Hello All!
I came across this article today about Texas Lawmakers are currently debating whether to require students to take Algebra II. Some believe there should be an opt-out option for students who will not be attending college but instead will be going into a vocational or certificate program. Click here to read the article and let me know your thoughts.
Best,
Brooke Istas
Comments
My home county went this way about 25 years ago when they decided that since the folks who took Algebra I in eighth grade did significantly better in their academic careers, that therefore *everybody* should take algebra I in eighth grade.
The thing that disgusts me most is that it shows the profound ignorance of the school board of the difference between correlation and cause and effect. Hello??? They graduated from where?
It required a certain background (grades, placement test, gobs of help at home or whatever) to "place" into Algebra. However justly or unjustly attained, that background is also conducive to continued academic success. Enrolling a student in a different course doesnt' change the background in and of itself, though I suppose it could if other things were put into place to bring students up to speed and supply those missing "background" factors. I didn't read anything about the steps being taken to do that.
If the Algebra II were appropriately taught (but I'm reasonably sure that "appropriately" would mean different things for different students) it might, if required, open doors of opportunity to students who would otherwise have passed it by. I wish that were likely...
HOw woudl it affect adult ed? Hard to say. Sometimes students "learn" a few procedures -- but also get even more firmly entrenched in habits of memorizing procedures, which is blamed for the excruciatingly low pass rates in college math courses. Could be that making concerted efforts to include basic math in all curricular areas would have a much more positive effect. Just imagine if students really knew what percents meant?
Like you, I think why should we limit learners education? When I was in high school, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian, teacher, police officer, and a rancher. If the school system would have limited my curriculum choices based on what I thought I wanted to be then I wouldn't be the math instructor that I am today. I think you have to prepare learners for all things...not just one job skill or trade or even test. After all, as an instructor my goal is never to teach for one particular purpose it is to impact them for life!
Others?
Brooke
So far, the comment that has gotten the most thumbs up is a short one from somebody saying he was one of the punks who said he'd never use algebra in the real world, and that he was wrong. What does that say?
Other comments run the usual gamut of "don't require it -- not everybody has to be an engineer" and "well, this *is* the state that said it didn't want to teach critical thinking..." (that was pretty popular, too). Most of them reflect individual perspectives, tho' one was from a guy who said he was *trying* to get them to move developmental math from the colleges into the high schools as a better alternative.