Posted on 08/02/2017 11:46:13 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
If you’re one of those students who dreads math — especially algebra — you’ll soon get a bit of a break at the California State University system.
For years, intermediate algebra had been a prerequisite for the system’s general math classes, meaning even students who weren’t majoring in math or science related fields had to complete the course before they could complete their math requirement. Beginning in the fall of 2018, students whose majors aren’t math or science heavy will be able to fulfill their math requirements without slogging through intermediate algebra first — part of a larger effort to increase graduation rates.
“What that means for students is they have more choices,” said Christine Mallon, CSU’s associate vice chancellor for academic programs and faculty development.
Right now, nearly 40 percent of freshmen admitted to a CSU campus have to take remedial math or English classes that are time consuming and expensive but don’t actually count toward a degree.
The chancellor of the state’s community colleges agrees. Eloy Oakley told the Los Angeles Times several weeks ago he doesn’t think intermediate algebra should be required to earn an associate’s degree, either, unless the student is pursuing a math-heavy degree.
“College-level algebra is probably the greatest barrier for students — particularly first-generation students, students of color — obtaining a credential,” he told the Times. “If we know we’re disadvantaging large swaths of students who we need in the workforce, we have to question why. And is algebra really the only means we have to determine whether a student is going to be successful in their life?”
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
It’s all about race. Surprise.
College today is less difficult than grade school 50 years ago
Mexico says ‘We Don’ Need No Stinking Algebra’. And what Mexico wants Mexico gets.
Guess from which college employers will not be hiring students from? Since this is a word problem the answer may be permanently out of reach for these “graduates”.
I have first hand experience with this issue. As a paid university tutor in undergrad at a state university, I encountered students - COLLEGE students - who barely grasped the fundamentals of arithmetic, and they were almost always “people of color.”
How they ever got out of middle school, much less high school, is a head scratcher for me.
This is how you’ll die—in a hospital after the phucking asshole who titrates your meds can’t figure out the formula. More ammo for the diversity crowd to use to wipe out the White race.
Everybody get a trophy!
College has been turning into just another social club.
Why should student of color have to know math if they want a math or a science degree? Isn’t that also racist.
Doing what, exactly?
“...part of a larger effort to increase graduation rates.”
1. Increase entrance requirements.
2. Fire the tenured professors who don’t add anything.
3. Fine the school districts not educating their high-schoolers.
Oh, wait. I forgot. It’s all about getting as much cash flow as possible.
1. Let anybody in who can get a loan.
2. Don’t make them think - kill the math courses.
3. Whine until you get your way.
4. Re-define the standard so yer stoodints kin pas.
Its racist to force blacks & Latinos to learn math.
So much for higher standards. I guess math is reserved for whites and Asians only.
What were they thinking?
If the minorities and non-citizens can’t do it, then cancel it.
Quite a rule to follow for TEACHERS.
I couldn’t do Algebra either, UNTIL I TOOK THE CLASS, STUDIED, AND FIGURED IT OUT.
It all comes down to one word...L A Z Y.
It be too much trouble, and I don’t need dat to sell crack on da street corner.
Meanwhile, the rest of society loses out on producing smart, productive, young people for generations to come.
We who are older won’t be around to engineer the next generation of cell phones, computers, and video games. We won’t even be here to repair the ones you have.
BAck to the stone age for everyone.
Produce more uneducated citizens. Affirmative action in disguise.
As predicted some time ago, isn’t everything?
Hey, let’s just force every kid to major in “Ethnic/Black/Gender ‘Studies’”
And see if that helps the poor and oppressed
Just like not teaching cursive writing..oops, the rest of the world still uses it and if people can’t write it, how can they read it? If folks can’t solve Algebra problems, how can they solve more complex math problems?
And is algebra really the only means we have to determine whether a student is going to be successful in their life?
It's not sufficient, but it's most definitely necessary.
And if you don't understand that distinction, you've no business calling yourself an educator.
Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable sub-human who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house.- R.A.H.
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