Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Even those of us in STEM don't use Calculus. Doctors don't use Calculus. Chemists and Biologists by far don't need it. It's not the matter of Americans not going into STEM. It's a matter of no matter what country you from most careers don't have a use for Calculus.

Again, it's not about the use of Calculus in a job field. It's about advanced critical thinking skills. Just as you read harder text as you get older in school to develop those skills, you take harder math to advance other critical thinking skills. Can you imagine just doing harder and harder division problems as you get older, like in 11th grade? Why do we need GE classes in college? They were useless in my STEM field. But, I see the value in it, just as there is value in LA majors taking harder math. It utilizes other critical thinking skills.

American adults suck at math compared to other lesser developed countries, and now we know why. Apparently, some believe you should stop learning math at addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

When did anyone say we should stop at division? I'm saying Calculus is not necessary in high school and is not necessary in most careers. It sure didn't help me to think more critically, which can be accomplished in all sorts of ways that have nothing to do with math. Furthermore, Americans suck at math because they can't do lower level math not because they can't do Calculus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Even those of us in STEM don't use Calculus. Doctors don't use Calculus. Chemists and Biologists by far don't need it. It's not the matter of Americans not going into STEM. It's a matter of no matter what country you from most careers don't have a use for Calculus.

Again, it's not about the use of Calculus in a job field. It's about advanced critical thinking skills. Just as you read harder text as you get older in school to develop those skills, you take harder math to advance other critical thinking skills. Can you imagine just doing harder and harder division problems as you get older, like in 11th grade? Why do we need GE classes in college? They were useless in my STEM field. But, I see the value in it, just as there is value in LA majors taking harder math. It utilizes other critical thinking skills.

American adults suck at math compared to other lesser developed countries, and now we know why. Apparently, some believe you should stop learning math at addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Anonymous wrote:
Even those of us in STEM don't use Calculus. Doctors don't use Calculus. Chemists and Biologists by far don't need it. It's not the matter of Americans not going into STEM. It's a matter of no matter what country you from most careers don't have a use for Calculus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the advantage of compact math? The only upside I see is that it potentially prevents kids who are already ahead in math from becoming bored reviewing concepts that they already know. Otherwise, what is the difference if most kids on grade level will still complete calc in 12th grade?

The advantage of compacted math is that it provides math acceleration for kids who want/need/would benefit from math acceleration.

In my opinion, the goal of math education in K-12 is to learn math -- not to get to calculus at a specified time. Some kids won't be ready for calculus by the end of 12th grade, and that's fine; some kids will be ready for calculus before 12th grade, and that's fine too.

Anonymous wrote:What's the advantage of compact math? The only upside I see is that it potentially prevents kids who are already ahead in math from becoming bored reviewing concepts that they already know. Otherwise, what is the difference if most kids on grade level will still complete calc in 12th grade?