Posted on 02/11/2010 5:22:00 AM PST by reaganaut1
Spurred by a succession of reports pointing to the importance of algebra as a gateway to college, educators and policymakers embraced “algebra for all” policies in the 1990s and began working to ensure that students take the subject by 9th grade or earlier.
A trickle of studies suggests that in practice, though, getting all students past the algebra hump has proved difficult and has failed, some of the time, to yield the kinds of payoffs educators seek.
Among the newer findings:
• An analysis using longitudinal statewide data on students in Arkansas and Texas found that, for the lowest-scoring 8th graders, even making it one course past Algebra 2 might not be enough to help them become “college and career ready” by the end of high school.
• An evaluation of the Chicago public schools’ efforts to boost algebra coursetaking found that, although more students completed the course by 9th grade as a result of the policy, failure rates increased, grades dropped slightly, test scores did not improve, and students were no more likely to attend college when they left the system.
• A 2008 paper by the Brookings Institution suggested that as many as 120,000 students nationwide were “misplaced” in algebra programs, meaning they had test scores on national exams that put them about seven grades below their peers in algebra classes. Further, it said, states with a high proportion of students taking algebra in 8th grade didn’t necessarily outperform other states on national math assessments.
“Simply sticking students in courses without preparing them ahead of time for the class does not seem to work as an intervention,” said Chrys Dougherty, the author of the Arkansas and Texas analysis, published last month by the National Center for Educational Achievement,
(Excerpt) Read more at edweek.org ...
Most jobs do not require proficiency in algebra, and people who cannot master it certainly can be productive members of society, if not engineers, scientists, or financial analysts. But stop trying to make people what they are not.
For those who can't do it by then, there's no sense pushing them into it.
Bingo! This modern PC fallacy that EVERYONE deserves the "right" to go to college has done untold damage to society and to education across the board. As a math tutor while attending a state college, I can tell you that nearly all the students I attempted to help (they were overwhelmingly minority, incidentally) did not belong there - did not WANT to be there. The lack of any academic skills whatsoever was absolutely appalling! They saw it as an easy ticket to instant riches without really trying.
That being said, it needs to be emphasized that not going to college does NOT mean you are stupid. Many legendary successful Americans didn't attend college. It's not for everyone.
Algebra is about thinking abstractly. Not everyone is made for that.
This article is about what passes for thought in the education schools in this country. “People who take algerba in 8th grade get into college and do well, therefore if we make everyone take algebra in 8th grade everyone will get into a good college.”
These are the fools in charge of education.
I’m one of those people who never could get algebra—in my seventies, now, and still don’t get it—unlike my brother who is a math genius.
Different strokes for different folks.
I’ve lived a long, productive life without algebraic skills. I don’t feel like I’ve lost out on anything I wanted to do because I don’t have math skills. I can always find someone to do the math for me when needed-—my math genius husband, for instance.
Give them a reason to learn it, something that they can apply reason to. Problems without meaning are useless.
Algebra should be taught for algebra’s sake. Productive citizens need algebra - even just comparing prices in the store requires algebra, most people just don’t realize it.
I mean, it’s algebra, not calculus, for crying out loud! If you can’t do algebra you really aren’t high school educated and shouldn’t be graduated.
I always wondered why they gave aptitude tests and test to see what kind of learner someone was (visual, listening, hands-on).
They never changed the way they taught or tossed ya into some class that was your special little niché.
3rd grade? Do you mean 3rd year of high school or 9 year olds?
Nobody can learn algebra effectively if he has not mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions skills. The massive difficulty with today’s high school students’ learning higher math - and I cringe to describe Algebra I as “higher math” - is due to their not having learned to use arithmetic.
When I was tutoring in high schools in the early 90s, it was observed that the students were failing the graduation exam in math because they didn’t know the multiplication tables, or because they couldn’t work with fractions. This was 2nd - 4th grade work, “back in the day.”
Students with arithmetic skills can begin using algebra concepts easily. It doesn’t require high intelligence, just simple skills that many schools are refusing to require. My children’s math workbooks have simple equations with variables from the 3rd grade up.
so your brother was a math genius and your husband is a math genious.
sensing a trend here :)
I agree with you 100 percent. But in order to graduate from the high school I attended, you had to have completed Algebra I and Algebra II. I sucked it up, got it over with early, and went on to trig, which I actually enjoyed. Then calculus, which is the most difficult thing I ever tried to do. Big mistake. I do not have the math gene, and really had to sweat it to maintain my GPA. What got me through calculus was an adult cousin, an aeronautical engineer, who kindly tutored me and helped with my homework.
Well, that's right, most do not. However, most jobs worth having eventually require some forms of higher conceptual thinking. I believe Algebra I and II exposes students to the notion of rational, clear thought; how to approach a problem and develop a solution. These are skills that come in handy for everyone.
The tragedy is that 8th graders who don't know their multiplication tables, fractions and decimals cold and have poor reading comprehension, will likely never understand Algebra.
That "teacher" got her math degree from a tech school. I was college prep so had to take it over summer school to stay on track. I got a 94. It was anything but a cakewalk.
I remember laughing about this while taking discrete and finite mathmatics classes for my computer science degree at college. I double majored in that as well as Business Admin at the same time.
Point of the story? It ain't always the student....very few people may not have cognitive abilities to for it. But the vast majority of students can and should know how to analyze and solve a simple equation.
Precisely. Too many students were pre-disastered by parents and educators in grades 1-7.
I completely agree that college is not for everyone, nor should it be. Many of the most independent, self-reliant people you will meet did not go to college. My father-in-law is a tradesman--heating and cooling systems. Self-employed. Built his own houses. Raised 3 kids. Can fix anything. Has loads of common sense and practical knowledge.
As for me, I ended up getting a PhD in the school of hard knocks (graduated with honors). Learned how to "huck and chuck". Even made it in the corporate world for a while, before FINALLY arriving at my destiny, which was to work with a guitar in my hands.
This idea that without college you will be a loser is projection on the part of those who are reliant upon college and college-type jobs (academia, lawyers, etc.) Most of these types can't change a spark plug or fix a leaky toilet, and yet they deign to lecture the rest of us.
High school should be vocational. Some should choose the college track. Some should choose a trade. The truth is, in the real world, you don't usually need more than basic math skills, reading skills.
Then they should teach practical cognitive skills. Not rote memorization. They should teach logic. Classic debate and argument. etc.
Algebra in 9th grade isn’t so difficult. It’s the Algebraic K Theory in 10th grade that’s the real hurdle.
Completely agree. I’m one of those uneducated people who somehow manged to do alright for myself and am now raising 7 year old twins(I’m 57 now) I can tell you the schools are NOT teaching the basics as I knew them in grade school and I’m having to teach my kids how to add and subtract(I’m not kidding) As for Algebra, most people don’t need it so it’s really wasted effort. If my kids show an interest I’ll show them how to do it myself.
Somebody’s got to dig the ditches. Manual labor is nothing to be ashamed of...
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