Ninth Graders to Dual Enroll in Calculus at University of Florida
PLANTATION, Fla. – Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) has doubled the number of mathematically talented middle school students enrolled in the Elements of Mathematics: Foundations (EMF) online math program . EMF was created for precocious students by the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science (IMACS), an independent teaching and educational research institute based in South Florida.
BCPS, the sixth largest district in the United States, has offered EMF as full-time math curriculum for its top middle school students since 2015. The program now serves almost 200 children across a socioeconomically diverse mix of 31 middle schools and the Broward Virtual School. The program’s current eighth graders will have the option of dual enrolling with the University of Florida (UF) in Calculus I or Calculus II as ninth graders.
Parents of Broward’s brightest are thrilled that their children have this opportunity to stretch their learning. “Before EMF, my daughter was frustrated that her math class was not interesting, challenging or engaging enough,” recalls Rachel Danzig, whose daughter is a sixth grader in the program. “Since EMF, she has completely changed her perspective on math. I’m sure she couldn’t imagine taking any other course.”
“We are pleased to see EMF grow so much because it means talented students are being challenged at the high level they need to develop into skilled and resilient problem solvers,” said Terry Kaufman, IMACS President. “And because BCPS uses EMF’s self-study implementation, the district is able to significantly increase the number of students served by EMF with little additional expense.”
The EMF curriculum covers all of pre-algebra through precalculus in grades 6-8, as well as several university-level topics such as group theory, number theory and topology. BCPS students who complete the program earn credits in Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry and Precalculus before they start high school.
“It’s exciting to know that Broward’s EMF graduates will be able to take calculus at UF as ninth graders,” adds Kaufman. “But what’s more amazing to me is that they learned undergraduate-level abstract algebra as seventh graders! This past summer, several students even worked through extra problems from an undergraduate textbook. That’s how passionate they are about learning high-level mathematics now that they have been exposed to it through EMF.”
For more information on using EMF in schools visit http://www.EMFmath.com/schools .
About IMACS
The Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science (IMACS) is an independent teaching and educational research institute with 25 years’ experience developing original curriculum for talented K-12 students. IMACS’ curriculum has been used in prestigious programs such as Duke’s Talent Identification Program and Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth. Over 4,500 students from across the U.S. and around the world attend local IMACS classes or study its online courses.
This press release was originally published in District Administration on October 23, 2017.