It doesn't take a rocket scientist....
Posted on 09/23/2008 11:01:59 PM PDT by reaganaut1
Algebra in eighth grade was once reserved for the mathematically gifted student. In 1990, very few eighth graders, about one out of six, were enrolled in an algebra course. As the decade unfolded, leaders began urging schools to increase that number. President Clinton lamented, “Around the world, middle students are learning algebra and geometry. Here at home, just a quarter of all students take algebra before high school.”1 The administration made enrolling all children in an algebra course by eighth grade a national goal. In a handbook offering advice to middle school students on how to plan for college, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley urged, “Take algebra beginning in the eighth grade and build from there.” Robert Moses ratcheted up the significance of the issue by labeling algebra “The New Civil Right,” thereby highlighting the social consequences of so many poor and minority students taking remedial and general math courses instead of algebra.
The campaign was incredibly successful. Several urban school districts declared a goal of algebra for all eighth graders. In 1996, the District of Columbia led the nation with 53 percent of eighth graders enrolled in algebra. From 1990 to 2000, national enrollment in algebra courses soared from 16 percent to 24 percent of all eighth graders.
...
The push for universal eighth-grade algebra is based on an argument for equity, not on empirical evidence. General or remedial math courses tend to be curricular dead-ends, leading to more courses with the same title (for example, General Math 9, General Math 10) and no real progression in mathematical content.
(Excerpt) Read more at brookings.edu ...
I thought the main goal of teaching algebra to the masses was that it teaches logic.
We’re hoping tutoring works — I know I don’t remember enough to help!
Another place to get quick help for specific questions is at Yahoo Answers. There are two separate sections, 'Homework Help' and 'Mathematics' with some really good help offered on a virtually instantaneous basis. I post there quite frequently under the user name "Bob B".
At the very end of 8th grade my math class was taught a bit of pre-algebra. I took it in 9th grade, B average but I didn’t know what I was doing. Did not take it in future grades, had geometry in 10th grade and hated it.
My great aunt was an Algebra teacher in Portland, Maine. My mother excelled in Algebra, she even taught it to my father when he needed it at work. My brother was a whiz at it, only one of four children to get it, and my daughter absolutely loved it, and she loved chemistry even more. I would watch her doing her chemistry homework..solving equations, just whipping through them. She amazed me.
The same teacher taught ALL the courses...and she wasn't boring. We were taught...If you want a good grade, you're gonna have to work for it. AND THERE WAS NO HOMEWORK.
That was the progression for me with it starting in 8th grade, but to take Algebra I in 8th we were tested and it was for "advanced" students. Hated Algebra I...loved Geometry...Algebra II nearly killed me and my parents...Trig went OK...won't mention pre Calc. I met a wall.
I disagree, Algebra is the introduction to mathematics. Everything that precedes it arithmetic and number theory.
This is our educational system in a nutshell. All around the world students succeed in 8th grade algebra. This is because they are fortunate to live in places where k-7 prepares them for it.
So when we want to compete do we ramp up our k-7 standards? No. We just dump alot of unprepared 8th graders into a class whose fundamentals they wot not of, then complain about their parents when they fail.
A pox on the education industry!
Bleh.
Yeh, sure....They learned slogans-- I Am Somebody !
Dam ! Why can no public person admit THERE IS a Bell Curve (Klintoons -Everyone who wants should go to college BS)
It doesn't take a rocket scientist....
My oldest had to take Algebra in 8th grade. Absolutely hated it, nearly failed. Loathed her teacher. (I was no help since I was a “new math” baby from the 60’s and can barely balance my checkbook...ok, maybe not that bad, but you get the drift.)
Anyway, this year she has a teacher that has a totally different teaching style. My kid loves Algebra now and “gets it” and is, so far, at the top of her class.
But since it is public school, that’s all relative, I reckon.
I agree though that not doing any prep work in the early grades is akin to just throwing them to the lions.
“Why can no public person admit THERE IS a Bell Curve”
Because the bell curves for various racial groups, although they overlap (Thomas Sowell is smarter than the average white person), appear to have quite different means.
Algebra was my favorite class. I took it at least five times. (Drum roll)
It requires some sort of logic that I just don’t possess.
I agree that some students who are taking algebra at that age shouldn’t be doing so. This creates a problem because algebra can’t be treated at the level that it should be if the students aren’t mentally prepared.
However, a lot of the problem has to do with the way math is taught at that level. There’s not a lot of focus on concepts. Many students will resort to cramming and succeed because of the way the subject is handled.
Here’s a very basic example:
Take the concept of even and odd numbers and a group of teenagers or adults. Ask them whether six is an even or odd number. Most will know. Next ask these students whether zero is even or odd. Most will have absolutely no idea. Then ask the few who seem confident that zero is even why they think it is so. They won’t be able to tell you. This eye-opening exchange will reveal that the students don’t really know what an even or odd number is. They just have some rough idea that even numbers are “multiples of 2”, but as is clear, they don’t really know what ‘multiple’ means. It’s just some word they heard somewhere. The solution, of course, is to explain to them (in a bit more detail than I will here) that even numbers are of the form a=2b and odd numbers are of the form a=2b + 1 where b is an integer. Now they not only know the answer to the question of parity but they’ll also be able to explain why zero is even. Odds are good that they’ll remember the answer for the rest of their lives.
That’s a very basic example, but it applies to the harder concepts as well. Having a ‘rough idea’ of a concept isn’t always good enough and can make it very hard for students to deal with more advanced classes later on. Their weaknesses will only become amplified in the harder courses.
succeed should be fail
In the developing world — China, India, Vietnam, etc. and in the developed part of Asia (Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong) algebra is mandatory from the 5th or 6th grade onwards. Ditto for France and Germany.
A suggestion — take away the calculator: let the kids add, subtract, divide on their own. I’m even in favor of learning log tables. A kid passing junior high should know the squares and cubes up to 20 at least, plus algebra and geometry. Calculus should be there in high school too.
actually, math would also help doctors as well — not calculus, but definitely algebra. For the lawyers, they just need to add (more money to their bank accounts) and subract (the money from YOUR bank account) :)
Knowing how to post in sentence case as opposed to all caps (ANNOYING!) isn't that big of a handicap to overcome. :)
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