Reply to Math equity nonsense LCPS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They may be able to factor basic quadratic equations where "a" = 1, but have no idea how to do it when the factoring gets a lot more complicated, and have very little idea of the mathematical concepts behind factoring in general, so that they can apply those concepts to solve the more complicated factoring problems.[/quote]Do you think those watered down 6th and 7th grade algebra classes are teaching how to factor quadratic equations with a =/= 1? Is this skill part of the algebra 1 standards? Why do you think algebra 1 SOL performance [i]decreases[/i] with the age at which algebra 1 is taken?[/quote]

The factoring example was just that - an example. Of course factoring, no matter what "a" is, is part of the Algebra 1 standards. You can look it up. I'm saying that it's frequently not taught or not taught to the necessary depth in 6th and 7th grade Algebra 1 courses because most kids aren't ready to learn those concepts. Or they can learn it, but it takes way too long to teach it, going over and over it, lots of practice, taking up a lot of time, so we can't get to some of the rest of the concepts in a full Algebra 1 course. That leaves the kid missing concepts they need for upper level math courses.

Algebra is the basic stepping stone of upper level math - the kids need to be fluent in it. If they aren't, and/or if they were never exposed to concepts because we didn't have time because we were reviewing concepts that should have been covered in the previous course, I'll have to re-teach the missing concepts in Trig/PreCal or Cal, using up time we need to cover all the concepts in those classes...it's a "snowball effect."

I'm sure some 6th/7th grade classes provide a full breadth and depth Algebra 1 course and that some 6th/7th kids who take it do well. I'm just telling you that in my experience, from many years of teaching high school math, that most kids I have in my advanced classes who had Algebra in 6th, 7th, and even 8th grade do not have the depth and breadth and application of Algebra 1 course knowledge that most kids who took Algebra 1 in 9th grade have. There's something about the time in which the course was take, that the brain seems to be more ready to learn and apply the Algebra skills and concepts when the kid is older.

This is my experience, and it's based on many years of teaching. I know there are exceptions to this because I've seen it myself, but in general, taking Algebra 1 when the kid is older usually means the kid has more algebra skills, knowledge and application ability, and makes the next courses in the math sequence much more accessible to them because they have that in-depth Algebra knowledge.

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