Posted on 04/05/2011 5:39:25 AM PDT by reaganaut1
With its intricate mysteries of quadratics, logarithms and imaginary numbers, Algebra II often provokes a lament from high-schoolers.
What exactly does this have to do with real life?
The answer: maybe more than anyone could have guessed.
Of all of the classes offered in high school, Algebra II is the leading predictor of college and work success, according to research that has launched a growing national movement to require it of graduates.
In recent years, 20 states and the District have moved to raise graduation requirements to include Algebra II, and its complexities are being demanded of more and more students.
The effort has been led by Achieve, a group organized by governors and business leaders and funded by corporations and their foundations, to improve the skills of the workforce. Although U.S. economic strength has been attributed in part to high levels of education, the workforce is lagging in the percentage of younger workers with college degrees, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
But exactly how to raise the education levels of the U.S. workforce is a matter of debate. And whether learning Algebra II causes students to fare better in life, or whether it is merely correlated with them doing better — because smart, motivated kids take Algebra II — isn’t clear. Meanwhile, some worry that Algebra II requirements are leading some young people to quit school.
The District this year joins other states requiring high school graduates to meet the Achieve standards that include Algebra II; Maryland and Virginia do not.
But no state has pushed Algebra II more than Arkansas, which began requiring the class last year for most graduates
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Back in the day I took all of my algebra in Jr. High (now called middle school, and advanced math, trig, geometry, calculus in HS. Today these classes are what are now called AP classes (advanced placement).
Old School = New School
JR High = High School
HS Diploma = Associates Degree
Associates Degree = Bachelor Degree
Bachelor Degree = Master Degree
Of course if you go way back to the turn of the century those test just to get out of 8th grade (we all seen the emails of those tests) were killers...
Democrats won’t like this. Mathematics teaches a person to think logically. That would remove some of their voting block.
Logic is [a reflection of] “the way God thinks”.
John 1:1 refers to this.
It is no wonder, then, that humans who are in rebellion to God, and who are under the influence of God’s enemy, the prince of this world, would hate logic and logical thought.
Hated calculus. So much I thought about dropping out. Till I hit my fluids class and it made sense. Just need to see the “why” of the math.
That explains it. I was a straight A student in typical high school math but flunked geometry. I was good in college level calculus but struggled to get a C in trig. I always thought I was bad at math because of it, thanks for making me feel better all these years later.
My mother was born in 1921 and I always believed she got a much better education in a small town in TN than I did in the 60s in Miami. We were very much “dumbed down”.
My handwritng (cursive) was pretty good out of high school. Then I took "drafting" (aka "engineering graphics") and morphed into "printscript". Basically destroyed my cursive skills (except for my signature, which still looks pretty good).
I always thought that the worst effect of Affirmative Action was not that it would be unfair to some individuals, or even that it would cheapen the accomplishments of those minorities who could make it on their own, but that it would lead to a more general erosion of the culture of meritocracy in this country.
It is impossible to enforce multiple sets of standards on any group that claims to be equal; it will always default to the lower standard.
This is very easy to believe. In the rural poor district where I used to live, there was always a top student who got accepted to an Ivy league school and graduated. By the mid 80’s it didn’t happen anymore. Even valedictorians from that district need remedial teaching now.
I agree also - there is also something to ones capability as you mature. I BARELY got through Algebra 1 in Junior High School (9th grade). Parents got me a tutor during the summer and got B’s in Geometry the next year. I kept on taking math and getting C’s and B’s after that...all the way through Advanced Engineering Math (Laplace Transforms,etc.) I hold an EE degree.
So - I conclude about myself that I wasn’t mentally ready for Algebra the year I took it, but a couple years later when I got to Trig/Algebra 2 - I handled it okay. I didn’t excel, but I passed.
There, fixed it.
That's probably how she computed that fire cannot melt steel.
Maybe I don’t understand the differences between math and arithmetic, but I use algebra type stuff all the time. I paint rooms, plant flower beds and convert patterns; area, volume and geometry.
“Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house.” - from ‘The Notebooks of Lazarus Long’ by Robert Heinlein
Jus’ stirrin’ the pot... /g
There are some good ones, but in general the Latinos throughout California have a super huge drop out rate and can’t even do 4 times 3 = 12, yet alone algebra 2, BUT they still do multiply real well on our tax dollar.
There are some good ones, but in general the Latinos throughout California have a super huge drop out rate and can’t even do 4 times 3 = 12, yet alone algebra 2, BUT they still do multiply real well on our tax dollar.
A friend of mine is homeschooling his son who is about fifteen years old. He was used the Saxon math books and his son seems to be doing well. I examined the book used for 6th grade math. It was pretty good.
I earn Ds in algebra I and II. When I was 24, however, I started college with the goal of entering one of the doctoral level health professions. My high school grades were so poor in math that I was not accepted in the Biology program but was accepted into another ( ironically more rigorous) science an math major. I finished all the courses offered in Calculus, differential equations, numerical analysis, engineering physics, and chemistry major's general chemistry and organic chemistry.
I did outstanding well and was accepted to all of the 5 doctoral programs to which I applied. This was in the late 70s when there were more than 20 applicants for each seat available in the health profession of my choice.
In the summer of 2009, I attended a conference that was run by the Department of Education. One person at the conference actually used the term SOCIAL JUSTICE MATH.
So our liberal “friends” have already been thinking about this.
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