Judge delays 8th-grade algebra in California schools

AP via San Jose Mercury News ^ | 28 October 2008 | Juliet Williams

[latina4dubya]

By the 8th grade?? I had fractions in the 4th, Alg.1 in the 7th and Alg. 2 in the 8th.

big deal... my second grader does fractions... (we homeschool so it's easy to establish our own time table)... i did Algebra in the sixth grade... i'm saying that at the very least, we should ensure that students entering high school have solid basic math skills... you have to know that there are a lot of kids in government schools who go into high school and leave high school without these basic skills...

no need to tell me what level you accomplished, or what level your own child is... i am talking about the very least of the least... they should at least have basic skills to get into high school... but the way it is now, there are no standards...

[latina4dubya]

and you can move them right out of the regular highschools into college.

or you can double dip and do both at the same time... my friend's daughter did just that... finished her first two years of college a few weeks before she graduated from high school... she just started college as a junior... i hope to have my sons do the same thing...

[Calpernia]

If they can’t pass, they stay back. That is the method for those that aren’t ready.

[Las Vegas Ron]

I wasn't bragging, I was simply pointing out how times have changed and how little we expect from our kids.

If the least you expect is "basic" math skills, that's all you'll get. Of course that would be subject to change too if one of the little dears "esteem" was challenged

Conversely, if you reach for the stars, maybe you'll just reach the moon, but at least you reached for something better than just getting by.

Basic is not a high enough standard, IMHO