Reply to 92% in 4 to 5 in Algebra 1 - teacher attributes success to "old-fashioned" algebra

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am wondering what "old-fashioned algebra" is.[/quote]

I'm not exactly sure, but I think it means they didn't rely on subpar teachers who were recruited by their friends at the main office to draft a new curriculum that utilizes made up words and employs 29 steps instead of the most direct route to solving the problem. In short: [b]it means the way all of us learned math prior to 2.0[/b]. [/quote]

No, that can't be what it means, because "the way all of us learned math prior to 2.0" only worked for a small percentage of us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-stink-at-math.html?_r=0

Any other ideas?[/quote]

That misses the mark. Americans stink at lots of things because our education system is subpar compared to most civilized countries. Less hours in school.

And we are a giant melting pot. Compare us to any other country, and you'll quickly notice that we have huge differences in race and socioeconomic levels.

Let's talk about socioeconics: we have more than 40 million Americans living in abject poverty---that doesn't even include the many more millions living on the edge. Guess how difficult it is to pass tests and succeed in school when your housing is unstable, you are hungry, your parent is stressed out and unable to help you, etc.

Go ask any teacher in their 70s or 80s about American math, and they will remind you how the pendulum swings back and forth and the approach to teaching math shifts back and forth. This has been done before...it was called the new math decades ago. Heck, I remember learning the lattice method and thinking WTF in 7th grade!

Stats show that the traditional approach to math works for the majority of students; only those below average students struggle with it and might benefit from the allegedly deeper dive of 2.0...so why not limit it to those who can't handle the traditional approach?

PS - I always sucked at "letter math." Guess what? Graduated phi beta kappa and from law school with honors. Algebra is rather meaningless to the vast majority of us. [/quote]

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