All reasonable and valid criticisms of public education aside, and there are many, not every eighth grader is ready for algebra. Some percentage of children may never master algebra. Not everyone should go to college. Not every child can be above average.
So true! I taught algebra, and LOVED every minute of it! I had some 8th graders in algebra, and they were the motivated kids. The ones in pre-algebra were either unmotivated, not quite as mature as others :), or ones who struggled with math. It was a joy to see my pre-al kids do well the following year in algebra when they were convinced they would never learn it!
Oh yes, my algebra teacher in 8th grade wrote me off as stupid. My 9th grade algebra teacher MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!!!
Why are you trying to make points with facts and reason? Don’t you know we’re just supposed to make fun of brown people?
Just because some kids cannot do algebra doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be offered to kids who can.
One big problem with American education after about eighth grade is this “one size fits all” mentality, agreed. If we were to sort kids by ability around eighth grade like most countries do, the racial disparities in the results would be politically unpalatable. So we put black and Hispanic kids into classes they cannot handle, and all this accomplishes is that they successfully disrupt the education of the kids who can learn. Everyone loses, no one wins.
Nice.
No one with lower abilities should be forced to sit through algebra.
When I was a kid we had choices in math.
The college bound had one of several levels of algebra.
The trades had business maths
and there was a general math for laborers which was a review of the previous nine years of math.
The racism of the thread is snarky.
There are a lot of contributing factors to blacks doing poorly in math.
none that we are going to fix here.
I have four black children. Three of them have done very well, two with calculus, one was considering physics but hit her wall there, as often GIRLS do.
The third will probably get through 1&2 and trig, but has no interest in going further.
The fourth is a computer, until algebra. Too abstract for those abilities.
So what?
Not everyone is a rocket scientist.
Not everyone is an abstract thinker.
One of the real downfalls of leftists is that they think that every one is like them.
What has been refreshing about conservatives has been their clearheadedness about these issues.
People are different. We don't have to insult them.