California abandons algebra requirement for eighth-graders

[Dori]

A move away from Algebra I in 8th grade would appear to be a step backward.

Your probably right.

My son is in 7th grade Pre-Algebra and will be taking Algebra I next year in the 8th grade. He has an old Dad compared to most of his classmates.

Not if your state has adopted the "Common Core" curriculum.  

This is part of an article regarding a school district in PA;

During discussion, school director Larry Feinberg said many states agreed to adopt Common Core because the Obama administration “provided incentives and money. There are people, including myself, who consider this dramatic overreach by the federal government.” Feinberg maintained the new standards have not been tested and may not prove superior to current practice. And “One of the strengths of American education has been local control. There is no local control under this,” said Feinberg.

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2013/01/31/news/doc5109dfe9c2799254086070.txt

[Chris_]

The only thing I learned about math in public school is that the current school year is spent relearning what was taught the previous year.

Welcome to the "progressive" America, where progress is a joke.

[Mike220]

I had to take algebra 1 over two years (1A and 1B) since I suck horribly at math. Failed out of Algebra 2 after 1 semester. Now I'm working on my Masters. Go figure.

Although I have to take 2 semesters of stats, so I'm kind of dreading that.

[Chris_]

I had to take calculus twice.  I was okay with algebra and applied physics.

[Airwolf]

If those idiots want a job at any of the silicon valley companies they are going to need more then Algebra to get in.

[Chris_]

If those idiots want a job at any of the silicon valley companies they are going to need more then Algebra to get in.

[Airwolf]

Normally one would say idiots are not a race but then again look at DU.

[Maxiest]

I am pretty in MS I took Algebra in 8th or 9th grade.  I took geometry in 10th and Calculus in 11th.  Didn't need a math in 12th.  I can't remember...  I loved math so I was always ahead by a year or two.

[GOBUCKS]

Math is racist.

[Zeus]

The application of the educational concept of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic worked before . Certainly if brought back it still can.

[NHSparky]

If those idiots want a job at any of the silicon valley companies they are going to need more then Algebra to get in.

I don't know how many kids I spoke to when I was recruiting who couldn't do basic algebra but were in Calculus, and then they'd act surprised when they got a 550 on the Math portion of their SAT I's.

I was the first year they offered Algebra to 8th graders, and first year they offered Calc in my HS.  Damn but we got grilled, thank you very much Mr. McIntyre.

[Karin]

More dumbing down.  I heard on the Rush morning update on the radio today, about the Harvard cheating scandal.  Our best and brightest found a take-home test to be a bit too much, so they all cheated off each other, handing in identical answers with identical spelling mistakes. 

I associate Algebra with a near-failure experience.  I was doing just terrible in the class.  Why?  An extremely cute boy sat in front of me, flirted with me and made me laugh.  Once I got the note sent home, along with a D mid-term, I ignored the boy and buckled down. 

[Jasonw560]

I sucked at algebra. Had to take pre algebra after I failed algebra the first time. Then I got the hang of it amd did okay. Had to spend one summer in summer school to catch up.

Took me 3 times to pass it in college. Thankfully, my wife's BF helped me and my professor was very patient. Even if I go back to school, I don't have to take it ever again.

[Alpha Mare]

I started Algebra in 6th grade.  Do private schools still do this?

[IassaFTots]

Would A² + B² = C² be Algebra or Geometry?

Pythagorean.  

I wrote a program in BASIC to solve that problem.   Saved it on a cassette tape.  

[Chris_]

Pythagorean.  

I wrote a program in BASIC to solve that problem.   Saved it on a cassette tape.  

Good luck getting THAT back.

[JohnnyReb]

My son is in 7th grade Pre-Algebra and will be taking Algebra I next year in the 8th grade. He has an old Dad compared to most of his classmates.

  You're not old. I was 63/64 when my son first took algebra in the eighth grade....he's taking college level calculus this his senior year and will get 3 hours college credit for it "IF" he attends a college that will accept it.

He's doing stuff right now that I didn't see until my second year of college.....antiderivatives.

[Celtic Rose]

I guess standards are a little more lax here in Red State Hell, but I don't ever remember algebra being a requirement for 8th graders.

They may teach it in California, but that doesn't mean the students will pass the class.

I took Algebra I in 7th grade, Geometry in in 8th, and Algebra II in 9th.  But, I think the usual class for most 8th graders in my school was Pre-Algebra, and then most people took Algebra in 9th grade. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

I wondered the same thing at first until I "got" it.  I guess the only thing I can add is that algebra is a basic foundation of math, like arithmetic. 

Indeed it is...Algebra is the one form of math that you actually need to understand to do most of the physical sciences beyond pure math itself, it was like a light dawning on me (A very long time ago) in Physics when I realized that you got the terms you needed at the end (Like Kg/cm²) by setting up all the other terms in the calculation to get the final terms you wanted by cancelling terms in the numerator and denominator as if they were operative variables themselves.

[thundley4]

Pythagorean.  

I wrote a program in BASIC to solve that problem.   Saved it on a cassette tape.  

This isn't a program, but a simple method for finding Pythagorean sets.

2XY = A
X²-Y² = B
X²+Y² = C

X>Y

[67 Rover]

I knew more about Algebra,Geometry and Calculus in HS than I do now even though I use them every day at work, thanks to that damned Mircosoft Excel, Matlab and graphing calculators.  I doubt very much I could now "show the work" although I can get the answer.

[Conservative Libertarian]

You're not old. I was 63/64 when my son first took algebra in the eighth grade....he's taking college level calculus this his senior year and will get 3 hours college credit for it "IF" he attends a college that will accept it.

He's doing stuff right now that I didn't see until my second year of college.....antiderivatives.

I'll be 50 this summer.  I'm 10-15 years older thna most other parents of my son's classmates.

I was introduced to derivatives and anti-derivatives at the end of Trigonometry as a senior on HS. We didn't have a formal Calculus class offered in my school until after I was in college.

As a 7th grader, my son is working problems that I didn't see until I was a freshman in HS.

[NHSparky]

Good luck getting THAT back.

Actually, there's someone in CA going around to companies and upgrading all their data into new formats...he's got everything from the old punch card and paper tape readers, cassettes, etc., and puts it on memory stick or hard drives.

And apparently he's making some pretty damned good money at it too.