Normally I wouldn't share my opinion on internal matters that don't concern me in any way but wow. If that's not a plan to fuck over the future generation of poor people over there, I don't what it is. No other reason to sabotage your own populace like this
California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
561–570 of 748 posts
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#562I remember when Bush started all this and it was called "No child left behind" and all my teachers were calling it "No child left intact". Weird how that changed. Why is that?
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#563I'm perpetually perplexed at why some people seem to think that lowering the standards is going to help anyone. Do they not realise the source of all scientific and technical advancement is really the result of a minority of high achievers, and that by trying to "flatten" this inequality and effectively make everyone equally stupid, they are also going to be affected negatively? applies social justice principles to m…
I only got into algebra late. Some people just have more advantages earlier. Why is this concept so hard to understand?
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#564Could it be because less men are becoming teachers? I'm from the UK and the only woke people I've met are middle aged women.
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#565Earlier quoted context omitted.
"the issue with a teacher that is forced to teach a class of 25 students is very obvious" It's not obvious to the authors of the California Math Framework, who believe that: - we should sort kids into classes purely by age, and that any other method of sorting is inequitable - every child should be taught grade-level material (no matter how far behind, or far ahead, they may be) - teachers are capable of successfully…
> classes purely by age, and that any other method of sorting is inequitable It's just "strange" that this is only done for academics, but never for athletics. The fact that academic results can be thought of in "equitable" terms, but not athletic results (aka, you must be able to run 100m in X seconds), points to some systemic, cultural bias in thinking that everyone is just as smart, and that genetics don't play a…
> It's just "strange" that this is only done for academics, but never for athletics.
Because we don't teach athletics at all. PE is not even trying.
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#566Could it be because less men are becoming teachers? I'm from the UK and the only woke people I've met are middle aged women.
I predict you'll get flagged for this, even though it is a theory that should be investigated.
I also share your impression in general that technical topics are getting less interest in school now that most teachers are female.
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#567Earlier quoted context omitted.
>we should sort kids into classes purely by age, and that any other method of sorting is inequitable Can you maybe explain to a non US person why a system merit based is not used(or if it was used in the past was dropped) , I understand there are limitation with this system, I will describe next: 1 there is national/state level exam with super strong security to prevent cheating 2 highschool/universities will be plac…
I moved to the US only 2 years ago, so am still learning about the system. As far as I can tell, the reasons for not using standardized test scores (such as the SAT and ACT) are that: 1. Using only these scores would boost the proportion of elite university places awarded to Asians, who are already 'overrepresented' relative to their share of the population. Propel state various reasons why this is undesirable (equit…
Makes sense that racism and poverty would reflect in the national scores , I would have put some effort into fixing this too.
Asians having high scores and taking the sits of rich white kids feels to me as a more plausible reasons politicians are addressing the problem like this and not fixing the actual cause of poverty and racism. A solution would be to make all school good enough, so even if you have to go to a middle level school it will still be enough t get your dream job.
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#568I'm perpetually perplexed at why some people seem to think that lowering the standards is going to help anyone. Do they not realise the source of all scientific and technical advancement is really the result of a minority of high achievers, and that by trying to "flatten" this inequality and effectively make everyone equally stupid, they are also going to be affected negatively? applies social justice principles to m…
What if you invert your thesis. Sooner doesn’t necessarily imply “higher standard”: 1 - American school teach the alphabet before grade 1, and push kids to read early. German schools don’t even teach the alphabet until grade 1' yet by the end of that year the reading level of the kids is the same as US kids at the end of grade 1, or better. German Pädagogin justify this by saying there is some neural development issu…
Exactly.
The thing is that you have to adjust curriculum to the developmental stage of the INDIVIDUAL child. Teaching someone too early only wastes the time, resources and money of that teaching. Too late and you lose future options.
I didn't learn to read until 1st grade but many of my peers learned in kindergarten. Individuals do NOT all reach the same learning readiness phase at the same time or same age (two different things).
BTW this "teacher's credential 101".
Systems like Montessori focus on this dynamic and thus have fairly open-ended schedules for things. Falling behind is defined by not meeting ANY learning goals but being on schedule is meeting enough learning goals.
Naturally customization of education like this does not fit well into a "School as a Factory; Child as a manufactured Part" model or the efficiency metrics that factories typically have that are similarly applied to public schools in the US (standardized testing is akin to process control; you do want some type of testing but it has to be structured with more nuance because children are not factory parts with narrow distributions of variance).
At this point, home schooling probably can't be worse. But more focus on customization of education is pretty essential. US Schools are 80%-90% focused on the bottom 10%-20% of IQ based on actual school budgets and funding. And for those not in that bottom group, it's all 100% uniformity and low budgets. One size can never fit all.
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#569I am not from US so don't interpret my comment trough US blue vs red or similar lenses. My observations is that students learn at different speed, the issue with a teacher that is forced to teach a class of 25 students is very obvious, at each step some student will fall behind, then if he is behind he will have more trouble comprehending the next topic and in the end you get a student that does not know the basic ru…
> My observations is that students learn at different speed The pejorative used for structuring curriculum and resources based on this observation is "tracking" and aside from special needs and other narrow exceptions it is thought to be a great historical injustice that has largely been eliminated from public schooling in the US. Now we look forward to ending the injustice unequal funding due to differential tax bas…
Mastery learning is not "tracking". The students aren't stuck on a pre-defined track, they're just going through the material at a different pace.
Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide
#570Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am a big proponent of getting rid of the age-segregation as is it is now and widening the age range, but I'd like to see a citation on Denmark teaching Algebra later and the data on this. I read turn-of-the century math books that are years ahead in rigor and subject matter, and that seemed to fare well. There was a lot of stigmatizing of AP classes by the great "equalizers", but let the kids who can excel, excel.…
> citation on Denmark teaching Algebra later and the data on this https://www.webmatematik.dk/lektioner/7-9-klasse/algebra https://matematik.gyldendal.dk/til_laeren/01-om-portalen/06-... We’re not the best inspiration for how to run your school system though, we have had several huge reforms since the 1995, and the most recent major reform is failing miserably compared to what they are doing in other Scandinavian cou…
Thanks for the links; I'll have a look.
The Finnish idea of less hours, but more concentrated effort sounds like it could work. I have five children from medical school age to elementary school, and I have seen the hours of homework go up, but not the time to properly teach, or at least the lecture/lab model in university.
Passion to learn, curiosity, and finally, need drive successful learners.