Posted on 01/30/2006 6:13:32 AM PST by John Jorsett
Each morning, when Gabriela Ocampo looked up at the chalkboard in her ninth-grade algebra class, her spirits sank.
There she saw a mysterious language of polynomials and slope intercepts that looked about as familiar as hieroglyphics.
She knew she would face another day of confusion, another day of pretending to follow along. She could hardly do long division, let alone solve for x.
"I felt like, 'Oh, my God, what am I going to do?' " she recalled.
Gabriela failed that first semester of freshman algebra. She failed again and again — six times in six semesters. And because students in Los Angeles Unified schools must pass algebra to graduate, her hopes for a diploma grew dimmer with each F.
Midway through 12th grade, Gabriela gathered her textbooks, dropped them at the campus book room and, without telling a soul, vanished from Birmingham High School.
Her story might be just a footnote to the Class of 2005 except that hundreds of her classmates, along with thousands of others across the district, also failed algebra.
Of all the obstacles to graduation, algebra was the most daunting.
The course that traditionally distinguished the college-bound from others has denied vast numbers of students a high school diploma.
"It triggers dropouts more than any single subject," said Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer. "I think it is a cumulative failure of our ability to teach math adequately in the public school system."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
From what I have seen, there are not many good algebra teachers. It's a tough subject for lots of students (and adults) and takes a special kind of teacher to get students to understand it.
If the kid honestly can't do the work, then they don't deserve the diploma. There must be some failues in school, otherwise passing is meaningless.
So if the class is hard, it must have no value? I love this Opra-esque logic. Paying taxes is expensive so I must not pay taxes! Keeping on a diet is hard so hook me up to a Hershey-IV!
They don't need no stinkin math..they have their Game Boys or an Ipod....
Like, totally.
If she had had year-round teaching about algebra, both at school and in the home by her parents, I don't believe she would have failed six times.
The article also states she was barely able to comprehend long division. Sounds like her math skills needed more basics.
Shane Sauby, who worked as an attorney and stockbroker before becoming a teacher, volunteered to teach the students confronting first-year algebra for a second, third or fourth time. He thought he could reach them. But, Sauby said, many of his students ignored homework, rarely studied for tests and often skipped class
They need to shunt such kids to vocational school instead. Better that they at least learn the basics and some job skills then dropping out completely and ending up a ward of society.
Then you just get the PE teacher to teach algebra, just like in my high school. Oh, you wanted good algebra teachers....never mind.
It's obvious that the school district should ban Algebra. ;o)
Grody man, like barf me out and gag me with a spoon. And besides, there's only + - * and / on my calculator.
"I think it is a cumulative failure of our ability to teach math adequately in the public school system."
I don't agree at all. While some see this as splitting hairs,
I believe the cumulative failure is that we don't teach ARITMETIC in the public school system.
Arithmetic is the precursor to Algebra. I went into high school with a knowledge of arithmetic, and I was able to make the transition. If you can't do long division, then you have a really tough time doing quadratic equations.
Mike
And yet my Freshman daughter is making an A in Algebra Two. Why? Because my wife and I expect her to do so. (Plus she's a sharp cookie)
"But you're not really thinking through the implications. There may be no good reason why algebra is essential for all high school students."
I agree.
It's with failure to provide a solid math foundation in the earlier grades.
She can't do long division - in HIGH SCHOOL - that's ridiculous. But regardless of why she can't do long division - if you can't understand that concept you sure as heck aren't ready for algebra.
The public schools aren't able to help kids who can't basically learn it on their own. I have an LD kid - the public school system in our county (which is supposed to be the best in the metro Atlanta area) promised us all sorts of special help for him, then of course never provided any of it. I pulled him out and home-schooled him for two months while I found a placement for him in a private school dedicated to LD and ADD kids.
He was supposedly in fifth grade - but didn't know what a fraction was! By the time I got through with him he could add, multiply and divide fractions and reduce improper fractions etc. (We started with a key lime pie . . . )
Yeah, where my kids went to high school, the football coach taught algebra. My daughter basically had to teach herself.
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