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California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

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Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#701
post #696

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's particularly fair. We all pay into the basic social programs. I don't have children but I'm still paying into the public system and I don't believe I'm being unfairly taxed. To be able to afford to pay into the private school is a luxury.

So if you have smart kid but don't have money you won't be able to help him. Poor will be always poor :(

Plenty of help to send poor kids to collage, masters, and then PHD. It’s just spending public money early on that’s at issue.

Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's cut the bullshit and get straight to the heart here. Are black people, in your opinion, predisposed to be bad at math? If yes, then i guess your opinion is at least logically consistent. If no, then why are they (according to the article at least) underachieving? If black kids aren't being served by the current curriculum, then I think it's reasonable to assume that some white kids aren't either. I suggest that…

Regardless of which side of the race-intelligence debate you're on, this will only widen the inequality. If you want blacks to achieve more, you should be investing more in their education. Not making things easier for everyone because then they will just continue to underachieve while those who can afford private schooling and such continue to excel.

Wait a sec... you almost sound like you think there are legitimate different sides to the "race-intelligence debate."

Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#703
post #674

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could have been Lebron James if he didn’t bench you.

I couldn’t. And I recognize that. Maybe it is about time we recognized that not everyone is cut out for calculus either?

that was my point should have used /s

Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#704

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that those are the old rules that USA failed to meaningfully change in their campaign of using up and ditching some equipment, so they can justify taking more of the taxpayers money to buy new equipment and skim a part of that money for themselves. Did America do anything positive there? Or did they just pause natural development of that country by 20 years, to organize their little vacation from Taliban? Rare…

> Last few decades of USA foreign policy show it more clearly than any reasonable person should require. I think the last few decades of USA foreign policy show that meaningful change takes time - a long time. We're still protecting South Korea, Germany, and Japan. I would consider all of those successful exercises in "nation building" as once totalitarian nations have built stable democracies. But in Vietnam, Iraq,…

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Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#705
post #502

I'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…

If you're going to compare America vs Germany I'm willing to bet you're going to run into Simpsons paradox.

Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#706
post #696

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's particularly fair. We all pay into the basic social programs. I don't have children but I'm still paying into the public system and I don't believe I'm being unfairly taxed. To be able to afford to pay into the private school is a luxury.

So if you have smart kid but don't have money you won't be able to help him. Poor will be always poor :(

That is always the struggle, isn't it? You're granted a certain level of education/health care/security/fire services/road maintenance via taxes, but in order to get services in addition to that you need to spend your own money.

Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#708

The program is called Equitable Math and it frames current mathematics pedagogy as a mechanism by which White Supremacy is sustained.¹ Note that in a very long multi-part document on White Supremacy, there is absolutely zero mention of Asians, despite that they are somewhere between 15.5% to 17% of the state population.² Program goals includes the de-emphasis of Algebra for middle school and Calculus for high school.…

For anyone interested, I think it's probably worth actually digging into Equitable Math's "Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction" [0]. I just skimmed some of it based on your link, and the majority of it just reads like "stop teaching math poorly." I was looking for some real burn-down-the-establishment stuff, but it's honestly pretty prosaic. For example: > "There is a greater focus on getting the "right" an…

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Re: California moves to recommend delaying algebra to 9th grade statewide

#709

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if the students are interested in learning a subject to a high academic standard and will be bored otherwise? I was getting lower grades at my easy "teach to the bottom 10%" public school than the very difficult private school I moved to. By just dismissing academic rigor, you are alienating the high-performers who WANT to care. That's a bad group of people for a society to ignore.

You're missing the point. The purpose of public school is to provide a basic education. If you want to do more work, or your parents want you to study more, you're free to do so. In your very own example, you went to a private school and did well. That's great, that's what's supposed to happen. What's currently happening in public schools is that too many resources are being allocated to the over achievers and not en…

The point of public school is to educate the society. I still get a return on my investment (taxes) when some kid invents the new Google. I also do if that kid just works at McDonald's. The problem is treating everyone like they are the same and not as individuals.

Let's also mention that education is one of the best ways to climb the socioeconomic ladder. Advanced and higher education shouldn't only be available to those that are wealthy and/or have time to send their kids to extra schooling. Ensuring a high quality education in disenfranchised neighborhoods is one of the best tools we have for helping those people.

No matter how you frame it, I want children getting the best education that they can get. So if they're ready to achieve more, give it to them. We all, as a society, benefit.

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