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'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
191–200 of 510 posts
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#192Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#193> Frustrated by high failure rates in eighth-grade algebra, San Francisco Unified decided in 2015 to delay algebra till ninth grade and place low, average and high achievers in the same classes. I don’t get this idea that everyone should finish at the same time ? why not let kids test into algebra in 8th grade and take pre-algebra when they are ready ?
As I understand, the argument goes like this: kids are required by law to go to school until 12th grade. If you let some kids test out of math classes and take higher level classes, then by the end of the required schooling (12th grade), those students will be smarter and look better to colleges. Smarter and college educated people tend to make more and therefore there's an advantage of kids who test out.
Meanwhile, kids who don't test out look worse at the end of 12th grade. In theory, yes, we should let kids finish at the same time. But required school is over at the 12th grade mark, which is also around the time colleges are looking at you. Most kids won't do non-required schooling to get to the same level as the other kids.
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#194The solution, of course, is to ban private tutoring. Just like they did here: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1008838
All that'll do is break-up the organized tuition system (which may be a good thing and probably has the biggest impact in organized tuition-crazy places like China) and encourage small-scale/individual setups (also may be a good thing but depends). How will you ban individuals across the globe offering lessons over Zoom? That is what has been the net result of the ban as per the article - people are resorting to "underground" means.
Plus a ban only extends to within a country so people in other countries will go right ahead with their tuition. Competition is global and such bans, beyond dismantling the tuition "business" and putting up hurdles in front of parent's craze for the rat-race, don't do much. Nobody is talking about the root cause, which is the fear of unemployment due to scarcity of opportunities.
All the while, the very well-off will continue to manage perfectly with plenty of workarounds available to them, as usual. All these bans would do to create another class of have's and have not's.
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#195It's interesting how path-dependency makes these things seem like controversial reforms, while nearby districts have always done it this way. In Berkeley, for example, there isn't any course called "Algebra I" or II. Through 8th grade there is just math, with no differentiation. Then for 9th grade you can test into an advanced track, and people take either Math 1/2/3 or Advanced Math 1/2/3. In senior year any of thes…
My mom helped write the Texas math curriculum and had high hopes for San Diego Unified when my kids just happened to hit the roll-out years for "common core" (the math 1/2/3 you refer to). She was compelled to admit it was a catastrophe for my daughter and useless for my son. My daughter's story is tragic. I think it basically came down to teachers just not giving a shit about the outcomes and presenting rote lessons…
Ugh, wow, that sounds unbelievably frustrating, sorry you and your kids had to go through that. Thanks for sharing your story.
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#196Obligatory Harrison Bergeron short story.
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#197The district’s curriculum is partially available to the public: https://www.sfusd.edu/departments/mathematics-department-pag... https://www.sfusd.edu/about-sfusd-math-core-course-sequence-... And the district position statement: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uije_05H3BtVyp55oQZ7NCa2k58... It has a “guiding principle”: > Students’ academic success in mathematics must not be predictable on the basis of race, ethnici…
> It has a “guiding principle” and the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The idea that you can achieve cosmic justice should be abolished. There's no such thing.
>The idea that you can achieve cosmic justice should be abolished. There's no such thing.
I think abandoning cosmic justice is kind of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The problem is educational outcomes are tied to race and socioeconomic status and that problem cannot be solved by the school district (unless you could institute a kind of boarding school). That said, these administrators have arrived at a solution ("equitable" education) and are now gaming the metrics to achieve it at the cost of everything else. Worse still they race to pat themselves on the back on having "solved racism".
I think it has been shown over and over again that good educational outcomes start with parents (or more broadly community outside of school) and one group has had that community dismantled over and over again over several generations. In short, while I think it's a noble goal, it cannot be achieved by the school system and SF should have a more pragmatic approach even if the performance by race makes you uncomfortable.
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#198PAging Harrison bergeron, paging Harrison bergeron
Used to think that story was a fiction, that clearly anyone would realize didn’t make sense and could draw the right conclusions. Unfortunately in our modern era it seems some people took its lessons as a playbook. It’s hard to push for equality across the board when some people are clearly just better at certain things. Let people achieve what they can without limit.
I used to think the same about 1984.
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mostly agree with you, except on one aspect. We cannot rely on support from parents, the system we design needs to be thought of with parents out of the equation because in the case of the most vulnerable of kids they will not have parents that can help them. Special tutoring needs to be a part of the system, outsourcing the work will make things cheaper but it will complicate things for those struggling. Kids in n…
Honestly, it doesn’t really work without the parents. The issue is that the biggest problems with schooling discrepancies are poverty. Kids can’t eat, need to take care of siblings or their own kids or go work two jobs, have no homes, don’t get medical care, have no internet, etc. There is no way to really fix those problems by changing the school system. You can have bandaids, like providing free food at school, but…
Agreed. Love, shelter, food and support. Schools have kids 6hrs a day. Learning happens 24/7. There is no way schools can compensate for a bad home life. Progressive school reformers are blindingly naive to the impact that the other 18hrs of a child's day has to their performance at school.
Re: 'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
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