Education Law

Algebra for everyone: good or bad??

BoardBuzz has been so busy this week keeping you up-to-date on a wide variety of issues it almost forgot to mention this article in USA Today. The article focused on a study by the Brookings Institute?s Tom Loveless which found that 38 percent of 8th graders are now taking Algebra or an equivalent advanced math course -- a dramatic increase since the early 1990?s. This number includes nearly a third of the nation?s lowest performing 8th graders, which is almost triple the number from just the beginning of this decade. These increases are no doubt a result of the focus in the last fifteen years or so to get more middle schoolers, and especially minority and low-income students, into Algebra courses.

But rather than celebrate the fact that more students are being exposed to Algebra in middle school-- as is the norm in most countries around the world -- Dr. Loveless argues that these students and their classmates are ill served by placing them in Algebra when they lack basic foundational math skills like multiplication and division. He states that:

It's hard to teach a real algebra class if you have kids who don't know arithmetic.

Dr. Loveless makes a good point but is focusing on just one output?enrolling students in Algebra by 8th grade?without also focusing on inputs?a well aligned math curriculum throughout elementary school. Of course placing students in a course they are not prepared for is counterproductive. But abandoning the push for "Algebra for Everyone" by 8th grade could carry greater consequences.

Today there is a greater demand for higher level math skills from our high school graduates than ever before and by most accounts that demand is only going to increase. These demands are not just for those students thinking of going to college but also students looking to be mechanics, electricians, and a wide variety of jobs that traditionally have not required a college degree. Without higher level math skills many of our high school graduates will be ill prepared to compete in the ever more competitive global market place.

So the answer may not be to end the push for "Algebra for Everyone" by 8th grade but to focus more on "Preparing Everyone" for Algebra by 8th grade. Some educators and policymakers, like this group in Utah described in this article, are looking overseas to high-achieving countries like Singapore, Korea, and Japan for examples of well-aligned math curricula that stress mathematical understanding and problem-solving.

For more information about standards check out the Center for Public Education?s Guide to Standards-Based Reform.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on September 25, 2008 (boomark / email).