141–150 of 748 posts
If racism is actually causing blacks and Hispanics to not make it into advanced classes then why are Asians making it in?
I immigrated from India after high school and we had already studied advanced calculus and other subjects by high school. Basic Calculus was introduced in grade 9 onwards if I remember right. When I immigrated for university to Canada, I was teaching algebra, trig, calculus etc to university students 1 year above me. All these delaying important subjects is going to let immigrants from other countries like India, Chi…
You are extrapolating from N=1 to a state of 36,000,000 people. Your experience is not the guiding star for state-wide policy.
Also consider this... the people who work on this stuff, have spend years and years on this stuff. Perhaps... they... know what they are talking about?
As someone with a kid, introducing subjects before kids are ready for it is counterproductive. It can cause confidence issues later, and doesn't help them learn earlier. By way of a small example, try to teach a 3 month old how to walk. Good luck, you aren't doing anything useful.
Now back to the immigrant thing, by now you surely must have realize you are in the upper X percentile of your peers from India. There are many many many, in fact most, Indians, who cannot do what you can do. Not even close. Basing educational policy on what you found easy with your Xth percentile intelligence is not going to be a great idea.
Here's a revolutionary idea that pretty much all of the world adopts, if students are having trouble with a topic, get them to do more of it, instead of running away from it. I always find it hilarious that the pre college education in US is so messed up. Instead of doing Algebra 1, Algebra 2, calculus, geometry as one subject that you do in a year and then completely forgetting about it till the next time you have t…
I'm British. For the lulz I decided to complete the US "GED": "The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills." (Wikipedia) I had not looked at what it encompassed before I signed up. I was given a huge book to study from. I glanced at it briefly each day for…
My parents introduced it to me at home around 4th-5th grade? So I was ~9-10yo? Not sure why delaying it will help, if anything the earlier the better. Everything I hear about "equity in education" seems to be making it worse, but more equally I guess. Like another poster already mentioned, reminds me of the Harrison Bergeron story by Vonnegut - seems like we are rapidly approaching that point. http://www.tnellen.com/…
Fast forward a few years in school when the teacher introduced algebra in class (maybe sixth grade?), everything suddenly clicked, and I pretty much got the highest grade for several months straight because I learned this material before, albeit not well, but still way ahead of everyone else.
I think this could be a middle ground: introduce the material earlier, but with no expectation that the pupil must grasp it immediately; then review or reintroduce the material again at a later date.
Here's a revolutionary idea that pretty much all of the world adopts, if students are having trouble with a topic, get them to do more of it, instead of running away from it. I always find it hilarious that the pre college education in US is so messed up. Instead of doing Algebra 1, Algebra 2, calculus, geometry as one subject that you do in a year and then completely forgetting about it till the next time you have t…
I'm British. For the lulz I decided to complete the US "GED": "The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills." (Wikipedia) I had not looked at what it encompassed before I signed up. I was given a huge book to study from. I glanced at it briefly each day for…
at this rate, all California schools will just give a "P" grade for "participation". Just teach algebra in 8th grade but give everyone a "P", then nobody struggles!
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-unified-sch...
With such an overwhelmingly negative response in the comments on these things, you have to wonder who actually supports this stuff and how is it possible that such a small group yields so much power
We were solving more complex polynomials in 5th grade. By 8th grade, we were already through trigonometry and some were taking entry level calculus.
To me, the concept that you won't be introduced to algebra as a class until 9th grade is frightening.
Even in regular classes by the 5th grade they were introducing the concepts of algebra to the rest of the class.