The Mathematics Department encourages students to explore how math plays a vital role in developing thinking, questioning minds. Mathematics, far more than tracing the facts of arithmetic, involves students in processes at all cognitive levels.

Course Sequence

Depending on the class in which a student is placed in grade 9, the typical course sequence would be one of the following: 1 Algebra, Geometry, 2 Algebra, Trigonometry/Analysis; or Geometry, 2 Algebra, Trigonometry/Analysis, and a choice of Calculus, Statistics, or Finite Math. Students interested in science, engineering, economics, business, math, or computer science should take four years of math, including Calculus, Statistics, and/or Computer Science. 

Students in grade 9 are placed into courses in the math sequence based on courses taken and grades or measures of academic progress earned in middle school, teacher recommendation, and standardized test scores. The placement process also determines whether incoming 9th graders will be placed into honors or regular level courses.

After grade 9, students may take courses at the honors level with a recommendation from their current teacher; students should be maintaining grades of A or B if currently in an honors-level math class or a grade of A if currently in a regular-level math class. Teachers provide recommendations at the start of the course selection process. Courses beyond Geometry require the use of a graphing calculator. 

Dual Credit

Junior and senior students may dual enroll in both the ETHS class and the equivalent Oakton College course and receive college credit. Through articulation agreements with Oakton, students will enroll with the college. Once successfully passing the ETHS class, students will receive college credit for the course.

Dual credit is currently offered in certain courses in the Career and Technical Education, Fine Arts, and Mathematics Departments. Contact Michelle Vazquez, Post-Secondary Counselor at 847-424-7163 for more information. To learn more, search the online Course Selection Guide for courses marked with the Oakton College Ⓞ symbol.

Standards

Courses in the Mathematics Department follow the Content Standards of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, and additionally emphasize the Standards for Mathematical Practice outlined in that document:

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. 

Calculators

Students are encouraged to purchase their own calculator (TI-83 or TI-84 versions are recommended for all courses unless specified otherwise). The Mathematics Department loans graphing calculators to students who are on the Free and Reduced Lunch list. Students can visit the Mathematics Department in N214 for more information.

Requirements

Six (6) credits are required. Freshmen must take a two-credit math course. Four additional math credits are required to graduate.

Visit the graduation requirements page for complete details.