Posted on 11/23/2021 6:57:09 PM PST by algore
When Rebecca Pariso agreed to join a team of educators she said she expected some controversy.
“We were transforming math education, and change is hard and scary,” said Pariso, a math teacher at Hueneme Elementary School District. “Especially if you don’t understand why that change needs to occur. But I didn’t expect it to go this far.”
Every eight years, a group of educators comes together to update the state’s math curriculum framework.
This particular update has attracted extra attention, and controversy, because of perceived changes it makes to how “gifted” students progress — and because it pushes Algebra 1 back to 9th grade, de-emphasizes calculus, and applies social justice principles to math lessons.
San Francisco pioneered key aspects of the new approach, opting in 2014 to delay algebra instruction until 9th grade and to push advanced mathematics courses until at least after 10th grade as a means of promoting equity.
San Francisco Unified School District touted the effort as a success, asserting that algebra failure rates fell and the number of students taking advanced math rose as a result of the change.
The California Department of Education cited those results in drafting the statewide framework.
The intent of the state mathematics framework, its designers say, is to maintain rigor while also helping remedy California’s achievement gaps for Black, Latino and low-income students, which remain some of the largest in the nation.
Publications like the National Review have objected to the framework’s occasional citation of “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction,” A manual that aims to show math teachers how they can use their class to combat white supremacy. The manual asserts that current math pedagogy in the U.S. reinforces white supremacy in a variety of ways.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfstandard.com ...
C’mon man! Ev’body know 2+2=White Supremacy. Racist MF’er!
Every profession attempts to erect barriers to entry to protect itself. Lawyers have the Bar Association and its rules for admission and ethics. Likewise the American Medical Association and other doctors associations. Such groups are very fond of jargon which further sets them apart from the unwashed.
This desire to protect one's turf extends to blue-collar occupations where unions seek to have a closed shop and to regulate the rules such as promotion according to their liking.
Every occupation, it seems, undertakes the lobby for government protection of its interests and we see a kind of cronyism emerging as regulatory capture applies even here.
Somehow, like most of the soft subjects where academics have attempted to create a "science" where nothing but art and jargon exists, pedagogues have managed to have created a closed shop which insulates them from pesky intrusions from taxpayers and even parents of the very children entrusted to them.
Why does it take a licensed professional or "expert" to know how to teach everything from arithmetic to algebra? If it does, we should fire the lot and hire a whole new bunch of professionals because these guys can't do the job-or spell wont do the job.
The Asians and Indians in California are going to hate this.
So the solution according to the addled Leftists is: "Give NO one a chance to learn math at the highest levels.
That's certainly 'equity'. From the Addled-in-Chief on down, everyone will have equity (except for the Chinese, Germans, British, Indians, Vietnamese, Burmese, Russians........
We had Algebra in the 7th grade
I can see it now:
LEROY has 2 guns & 30 cartridges
He shoots up a liquor store, wounds 3 patrons
He then shoots 3 people on the Metro
HOW MUCH CASH does Leroy NOW have??????
Extra credit if you know how many cartridges Leroy has left.
Depends on size of their get-way vehicles.......
Depends on size of their getaway vehicles.......
So should anyone else who hoped that the time spent in school would be useful.
How much stuff you loot last night?
It ain't lootin man, it organized robbery.
Oh yeah, I forgot
lol
Remember when this was sort of a joke?
1. Teaching Math In 1950s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ?
2. Teaching Math In 1960s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
3. Teaching Math In 1970s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
4. Teaching Math In 1980s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
5. Teaching Math In 1990s
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it’s ok. )
6. Teaching Math In 2009
Un hachero vende una carretada de madera para $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha ganado?
Forecast: Teaching Math In 2013 and on.
Who cares, just steal the lumber from your rich neighbor’s property. He won’t have a gun to stop you, and the President says it’s OK anyway cuz it’s redistributing the wealth.
I’m not sure how this works today.
When I was in school (60s) we didn’t start algebra until 9th grade but we took calculus senior year.
Now my grandkids have algebra starting in 7th grade. Not sure how they will progress.
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