For my school, kids taking algebra 1 in 9th grade were the remedial students. To force everyone into this track and pace… ugh.
California needs real math education, not gimmicks
71–80 of 386 posts
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#72I feel like the facts are a little thin. It is not really true that "For decades, American math curriculum has followed a standard sequence: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, algebra II, precalculus and trigonometry, and calculus." That may have been the local condition in some places. The high school in my city does not have and has never had any named math course except calculus and statistics. Everything else is just…
In the Texas in the 90s the math courses were: algebra, geometry, algebra II, precalculus and trigonometry, and calculus.
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#73I feel like the facts are a little thin. It is not really true that "For decades, American math curriculum has followed a standard sequence: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, algebra II, precalculus and trigonometry, and calculus." That may have been the local condition in some places. The high school in my city does not have and has never had any named math course except calculus and statistics. Everything else is just…
For me, New England, early 10s the algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, precalc, calc was the exact pattern. Edit: despite the name, pre calc was basically entirely trigonometry.
Same in NY.
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the context of Education or you have an entranched monopoly, this means voting for private school vouchers.
private school vouchers seems like a great idea, but I am afraid it will mirror college situation. most state schools will have bare bones programs, except few select, while private schools will be many levels ahead and become "elite". do we want "ivy league" situation with K-12 education system?
The solution is to do what Sweden does, which is to require all schools to accept the vouchers and charge no further tuition.
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#75Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#76I feel like the facts are a little thin. It is not really true that "For decades, American math curriculum has followed a standard sequence: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, algebra II, precalculus and trigonometry, and calculus." That may have been the local condition in some places. The high school in my city does not have and has never had any named math course except calculus and statistics. Everything else is just…
In the Texas in the 90s the math courses were: algebra, geometry, algebra II, precalculus and trigonometry, and calculus.
I can confirm. We had all of that at the small, rural Texas school I attended. My class of 17 produced two successful computer scientists, a college professor, and a Navy nuclear engineer, each of whom all went through that very curriculum.
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#77In my younger years, particularly during my schooling, I held a deep resentment towards the educational system. It felt overtly clear to me, as a student, that schools failed to effectively foster learning and growth. However, my perspective has evolved over time. I've come to understand that the issues I observed are not unique to the school system but rather characteristic of large institutions as a whole. The perv…
There's also an increased distance between those doing the actual work and those making decisions about how it should be done. Bureaucratic depth keeps any real change from taking place, instead leaving those on the ground level to try and work within a set growing rules. Any attempt to affect change has to be filtered through so many levels and takes so long.
As a longtime teacher, I don't think there are any solutions that can effectively reform existing educational institutions. I also don't think there are any solutions which can affect change which won't leave some group(s) disadvantaged.
One thing I'd like to see is a return to schools and districts which are allowed to operate with more autonomy and with budgets not tied to a local tax base, or federal money tied to test scores. I'd also like to see ways teachers and administrators can effectively remove repeat offenders from classes. Teachers are unable to create effective learning environments when they have no way maintain order, which seems to be the case in many schools. Let poor parenting blowback on the parents and maybe you'll get parents to take some responsibility.
All that said, I don't know if it'll change much. The culture in America doesn't respect the value of education, nor educators in the way it used to. Teach in Asia, Africa and even Europe and you'll see a palpable difference in the way people view education. As a teacher you're able to improve your craft as opposed to surviving day to day.
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#78As someone with a PhD in education, anytime someone uses the phrase “real education” as an attack on new approaches to teaching and learning, it’s a gigantic red flag that their argument is unserious.
I don't want to be rude about this, but education PhDs are a complete joke, and your argument would be stronger without mentioning as much.
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#79As someone with a PhD in education, anytime someone uses the phrase “real education” as an attack on new approaches to teaching and learning, it’s a gigantic red flag that their argument is unserious.
The "advice" coming from these professors of education to state governments should be what is giving you a giant red flag. Reducing quality of education by lowering standards, and lying about the data, shows that it is not driven by science. My opinion on this: the "education" establishment in the US is driven by people looking for consulting fees, as shown by someone in this post linking to Dr Boaler's absurd consul…
> Chinese mathematics education is several years ahead
My Chinese gf learned how to analyze simple electric circuits (Ohm's law, reading schematics, etc.) in middle school and was tested on it for high school entrance, even though she was an arts/humanities student. The standards here in NC for middle school science seem to only require knowing that circuits must be closed and insulators/conductors. That would be an (elective) HS or AP physics class. Also, there seems to be one set of standards and one test for all students in middle school and pre-university students. Instead of "detracking" by going down to the lowest common denominator, there are high expectations for all students.
In the UK and many other countries, what we call "advanced" AP Calculus BC is just "A-Level Math" and is the expected minimum for studying STEM fields in university. In America you can get into university (even a prestigious one) and start off at "College Algebra." People from other countries are shocked that law, medicine, etc. are graduate degrees requiring a different-field undergrad, because of how little a high school diploma actually means in America.
There is a massive state of under-education in America, and shockingly, it's become more and more popular to call education and degrees worthless. There's a lot to criticize about the out-of-pocket costs of college, but the education itself is invaluable. And weakening high school degrees even further is the last thing we need.
Re: California needs real math education, not gimmicks
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
The "advice" coming from these professors of education to state governments should be what is giving you a giant red flag. Reducing quality of education by lowering standards, and lying about the data, shows that it is not driven by science. My opinion on this: the "education" establishment in the US is driven by people looking for consulting fees, as shown by someone in this post linking to Dr Boaler's absurd consul…
Aren't those absurd consulting fees determined by taking a small fee and dividing it by a very small number of nominal hours worked?
$40,000 billed at $5,000 an hour for 8 hours worked is not what I would call a small fee no matter how you split it. That's a very large fee divided by a very small number of hours worked.