New tool of caucasian cis-male patriarchal oppressors

[brimic]

Algebra!
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/is-algebra-an-unnecessary-stumbling-block-in-us-schools-b99695339z1-373682201.html

That question muttered by many a frustrated student over the years has become a vigorous debate among American educators, sparked by a provocative new book that argues required algebra has become an unnecessary stumbling block that forces millions to drop out of high school or college.

"One out of 5 young Americans does not graduate from high school. This is one of the worst records in the developed world. Why? The chief academic reason is they failed ninth-grade algebra," said political scientist Andrew Hacker, author of "The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions."

1 out of 5 don't graduate because of algebra? After witnessing recent HS grads trying to make change at a store checkout, this hack author really needs to check his premise...

Eighteen-year-old Isaiah Aristy took the algebra Regents test twice and failed it both times.

Aristy, now a freshman at the Borough of Manhattan Community College who is hoping for a career in law enforcement, said he was good at math until he hit algebra.

"When it came to x and y and graphing, that's when I started dropping, and it made me feel low," he said. "But we don't need to learn what x and y is. When in life are we going to write on paper, 'X and y needs to be this?'"

Oh, so Algebra hurt some kid's feelz. He's 18 and apparently already knows everything, so why is he going to college anyway?

[Perd Hapley]

Oh. I thought we were talking about this other tool of the patriarchy.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/german-train-operator-introduces-women-7640234


But please. If you can't figure out first-year algebra, maybe you shouldn't have a high school diploma. Or if our high schools can't teach it, maybe they should just quit teaching anything at all.

[French G.]

Someone launch CAIR at the school, tell them someone is dissing the only good idea their religion ever had. 

[brimic]

Someone launch CAIR at the school, tell them someone is dissing the only good idea their religion ever had. 

I'd side with their cultural appropriation of mathematics (they didn't invent algebra, just the word to describe it) just this once for the above idea.

[K Frame]

I hate to tell the little douchewad, but in law enforcement knowing simple algebra and trigonometry concepts can come in kind of handy.

[brimic]

I hate to tell the little douchewad, but in law enforcement knowing simple algebra and trigonometry concepts can come in kind of handy.

HATESPEEKS! OPPRESSOR!

[Fly320s]

Oh. I thought we were talking about this other tool of the patriarchy.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/german-train-operator-introduces-women-7640234

I'll just identify as a woman and keep my oppression rolling down the tracks.

[MechAg94]

The #5 student in my high school graduating class took algebra as a senior.  Was always making the A&B honor role.  Just took all the easiest math classes. 

[MechAg94]

"This is where their hopes and aspirations go to die," Klipple said. "They're in college to try to make a better life for themselves, and they're stopped by mathematics."

If they are going to college and they can't pass basic algebra, they shouldn't be in college.  Seriously, it isn't that hard.     (says the guy with a degree in mechanical engineering)

If we are going to drop algebra, why not just drop this fantasy that every kid absolutely has to have a high school diploma?

Hacker, a professor emeritus at Queens College, argues that, at most, only 5% of jobs make use of algebra and other advanced math courses. He favors a curriculum that focuses more on statistics and basic numbers sense and less on (y - 3)2 (equals) 4y - 12.

I can almost agree with a class focusing on more applied mathematics, but I think you would be surprised how much stuff algebra can be applied to.  Math in general is simply teaching you to think and solve problems.  Employers generally like employees that can solve problems. 

[zxcvbob]

My wife is tutoring a young woman who wants to be an elementary school teacher, and she can't pass some kind of exam because she is stumped by 3rd grade arithmetic.  She's getting it, slowly, but not sure she'll ever pass that exam.  I told Wife that it's mostly not the girl's fault, the local public school set her up for failure and she gets points for trying to better herself now that she's out.

This is why I vote "No" for every school bonding issue or property tax increase.  They are wasting all the money they get now, I would be in favor of cutting their budget -- to zero.

[Perd Hapley]

If they are going to college and they can't pass basic algebra, they shouldn't be in college.  Seriously, it isn't that hard....
I can almost agree with a class focusing on more applied mathematics, but I think you would be surprised how much stuff algebra can be applied to.  Math in general is simply teaching you to think and solve problems.  Employers generally like employees that can solve problems. 

Back when I was a high school math whiz, I tried to tell one of the muggles that math was a way of simplifying problems. That did not compute for her.

[Perd Hapley]

My wife is tutoring a young woman who wants to be an elementary school teacher, and she can't pass some kind of exam because she is stumped by 3rd grade arithmetic.  She's getting it, slowly, but not sure she'll ever pass that exam.  I told Wife that it's mostly not the girl's fault, the local public school set her up for failure and she gets points for trying to better herself now that she's out.

This is why I vote "No" for every school bonding issue or property tax increase.  They are wasting all the money they get now, I would be in favor of cutting their budget -- to zero.

But that's true of pretty much everything government-related. Even if the money would (ostensibly) be well-spent, I generally vote "No." Starve the beast.

[MechAg94]

But that's true of pretty much everything government-related. Even if the money would (ostensibly) be well-spent, I generally vote "No." Starve the beast.

I am not sure I would do that first.  I think first, 100% of federal funding (and regulation) for education (high school and below) needs to be cut.  After that, look at cutting all state funding and regulation for local school.  Change the local public school system back to a locally funded and run public school system.  See if that helps things a bit. 

Also get rid of all truancy laws.  I think those have gone way overboard.  I am not sure how much of that is really needed.

[RevDisk]

I fully admit to struggling with calculus, but algebra? Any normal adult probably uses it every day of the week, just without thinking about it. One shouldn't be able to pass high school without it, let alone college without it.

[Scout26]

Someone launch CAIR at the school, tell them someone is dissing the only good idea their religion ever had. 

Actually, they came up with it BEFORE the throat-slitting pedophile ruined the entire area...

[grampster]

I passed algebra because of a mercy C by promising the high school math teacher I'd never, ever sign up for another math class of any kind.  I managed to do just fine in life.  I have no debts, own a nice home, money in the bank, comfortable retirement, and spend winters in KW.   Algebra/geometry/trig is overrated as a necessary life skill.

[Hawkmoon]

The #5 student in my high school graduating class took algebra as a senior.  Was always making the A&B honor role.  Just took all the easiest math classes.  

The valedictorian in my high school class took all easy-peasey classes like typing, home economics, and shorthand. The poor girl who only managed to be salutatorian took all college prep classes, and her entire senior year was advanced placement, first year college courses. The valedictory address was predictably bland, banal, trite and immensely forgettable.

That said, it isn't algebra that stops most kids in their tracks. All you have to do is spend a half hour on some forum where the youth of America hang out (say, for instance, a Jeep or Mustang or Camaro forum) and it's obvious that they could never pass an English class unless the teacher has been instructed to fail no one.

[RoadKingLarry]

I passed algebra because of a mercy C by promising the high school math teacher I'd never, ever sign up for another math class of any kind.  I managed to do just fine in life.  I have no debts, own a nice home, money in the bank, comfortable retirement, and spend winters in KW.   Algebra/geometry/trig is overrated as a necessary life skill.

I struggled with math in school, I think it was largely due to a mental block I developed after a horrible 3rd grade teacher that managed to instill a hatred of all things math in me at a very early age.
My biggest complaint with algebra was that there was no "WHY" in the instruction. Once I went in the Navy and began my electronics training there was a reason for all of it and I have done fairly well with it ever since.
Trig came with navigation.
 

[Firethorn]

First, as noted, our algebra classes tend to have the problem that, much like calculus, it's not taught in a way that points out the practical problems it can help with.  There are 'practical' people out there who have difficulty unless they can tie a concept to a practical problem to be solved.

I think I'm one of them - but at least I'm good with figuring out how something could help later.

Second, I think that these people are demonstrating a second lack of understanding math.  Because they fail to realize that if you remove every barrier, every challenge, to getting a college degree that said degree will lose it's meaning, much like how having a high school diploma doesn't mean what it used to.  For that matter, a college degree is far less valuable today than it was a few decades ago.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I'm betting I'm the only APSer that failed Algebra... Multiple times.

It was the only remedial class I had to take when I went to collage.

The funny part is that I also passed Algebra, multiple times. Aced it in summer school. Aced it again in collage. It is a subject that fills me with both loathing and defeated acceptance. If I decided to go back to school, I'd probably have to take it... Again. I certainly don't use it in my day to day life, nor would I be any kind of candidate for a job where I did.

I wouldn't say that it was a waste of time or that a person shouldn't have to pass it to complete HS, but I will say that stressing that a person has to retain it for any length of time is kind of obnoxious, especially when it's pretty obviously not something they should ever be depended on to get right.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I'm betting I'm the only APSer that failed Algebra... Multiple times.

It was the only remedial class I had to take when I went to collage.

The funny part is that I also passed Algebra, multiple times. Aced it in summer school. Aced it again in collage. It is a subject that fills me with both loathing and defeated acceptance. If I decided to go back to school, I'd probably have to take it... Again. I certainly don't use it in my day to day life, nor would I be any kind of candidate for a job where I did.

I wouldn't say that it was a waste of time or that a person shouldn't have to pass it to complete HS, but I will say that stressing that a person has to retain it for any length of time is kind of obnoxious, especially when it's pretty obviously not something they should ever be depended on to get right.

Failed algebra lol two years in a row.
If wife 1.1 had not been in the class my teacher would not have been able to pick me outa a lineup

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Hawkmoon]

Again. I certainly don't use it in my day to day life, nor would I be any kind of candidate for a job where I did.

You might be surprised. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of things adults do more or less automatically are actually algebra, but we do them so often that we don't even think of it as what it is.

[BlueStarLizzard]

You might be surprised. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of things adults do more or less automatically are actually algebra, but we do them so often that we don't even think of it as what it is.

Perhaps, but if I do, I don't typically "solve" it traditionally. I'm good at solving spacial problems and puzzles, but I have to be able to see it and manipulate it. Doing it as an equation and with numbers doesn't translate to real for me.

Practical application in teaching this stuff is a great idea, but it still won't get the ones like me more than a reason to suffer through and it still won't be retained unless it's done everyday. As far as the stuff we may or may not do everyday, that stuff gets figured out without Algebra class.

[roo_ster]

First, as noted, our algebra classes tend to have the problem that, much like calculus, it's not taught in a way that points out the practical problems it can help with.  There are 'practical' people out there who have difficulty unless they can tie a concept to a practical problem to be solved.

Algebra is rather abstract and one of those things that separate those who can think abstractly from those who can not.  That said, it can be taught to most folk if brought down to earth and tied to something material that folk can wrap their minds around.  Which is how it ought to be taught, as it is too handy a tool to exclude any who might be able to use it.  Sadly, many algebra teachers have little ability to do this.  I have to wonder, have these teachers done nothing in their lives that involves the application of their mathematical knowledge?

I use algebra everyday, even before breakfast.  "Hmm, lemme see.  Oatmeal gives ingredient ratios for 1, 2, 4, and 8 servings.  Four is not enough for us, eight is too much.  I can figure for six servings..."  One day I will write down the 6-serving proportions.

For my own part, I always found algebra more difficult than geometry.

I am currently reading (along with some other books):
Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X8EMOPO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1

Prime Obsession taught us not to be afraid to put the math in a math book. Unknown Quantity heeds the lesson well. So grab your graphing calculators, slip out the slide rules, and buckle up! John Derbyshire is introducing us to algebra through the ages -- and it promises to be just what his die-hard fans have been waiting for. "Here is the story of algebra." With this deceptively simple introduction, we begin our journey. Flanked by formulae, shadowed by roots and radicals, escorted by an expert who navigates unerringly on our behalf, we are guaranteed safe passage through even the most treacherous mathematical terrain. Our first encounter with algebraic arithmetic takes us back 38 centuries to the time of Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, Ur and Haran, Sodom and Gomorrah. Moving deftly from Abel's proof to the higher levels of abstraction developed by Galois, we are eventually introduced to what algebraists have been focusing on during the last century. As we travel through the ages, it becomes apparent that the invention of algebra was more than the start of a specific discipline of mathematics -- it was also the birth of a new way of thinking that clarified both basic numeric concepts as well as our perception of the world around us. Algebraists broke new ground when they discarded the simple search for solutions to equations and concentrated instead on abstract groups. This dramatic shift in thinking revolutionized mathematics. Written for those among us who are unencumbered by a fear of formulae, Unknown Quantity delivers on its promise to present a history of algebra. Astonishing in its bold presentation of the math and graced with narrative authority, our journey through the world of algebra is at once intellectually satisfying and pleasantly challenging.

Not likely to change algebra-haters into algebra-lovers, but a good read thus far.

[MechAg94]

Perhaps, but if I do, I don't typically "solve" it traditionally. I'm good at solving spacial problems and puzzles, but I have to be able to see it and manipulate it. Doing it as an equation and with numbers doesn't translate to real for me.

Practical application in teaching this stuff is a great idea, but it still won't get the ones like me more than a reason to suffer through and it still won't be retained unless it's done everyday. As far as the stuff we may or may not do everyday, that stuff gets figured out without Algebra class.

Are you making an argument for common core math?