Andrew Hacker: Is Algebra Necessary? (PUUUUUUUUKE)
Last edited Sun Jul 29, 2012, 10:04 PM - Edit history (1)
About the author: Andrew Hacker is an emeritus professor of political science at Queens College, City University of New York, and a co-author of “Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids — and What We Can Do About It.”
How did this stupid load of crap make it to the New York Times Sunday opinion page anyway? So let's just surrender math to the Chinese, Indians, and Norwegians while we Americans just have empty good feelings, this article is, essentially.
A TYPICAL American school day finds some six million high school students and two million college freshmen struggling with algebra. In both high school and college, all too many students are expected to fail. Why do we subject American students to this ordeal? I’ve found myself moving toward the strong view that we shouldn’t.
My question extends beyond algebra and applies more broadly to the usual mathematics sequence, from geometry through calculus. State regents and legislators — and much of the public — take it as self-evident that every young person should be made to master polynomial functions and parametric equations.
There are many defenses of algebra and the virtue of learning it. Most of them sound reasonable on first hearing; many of them I once accepted. But the more I examine them, the clearer it seems that they are largely or wholly wrong — unsupported by research or evidence, or based on wishful logic. (I’m not talking about quantitative skills, critical for informed citizenship and personal finance, but a very different ballgame.)
This debate matters. Making mathematics mandatory prevents us from discovering and developing young talent. In the interest of maintaining rigor, we’re actually depleting our pool of brainpower. I say this as a writer and social scientist whose work relies heavily on the use of numbers. My aim is not to spare students from a difficult subject, but to call attention to the real problems we are causing by misdirecting precious resources.
The toll mathematics takes begins early. To our nation’s shame, one in four ninth graders fail to finish high school. In South Carolina, 34 percent fell away in 2008-9, according to national data released last year; for Nevada, it was 45 percent. Most of the educators I’ve talked with cite algebra as the major academic reason.
And I found Hacker's take on my state's university entry requirements particularly offensive:
“There are students taking these courses three, four, five times,” says Barbara Bonham of Appalachian State University. While some ultimately pass, she adds, “many drop out.”
The stupid keeps on hurting:
Among the "NYT Picks" comments: one said: "Not one of my students ever told me that they were interested in doing anything with their lives that would involve algebra. But many dropped out because of algebra." (with 37 recommendations)
Another, with 92 recommendations: "Understanding algebra, geometry, and trigonometry shapes perception of the physical world and allows the young minds to grasp the other sciences more firmly. Beyond that, the processes needed to learn math teach young people mental discipline and shape their brain's pathways for higher learning."
(ETA) PZ Myers, a biology professor and atheist advocate, takes down Hacker:
You can probably still be a competent English major, I admit. But wouldn’t we be better off if all the English majors had an inkling of the foundations of science, as well as all the science majors having a touch of the humanities and social sciences? Shouldn’t we expect that even those people who choose not to pursue a college degree ought to have a bare minimum of competence in math and history and language and science and art, if we’re actually going to deem them educated?
= new reply since forum marked as read
If you can't pass the hard science classes you don't even have the right to go to a university.
for the impaired.
Math (algebra) is everywhere in our day-to-day lives. As other posters have pointed out store clerks now can't seem to make change if the register doesn't tell them what it should be. How do you figure what that 20% tip amount for your server should be without math?
How do you convert gallons to quarts or cups to quarts or any number of one measurement to another while cooking without math? I can't count the number of time I've had to remember how to convert teaspoons to tablespoons because I could't find my tablespoon in my well-organized kitchen
Yards to feet or meters? Fahrenheit to Celsius? All math some of it algebra.
How about that flower bed you're planting? How are you going to figure out how big it is so you buy the right amount of mulch or soil when you go to Home Depot. With a little geometry I'd say.
Sure, lots of people can safely stop taking math courses after completing the basic algebra and geometry courses required by high schools and of freshmen in college. They'll never use calculus or differential equations.
But I believe those basic courses are necessary. They don't just teach us math, they teach us a bare minimum level of logic and how to reason as well. If you become an attorney you certainly don't need calculus but you need to be able to use logic and reasoning.
If you are a navigator on a ship or plane I'd bet there is some pretty specific math involved in plotting courses that could not be mastered without the basics of algebra or geometry.
Lots and lots of kids fail their reading classes. We don't just decide to punt reading courses because they are causing students to miss other developmental opportunities. We work with the kids and help them learn to read. I'd guess that some of that help comes in the form of hand-holding and some of it through assigning stories, essays and books for practice reading.
As one poster pointed out the more problems he worked the easier it became. So maybe we need to look into more hand-holding and practice for math like for reading. Yes, I know the obvious flaw in that statement given the pressure on school budgets and cutting teachers. And I can't say parents should just take up the slack because so many of them are working mulitple jobs to keep their families afloat. My answer to those problems is let's stop spending more on weapons than all the rest of the world combined and spend some of that on education so we can help kids "get" math. Yep - Pollyanna moment I know.
August 28. Write any message you want in 6" or 8" or foot high letters on the board. Point to it, read it aloud, then tell the class to copy it and turn it in within 60 seconds for an immediate "A' for the first 3 weeks' progress report.
I've done this for three years now, and just about half the class asks what we're doing as people rise to turn in their paper.
Trying to control cell phones is the toughest classroom issue I've had in 17 years of teaching.
BTW, the school has a zero tolerance policy for them, and charges $15 for every phone picked up by a principal.
I have been voted favorite senior social studies teacher 14 out of 17 years, and I believe it is because I am a cranky old man who yells at kids and shows he actually gives a damn about them.
That gives it some real value - the potential of an early locked in grade.
The zero tolerance written policy is totally ineffective, because I won't get into an argument with someone over handing over a phone. That's a power struggle you can't win unless you're willing to taze someone 
But the huge majority of class early in the year really will be texting in their laps as if they were invisible to me.
I try to work on the natural consequences of not paying attention, and I have a 2-1/2% plea. Our classes are 5 days each @ 48 minutes, and that's about 2-1/2% of your entire week (168 hours). So unlike your coaches who want 110% of whatever, I want 2-1/2%. Be here physically and be here mentally for that 2-1/2%, and you will have success.
When report card grades come out, I also have them self-evaluate. The form has a place for absences, tardies, the grade they got, the grade they wanted, why the difference if there is one and so on. Self-monitoring and self-control are keys to success, I think, and so I work on that as well as the subject matter.
Hope you have a great year!
Student: "I hate story problems."
Teacher: "Life is a series of story problems."
