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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]College Algebra isn’t really offered anymore. Many colleges expect students to take either calculus or basic statistics. [/quote]

In Business schools or in general? I wish that were true. I don’t have the data on hand, but if anything the trend is the opposite. College math readiness has been going downhill for years. Harvard offers precalc (not sure if it’s for credit). [/quote]

My friend who teaches physics complains that some kids who come into his class having passed BC AP calculus don't understand how to use calc as a tool to solve physics problems.   These seem to be kids who were pushed into accelerated math inappropriately.  They've created a special remedial course to give these kids a better grounding in basic concepts.  It has actually messed up graduation timing for some because they have to take this class before they can take some physics classes.  His opinion is that anybody can learn math, many people just need to take it a lot slower than it's usually taught.  This has been my son's experience -- he struggled with AP pre-calc, so he took on-level calculus and found it really easy (got 95-100 on tests, as opposed to 70-80 on AP pre-calc).  I'm delighted because I don't care about the AP credit or GPA bump, I just want him actually learn math.

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At my dd’s hs, many levels of math were offered (9th-12th grades). Pre Algebra, algebra 1a, Algebra 1b, Algebra 1 honors, reg geom, geometry honors, 2, Alg 2 honors, Reg precalc, honors precalc, reg calc, honors calc, and Ap calc. My son said that the honors precalc course was way more advanced material than regular precalc and regular calc, and somewhat more advanced than honors calc. The high schools are under pressure to put kids in Calc because colleges value the word “Calculus” on the transcript more than actual mastery. If I were a college i’d value a high sat math score and good math grades regardless of what class the kid is in. They let many kids take reg geometry and reg Alg 2 to get to calc if they are “behind” without even vetting the kids. Many of the kids in regular calc probably shouldn’t have been on that track in the first place if the school needs two levels of calculus under Calc AB!!

The IB math track is much better at preparing students for college level math. It requires extensive application and explanation rather than the AP style of just calculation.

I just checked the catalog for my alma matter. They offer a “calculus readiness” course, but it is not for credit. There is no college algebra offering for credit. Math credit starts with calculus or statistics. [/quote][/quote]

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