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Rotten to the Core: Obama's War on Academic Standards (Part 1)

anonymous18038 Wrote: Jan 23, 2013 3:35 AM

Michelle, As a math teacher for 23 years, I agree with almost everything you said. My only area of disagreement is in the comment that Algebra is being shoved up into the 9th grade. Up until just a few years ago, Algebra was the 9th grade standard because it relied on a lot of abstract thinking, the kind of thinking that most 7th and 8th graders are not biologically ready to do. When it was dropped down a grade, it was a disaster everywhere. Good teachers tried to teach it to good kids who just were not developmentally ready for it. It was too much too young. I support returning Algebra to the ninth grade where kids are more likely to be able to learn it. (I am a born-again, right wing, anti-Obama, anti-NEA, Christian conservative.

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Mellisa55 Wrote: Jan 23, 2013 1:06 PM

Agreed. It was started in the 9th in the Mid-60s when I was in H.S. I was never very good in math and have felt the sting of my lack of proficiency my entire life. These children will only realize what they have been cheated of when they need the math to do simple chores later in life.

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Flubadub Wrote: Jan 23, 2013 7:12 AM

You are wrong. I learned enough algebra in parochial grade school that I was ahead of public high school teachers and when I went to trade school the math? teacher said he would just skip the algebra part because he did not understand it. So me and another guy taught the algebra part so the students would understand how to set up and solve problems. That was over 50 years ago and todays students are brighter than ever if you believe in them, encourage them and teach them. Stop the dumbing down of public schools.

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anonymous18038 Wrote: Jan 23, 2013 5:14 PM

I do understand Algebra. That's not the issue. Some kids can do Algebra at a young age and I applaud your skills. However, current brain science and psychology (some of which is pretty good) supports what I am saying. A noted psychologist named Piaget documented and confirmed these stages of learning, and school curriculum was tailored to what students were developmentally ready for. Everywhere Algebra was moved down, it was a disaster. We will still teach Algebra along the way, but most kids are not ready for it until 9th grade. (It takes emotional maturity, too, to pay attention and take responsibility for learning, which varies greatly in middle school but improves in high school.)

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William... Carpinteria CA Wrote: Jan 23, 2013 6:51 AM

A good teacher makes math an exciting subject... With math it's all about the teacher.

As for your "I am a born-again, right wing, anti-Obama, anti-NEA, Christian conservative"... hang in there you're our best hope.

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NewJAl Wrote: Jan 23, 2013 6:40 AM

I taught gifted kids, with highly involved parents, and my efforts to teach Algebra, in grade 7, were successful, but the target audience was not typical.
The teachers, like anonymous, did not even join the union, because they knew the Collectivist thinking of much of the leadership. My Governor said the head of the NJEA got 250 thousand more than my Governor, in annual salary. Once again, money from Capitalism, to tear it down.

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Richard31 Wrote: Jan 23, 2013 6:38 AM

Agreed. "Pure" algebra was started in the 9th grade when I was in high school. Of course, I had exposure to "hints" of it in earlier grades - the concepts of formulas with variables for instance. And, of course, the just basic things you need to start with, like the laws of commutation and association.

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Rotten to the Core: Obama's War on Academic Standards (Part 1)

America's downfall doesn't begin with the "low-information voter." It starts with the no-knowledge student.

For decades, collectivist agitators in our schools have chipped away at academic excellence in the name of fairness, diversity and social justice. "Progressive" reformers denounced Western civilization requirements, the Founding Fathers and the Great Books as racist. They attacked traditional grammar classes as irrelevant in modern life. They deemed ability grouping of students (tracking) bad for self-esteem. They replaced time-tested rote techniques and standard algorithms with fuzzy math, inventive spelling and multicultural claptrap.

Under President Obama, these top-down mal-formers -- empowered by Washington education bureaucrats and backed...

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