Posted on 08/23/2012 5:31:40 PM PDT by wintertime
HetchingerEd is offering a rather radical proposal to increase the number of American students who graduate college: dump math. Specifically, the argument is that since many college students, a disproportionately large number of them of an African-American or Hispanic descent, are unprepared to tackle college-level mathematics courses, they might be stymied by a requirement that all those receiving a degree from a particular institution must pass the freshman version of the course.
A fifth of students entering a four-year college don’t have the needed math skills to pass the course and are forced into remediation. Nearly half of community college freshmen find themselves in a similar situation. This delay makes it much less likely that they will be able to graduate on time — or graduate at all. Only a tenth of community college students who take remedial college courses finish their college programs in 3 years, and only a third of four-year students complete theirs in 6 years.
Those statistics come from a report on remediation published in April by Complete College America. The report’s numbers suggest that math requirements may be the primary obstacle to graduation for many students: In many states, a larger percentage of students enroll in remedial math courses than in remedial English courses.
These numbers ignited a debate among education experts with many calling for better algebra preparedness in high school, while an increasingly loud minority suggesting that colleges do away with universal math requirements altogether.
(Excerpt) Read more at educationnews.org ...
My father and mother were born in 1913. Few of this generation graduated from high school let along went to college, but look at the health, wealth, and fun produced by this ( greatest) generation. If college was not required for most of the work done then ( except for some very specific professions) then the same is true today.
Sitting here laughing. Very cute!
IMO, a better choice is to drop the algebra and trigonometry for most college majors and replace it with accounting, statistics and probability. These math skills are most often used in the real world, while still adhering to the “you need to learn math in college” standard.
Their should be “There”. Oops!
I absolutely agree with you, and so does Charles Murray, that some professions absolutely require a university setting.
But? ....Do you think that everything those in the science professions study needs to be acquired on a campus. There are AP ( advanced placement) tests now given on the high school level that are fully accepted by many colleges. There is a wide variety of AP tests offered.
One young man in my church has a masters in chemical engineering and he complete nearly two years of college credit by taking AP courses ( a certifiable qualifying exam). It saved him a ton of money and **time**.
“IMO, a better choice is to drop the algebra and trigonometry....”
I never thought I’d actually use algebra in day-to-day life, but I was proven very wrong. I had to use it regularly for years, and still occasionally do. Trig. on the other hand, I’ve never used. Every college student should know at least basic algebra.
“Specifically, the argument is that since many college students, a disproportionately large number of them of an African-American or Hispanic descent, are unprepared to tackle college-level mathematics courses, they might be stymied by a requirement that all those receiving a degree from a particular institution must pass the freshman version of the course.”
So let’s admit it, blacks are a bunch of IDIOTS and should not be held to the standards that white America is held to. But consider this:
http://imanischool.org/690531.ihtml
My kids went to Christian schools here in Houston. They were years ahead of their grade level (since we taught them before entering schools and then on the side), but they had to compete against this no-name BLACK school, Imani, in spelling and math Olympics. These kids literally, at least in Houston, BLEW THE DOORS OFF of white Christian School kids. My kids managed to beat them, but only because of their education outside of schools.
One other thing worth mentioning. These Imani kids knew how to cheer for and support their classmates. They also knew how to behave and put the whities to shame when it was time to be quiet and respectful.
I realize that Jesse, Shelia, and the rest just wish these kids would go away - but some of us are VERY PROUD of them.
A better choice would be to drop college attendance completely and take accounting, statistics, and probability if needed by the job.
Think about it. Why does the Marriott Hotel check-in clerk need a college degree, accounting, statistics, or probability unless, ( by demonstrating focus and dedication) she/he would be identified as someone who should be groomed for management. A solid eighth grade education should be more than enough to do the job.
Welcome to the warped world of the Pooblik Skool Collective.
:-)
A godless, single-payer,compulsory use, compulsory funded, prison-like, socialist-entitlement, and price-fixed cartel! Managed by the People's Collective elected by the Voting Mob! ( Misnamed School Board)
“A solid eighth grade education should be more than enough to do the job.”
My grandfather had an 8th grade education and was married to a school teacher. I’m guessing his education was a heck of a lot better than what we’re graduating today.
No, no. Men are rational. Women are irrational. If men are real, women are imaginary.
You bet! And....The majority of his generation attended one-room schools.
So?...Think of a nice cozy one room school where all the parents know each other well and the teacher, and then compare that to your local public school that looks like a minimum security prison. Many of the towns in my state have elementary schools with FOUR first grades. What is that? A factory? A prison?
My son got his B.S. in Mech. Eng. from the University of Illinois. He had to pay an extra $3K in tuition each year. The concept is that an engineering lab costs a lot more to build and run than a library. Also, an engineering professor can make more as an engineer than an English professor can at ... whatever else an English professor might do for a living.
OTOH, he got a job that paid $55K/year + a car and overtime when he graduated.
And some men are imaginary.
I learn something new every day on Free Republic. I had no idea.
“The majority of his generation attended one-room schools.”
And they learned using chalk and slate. Parent’s didn’t have to sign a waiver to pay $1000 if the personal lap top was damaged, they didn’t need a computer lab, they didn’t have reams of paper in all the colors of the rainbow, as well as paint, colored pencils, magic markers, or paper towels, Kleen-x, etc. How did we ever manage to get where we are? When I got the list from my daughter’s school of what was expected to be sent for the “collective,” I had more than a few expletives I wanted to write on the paper and send back. They aren’t schools, they’re social engineering centers run by the government funneling money to unions. If we hadn’t been in bankruptcy thanks to Bush and being directly targeted by the government, she’d never have stepped foot in a public school.
And they learned using chalk and slate. Parent
“And they learned using chalk and slate. Parent”
But I repeat myself. Still good advice- parent your children.
I have a degree in chem Eng from a world renowned university. I was required among other math related courses to take a course called ‘Higher Math for Engineers and Physicists’. In my many years of industrial work I came away with the idea that there is certainly a a place/purpose for having the reasoning capability of the higher math. However, there is probably just as many places/purposes where a much lower level of math by some ‘technician’ is needed to get a project successfully completed. There is no substitute for coordinated levels of mathematical capabilities.
Did you have t-shirt that read-
“Chem Es Do It In Packed Beds”
That was my personal favorite college t-shirt back in the 70’s.
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