By Kathleen Acuff

Many seventh-graders from local elementary schools who took pre-algebra 1.1 this year will be enrolled in a new, slower-paced algebra course when they enter Los Altos School District junior highs next year. The course is called algebra essentials, and it is intended to prepare students to take either algebra I or geometry in ninth grade.

Patty Boettcher, assistant superintendent for instruction, said, “With the new curricular design, all eighth-graders will take one algebra class or the other.”

Revised state math standards specify that all eighth-graders take algebra. Algebra essentials is meant to satisfy that requirement for students who will have more success in future math courses if they don’t rush past the algebraic building blocks. Local teachers have identified those among this year’s pre-algebra 1.1 students who could enroll in algebra I as eighth-graders in the fall if they successfully complete the district’s summer study program. Those students will take geometry in ninth grade.

District sixth-graders take general or accelerated math, or they take pre-algebra 6. Seventh-graders take one of three levels of pre-algebra. Eighth-graders now can take algebra essentials, algebra I or advanced algebra. Ninth-graders take either algebra I or one of two levels of geometry. Success in lower-level math classes determines a student’s placement in upper-level classes.

The district’s sixth-graders were tested for placement in seventh-grade classes in late April. Principals of the junior high schools and elementary schools met with sixth-grade teachers to determine placement, which puts a student on a particular instructional track for the next few years.

Boettcher emphasized that both algebra essentials and algebra I meet state math standards.

“Generally, (algebra essentials) will address the same objectives as algebra. The pacing will be different in the two courses, and algebra I will explore the concepts in more depth and with more attention to challenging problem solving,” she explained.

Superintendent Marge Gratiot said the algebra essentials class will use a different textbook from the algebra I class ­- “the concepts are presented more

concretely.”