begins | Monday, June 10, 2024 |
| Summer Session Ends | Friday, June 28, 2024 |
| End-of-Course Exam | Friday, June 28, 2024 |