Quote:
Originally Posted by lordscarlet
So we should dumb down the curriculum so that we can aid the parents that are dumming down their kids? (I'm only half reading this thread, so JIMGA may not be on that side of the fence, but reading JIMGA and Greg's posts made me realize that's ultimately what is happening)
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First, I gotta ask: did you intentionally spell "dumming" that way?
Otherwise, that's probably overstating it for me by a pretty good margin.
I'd say trying to turn it up several notches across the board (by moving algebra several years earlier than it already is) would accomplish very little.
As usual, my opinions are likely influenced by the public schools that surround me.
Here's
a link to the current requirements for grades 1-8 in math in Georgia
The most basic fundamental principles of algebra (such as symbols representing unknown numbers) begin by 3rd grade. By grade five, it's solving by substitution, by grade 6 it's solving one-step equations.
Yet, as simple as that sounds, we've yet to reach even 20% "exceeding standards" in grade 6, have between 25-38% every year "does not meet standards". As soon as "solving" appears in the standards, the exceeds rate drops by half (as high as 36% in earlier grades).
That gives me a pretty good indication of how successful trying to move algebra earlier in the curriculum is going to be with the majority of students (as our statewide public enrollment dwarfs our statewide private enrollment).
You can present it whenever, but that's not likely to have a lot of impact beyond having a lot more students who are completely lost in math (and we don't exactly have a shortage of those already).