Chemical reactions are racially blind; they don't care about color of skin of the plant engineer.
Posted on 11/30/2015 1:51:01 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Call it the Common Core Curve. The New York Times reports that the higher performance expectations cited frequently by Common Core curriculum advocates turned out to be a little embarrassing to Empire State educators when it came to proficiency in algebra. Under the new curriculum, performance on the statewide aptitude tests dropped from a pre-CC 72% to 63%. The answer? In New York, one proposal is to lower the bar:
In 2013, concerned that high school graduates were not prepared for college, the State Board of Regents revamped the exams students must pass to graduate, starting with the English and Algebra I tests. The board decided that, where previously students needed a score of only 65 on a 100-point scale to pass, in coming years they would have to score at a "college- and career-ready" level, which this year was deemed to be a 79 in English, and a 74 in Algebra.
The result: On the 2015 Algebra I exam, which was supposed to align with the new Common Core curriculum, the percentage of students passing fell to 63 percent, down nine points from the old exam last year. And less than a quarter of students scored at the college-ready level. In New York City, which has a concentration of poor and minority students, only 52 percent of students passed the 2015 exam, down from 65 percent the previous year on the old exam. Just 16 percent reached the "college-ready" level.
Confronted with the consequences of higher standards, the Regents, like education officials across the country, are now rethinking them.
This fall, they established a committee to study the results on the new exams to determine, among other things, whether the bar for passing, which students would have to meet starting in 2022, had been set too high. (They had originally said the class of 2017 would need the higher scores to pass, but last year decided to push that back.)
MaryEllen Elia, the state education commissioner, said no decision had been made. "Does it look reasonable right now?" she said of the "college-ready" standard. "I would say, no, it doesn't. And I would say, what we have to do is we have to keep our eye on that."
The most amusing part? This test was supposed to be graded on a curve:
Before the new exam was given, the Regents had said they intended to set the grading so the same number of students passed as had before, but that did not happen.
In other words, the regents even failed to set up a curve that would have hidden the problem in algebra instruction. Rather than focusing on fixing the problem, the regents at least seem open to the idea of lowering the bar, either in the test itself or the curve to allow students to pass it. The issue for the regents is that the number of students that fail the test forces them to offer more resources for individualized remedial instruction, as well as increasing the number of times the test must be taken.
The root of the problem, however, is the education itself. As the NYT’s Kate Taylor notes, it’s not that the testing is too rigorous and disproportionally represents those who will struggle in algebra at the next stage of education. Colleges and universities are having to deal with increasing numbers of students who require remedial work in mathematics. Lowering the curve for passage and/or making the test easier only allows the state’s education system to continue ducking the problem and passing the buck to colleges and universities.
Nor is this a new problem; it didn’t start with Common Core, and it won’t end with its departure. In the early 1980s, I was the student representative on the Curriculum Committee at Cal State Fullerton when the university began proposing what we called “99 courses” (below the 100 code for most entry-level freshman courses) — remedial math, remedial English, remedial composition, etc. The committee objected on two points: first, that any remedial work should be handled by the plentiful number of two-year community colleges in the area, and second, that this effort should have been shouldered by the high schools, if not middle schools. The administration refused to budge, though, and the courses were added.
Regardless of which curriculum gets used, the issue is that primary education is failing to adequately instruct students on basic algebra, a skill set that is necessary not just for college but also in many trade schools as well. (Try becoming an electrician without understanding both algebra and trigonometry.) The rush to declare Common Core the solution to these ills is misguided at best, and seems more like a bright and shiny distraction from the real issues at hand.
Hopefully reality sets in before some college confers a degree in Chemical Engineering on any of these kids. If the Chemical Engineer doesn’t know what he’s doing, the billion dollar petrochemical plant blows up. Chemical reactions are racially blind; they don’t care about color of skin of the plant engineer.
Most of these kids will either drop out of school or enroll in some fluff college course like Women’s or LGBT studies.
Engineering is not going to be of interest to them.
I would be willing to bet serious money that 63% of educators in the Empire State cannot pass a college-ready proficiency test in Algebra.
So as to not have to admit that certain kids are not up to it, and that it is correlated with race.
How does one make algebra easier? It is what it is - it’s either right or wrong. But then, algebra is logical and how many of todays high schoolers know anything about thinking logically? I suppose if you “feel” that your answer is correct, that’s good enough.
My son graduated with his Chem E this spring from Purdue. His graduation session was all Engineering disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical/Computer and Nuclear Engineering. I would guess there was a little less than a thousand kids getting those degrees in that session. Maybe a dozen were black, and of that dozen, half of them were not African-American, they were from Africa.
A few months later University President Mitch Daniels said there needs to be a push for more “diversity” in the Purdue Engineering schools. So there will be pressure to move minority students along whether they make the grade or not. And once they get the degree, they have a Golden Ticket. Every major corporation is also under pressure to “diversify” so they will get jobs, whether they are qualified or not.
They sure don’t need to diversify with more Asians, though. The roster of Electrical/Computer Engineering graduates read like a Shanghai phone book.
Shouldn’t Left-Wing ‘Americans” embrace the AlGebra as one of the manifold benefits of Islamic thought?
Here's what will actually happen: the growing income gap between those educated (in disciplines actually valued by society) and those either not educated at all or majoring in various worthless tribal/identity disciplines will continue to grow.
Eventually, it will reach the point where it can no longer be ignored, at which time blog posters on Queer Theory and such will simply be deemed to have jobs "of comparable worth" to Chemical Engineers. Then, they'll be handed whatever income is needed to make up the difference between the market value of their "skillset" and the skills the country and society actually need.
All in the name of "social justice..."
Algebra is stupid anyway.
Teaches you to solve pwoblems?
1. Fix my speiling.
2. Only 10 or so equations are actually useful.
3. I not only earned A+’s in AP Mechanical Drafting, I tested out of several courses in college, which I attended at age 15 after testing out of high school in 10th grade.
4. Chess champion of High School, beating every senior, who pretended to be smawt. Chess champion of 8th grade and 3rd place in my county in 7th grade.
5. Made it this far in life and done more than most will ever do and I’m only 52, with new plans.
6. Can frame a window or door, square.
7. Figured out how to get my dogs to obey my 3 imperatives without ever fearing me.
8. Came up with a clever idea to fix a port-a-potti to just about any bed, so it can be safely mounted by the least agile and most fragile, with confidence it will not tip over. It will literally save their shit.
Just thought some other clever idiot would have thought of the same thing by now. Strange.
Most important: “I discovered infinite uses for duct tape, my favorite being its use for prevention of blisters”
Geometry on the other hand is more than useful, is the root of mathematics.
More of whitey’s useless B.S.
Who needs algebra to charge stuff on an EBT card, sell dope, or make up home-made names?
How did we land a spacecraft on the moon and bring it back in the 60’s?
With this new crop of perpetually offended students I have serious doubts we could do the same thing today.
Can they solve Quadratic Equations?
So despite all the complaints about Common Core, at least it appears to be raising math standards.
A lot of brains and a lot of slide rules.
1. Teaching Math In 1950s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ?
2. Teaching Math In 1960s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
3. Teaching Math In 1970s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
4. Teaching Math In 1980s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
5. Teaching Math In 1990s
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it’s ok. )
6. Teaching Math In 2009
Un hachero vende una carretada de madera para $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha ganado?
7. Teaching Math In 2016 and on.
Who cares, just steal the lumber from your rich neighbor’s property. He won’t have a gun to stop you, and the President says it’s OK anyway cuz it’s redistributing the wealth.
I have a novel idea: actually TEACH algebra.
The way they did it when I went to NY schools, they toss a bunch of words at the kids, fail to adequately describe the order of operations or methodology, then go “we’re done”.
And that was before Commie Core.
I’m a typical white guy but higher math and me never mixed.
My sister thinks algebra, calc, trig, etc is fun and easy. For me algebra was the only F I ever made in high school. Everything else A and B.
Having doctor level scribble didn’t help I’m sure. My comprehension is apparently out of whack.
However I am good at word/number problems such as accounting exercises. My sister would go into meltdown on most with two or three sentences.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
