The Promise of Mathematics Equity to All
Algebra is an abstract subject. It is also a proven predictor of a successful college career. Further, it grants problem solving skills to those who master its precepts. Good problem solvers are the people we want to be our doctors, to make our laws, to defend our country and to discover new things to maintain our well being.On July 9, 2008, California State Board of Education decided that all California's eighth-graders must take Algebra I by 2011. This is a monumental change in graduation requirements. For it affirmed that some California citizens are not receiving a "good" education and it infers that the state wishes to right the wrong. Presently Latino, black, native American and children of the poor do not meet success in algebra. Many leave high school without skills to earn a college degree that leads to a position in any of the critical fields of science, technology, medicine, computer design, and defense. So low percentages of students of color enter the critical fields. This limits the state's ability to offer the best life to its citizens. On the global level it - low percentage of students of color excelling in math and science - relegates the United States to 21st and 25th places in science and mathematics among a field of 32 developed nations.
Although the algebra success rate for Latino, black, native Americans and children of the poor are low, our white and Asian students master algebra at the same rates and competence levels as students in other developed nations. This internal difference creates an achievement gap that is widening between our student groups. As other countries are investing heavily in the 21st century education of their children, to avoid becoming a second rate country, all of our states must follow the "California algebra" decision and agree to a national standard of student proficiency.
- Requiring algebra in the 8th grade portents math equity for all.
- Requiring algebra in 8th grade is patriotic.
- Algebra in 8th grade will restore the US as a leader in educating its students in science and math.
Comments
fofo
(Guest)
(Guest)
11/04/2008
do you differentiate till now between black and white !
We are in the 21 century
we had prealgebra in the 8th and then advanced students had algebra in 9th, geometry in 10th and algebra 2 in 11th. Geometry threw me and math was never the same.
Lloyd Gavin
(Guest)
(Guest)
07/16/2008
Don , Melpol thank you for the comment. I agree with each point you made. I invite you view the techniques of Singapore mathematics. I believe you will see my excitement and the hope of this method. It is highly visual approach making it suited for the students that you represented in your comment.
Don
(Guest)
(Guest)
07/16/2008
I heartily agree with two important points: 1. Algebra is an excellent foundation for abstract thinking, and 2. An algebra requirement will
motivate efforts to improve elementary school mathematics education. However, I'm not convinced that it should be an eighth grade requirement. It should be available to students even in seventh grade, but required in ninth grade (and geometry in tenth grade), with both
subjects made high school graduation requirements. I think that the key to success in algebra is an enjoyment of numbers and arithmetic.
If abstraction (i.e., general principles) were introduced in elementary school, algebra wouldn't be the hurdle that it is for many. In addition to having subject matter skill, the elementary school math teacher should instill a sense of joy in the subject by making its learning fun.
If that's done, learning algebra will be easy and the class will not be divided into fast and slow learners, a bad situation for both groups.
Algebra separates the men from the boy's, either have it or you don't. Forcing Algebra down a slow learners throat serves no purpose but to destroy a students self esteem. Many of us are not gifted with analytic talents but can excel in art or music. It is a teacher job to bring out the best in a student not the worse.
Comments 1 - 5 (of 5)
|
|