"Farewell to algebra" . . . for minority kids?

Mary McConnell:

I seem to have touched a raw nerve with my posts about (government-approved) lower educational standards for minority kids. Is it possible that the common core standards will similarly lower the bar, this time for math performance?

Common core critics have noted that California's new law on math standards will roll back California's decade long effort to move as many eighth graders as possible into Algebra. As Bill Evers and Ze'ev Wurman (both former Department of Education officials) note, the algebra reform dramatically increased the number of minority kids who took Algebra 1 and beyond . . . and raised their test scores.

The results are a rarely-told story of stunning success in public education. In 1998, only 17 percent, just 70,000 of our students, took Algebra by grade eight. But this year, 68 percent, or more than 324,000 did.This translates to almost quarter of a million more students taking Algebra by grade eight. Not only had we successfully quadrupled the fraction of Algebra-taking by grade eight -- which is a major accomplishment for those students and their teachers -- but an ever larger percentage of students have over time scored "proficient" and above.

The success of minorities and students in poverty increasing their Algebra 1 proficiency was the most significant achievement. In 2003, fewer than 1,700 African-Americans successfully took Algebra by grade 8. By 2012, more than 6,900 did; that was more than a four-fold increase.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 25, 2012 2:06 AM
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