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Say Goodbye To X+Y: Should Community Colleges Abolish Algebra?
NPR ^ | July 19, 2017 | Kayla Lattimore and Julie Depenbrock

Posted on 07/21/2017 5:12:11 AM PDT by C19fan

Algebra is one of the biggest hurdles to getting a high school or college degree — particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads.

It is also the single most failed course in community colleges across the country. So if you're not a STEM major (science, technology, engineering, math), why even study algebra?

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: algebra; college; communitycollege; highereducation; immigrants; math; matheducation; race
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/src on/Math is hard./src off/ Algebra is usually taught in 8th grade or high school.
1 posted on 07/21/2017 5:12:11 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

I actually loved math through Trig. But then Calc. arrrrrrgh


2 posted on 07/21/2017 5:14:54 AM PDT by mykroar (Congratulations President Trump)
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To: C19fan

or, the unwashed ignorati should not be in college, even community college. If they don’t go and will not study, let them eat cake


3 posted on 07/21/2017 5:15:10 AM PDT by bert (K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column)
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To: C19fan
The ability to understand algebra is a rough IQ test.

Algebra is one of the biggest hurdles to getting a high school or college degree — particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads.

Hmmmm ... I bet the Chinese, Japanese, etc. "first generation undergrads" don't have much trouble with algebra.

What, exactly, are the authors saying without realizing that they're saying it?

4 posted on 07/21/2017 5:15:16 AM PDT by NorthMountain (The Democrats ... have lost their grip on reality -DJT)
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To: C19fan

To the article, what a prime example of a stupid question;
(pun intended with extreme prejudice)

The sorry thing about this is that most “math teachers” teach the arithmetic. Students are all worried about the arithmetic when the secret is to just study and remember the rules.


5 posted on 07/21/2017 5:16:26 AM PDT by mazda77
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To: C19fan

Words that don’t mean what they did a generation ago:

Man
Woman
Marriage
Gay
College
Truth
Awesome
Slut

There are many more, but these come to mind. In two more generations we will need a dictionary to read Dickens in the original like we do to read Chaucer.


6 posted on 07/21/2017 5:16:37 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics.)
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To: C19fan
particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads.

I guess when NPR states this, it's not racist.

7 posted on 07/21/2017 5:16:48 AM PDT by Right Brother
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To: C19fan

“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.”

—Robert Heinlein, writing as Lazarus Long.


8 posted on 07/21/2017 5:17:00 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: C19fan

Algebra is just a way to trick the oppressed into acting white!


9 posted on 07/21/2017 5:17:52 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: C19fan

People with lower IQ will struggle with algebra. Better question is why are these low IQ folks in college at all?


10 posted on 07/21/2017 5:17:55 AM PDT by JTHomes (Government is force.)
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To: Dr. Sivana

“Literally.”


11 posted on 07/21/2017 5:17:59 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement ("Silence is violence.")
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To: mykroar

I found calculus easy. But Linear Algebra was my downfall.


12 posted on 07/21/2017 5:19:15 AM PDT by proxy_user
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To: C19fan
So if you're not a STEM major (science, technology, engineering, math), why even study algebra?

Because it forces critical thinking~~~

13 posted on 07/21/2017 5:19:26 AM PDT by Don Corleone (.leave the gun, take the canolis, take it to the mattress.)
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To: C19fan

Well, if it is true that something like 45% of students who graduate today (some Freeper posted that in the past few days) have an “A” average, we can’t have courses like algebra getting in the way of that!


14 posted on 07/21/2017 5:19:59 AM PDT by rlmorel (Donald Trump: Making Liberal Heads Explode 140 Characters At A Time.)
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To: C19fan

I took Algebra in the 9th grade.....

Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus were all required before high school graduation.

Why are colleges teaching Algebra?


15 posted on 07/21/2017 5:21:01 AM PDT by Enlightened1
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To: C19fan
Higher math courses (like algebra) teach valuable reasoning skills. For example, you cannot solve an algebra problem by "doing your own thing". You must follow the rules in a logical sequence. And there is only one right answer.

Conservative viewpoint: If it's difficult, work harder.
Liberal viewpoint: If it's difficult, quit.


16 posted on 07/21/2017 5:21:29 AM PDT by Leaning Right (I have already previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: C19fan

So, is he saying that black people are too stupid to do algebra?

Ok then... let’s just make college stupider for everyone.


17 posted on 07/21/2017 5:21:45 AM PDT by Mr. K (***THERE IS NO CONSEQUENCE OF REPEALING OBAMACARE THAT IS WORSE THAN OBAMACARE ITSELF***)
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To: C19fan

It would be better to say goodbye to NPR and idiots like Kayla Lattimore and Julie Depenbrock, who belong in an insane asylum.


18 posted on 07/21/2017 5:21:48 AM PDT by Carl Vehse
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To: DuncanWaring
Robert Heinlein was a bit of an arrogant ass, and not half as good a writer as his devotees make him out to be. That particular comment would have been right at home in the Third Reich.

However: Half the population (roughly) is below average. That's just a fact. Some people are less intelligent than others. The ability to understand abstract math requires more intelligence than some people have. That lack of cognitive ability does NOT make them less human.

19 posted on 07/21/2017 5:22:04 AM PDT by NorthMountain (The Democrats ... have lost their grip on reality -DJT)
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To: C19fan

I passed this in high school. Pretty damning of today’s educational process that kids can’t be taught this enough to pass.

So let’s get rid of it and substitute something similar? Statistics? Harder than Algebra. Trigonometry? Harder than Algebra.

Maybe require Lesbian Dance Therapy?

Notice that articles like this always seem to have a missing Comments section?

Jaime Escalante must be crying in his grave . . .


20 posted on 07/21/2017 5:22:08 AM PDT by LRoggy (Peter's Son's Business)
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