It
was brought to my attention in class this Monday that the Texas Board of
Education will no longer require Algebra II for high school students who aren't
on an honors plan or are pursuing a degree in math/science. While I have mixed
feelings about this, I think that dropping this requirement is for the best if
substituted with a more practical class. Although our education system is
heavily criticized and dropping a math requirement that has been around for
decades may seem wrong, I think it is the right thing to do when steeping back
and looking at the current situation. With more and more kids dropping out of
high school to get a job, I think dropping algebra II (a class a lot of people
think of as useless) will perhaps encourage kids to stay and get their diploma.
If they replaced the class with a "math in the real world" type class
then students might learn practical math that will hopefully entice them by
using situations in the real world. If students think that some information or
a class is useless to them then motivation levels drop. I don’t see why we
should cram Algebra II down every student’s throats when they might never have
to remember 90% of the information. Students should spend their school time learning
something that is practical and will help them latter in life.
My classmate Zach stressed some really good pointers with this commentary, but i think he failed to mention the importance of what Algebra 2 brings to the table. Algebra 2 is a math course that is either taken during the junior or senior year of high school. Algebra 2 prepares the student for the future math courses that will be taken in College, which is College Algebra. Algebra 2 involves critical thinking, and problem solving, which i think is why the majority of students find it difficult. With Algebra 2 off the curriculum in high school, it does not necessarily mean something easier will come along, because that's not the case. I do agree with Zach though, if they are going to drop Algebra 2 from the curriculum they should replace the class with something that is practical and will be used later in life. But those classes that are "used later in life" are usually in college, when you are closer to your major. The Texas Board of Education is trying to change the Texas Education little by little, as it shows, TAKS test have been replaced by STAR test, a test much more difficult. So maybe with the absence of Algebra 2 in high school, will bring something else that will prepare the students in high school even more for the future.
ReplyDeleteMy classmate has brought up the subject of Texas considering dropping Algebra II in high school. My classmate has agreed with this because it seems unreasonable to have someone learn what will never be used in their working lives. I have the same opinion. Math is the type of subject known to give people anxiety and I am one of those people. Though I do use math everyday at work, majority of it was not learned in Algebra. In Algebra II, you expect people to learn something in a certain time frame that they just try to memorize it instead of learning it. History, Science, and English do give people a hard time as well but those are what is used in your everyday life. Not so much Algebra II. The Pythagorean theorem is NEVER going to come up in conversation or be applied to your job like the other subjects unless the conversation is about useless information you learned in High School and how much time was wasted on it. As that saying goes, people value grades more than they value learning.
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I disagree with my classmate’s blog titled, “Changing goals (blog stage 7).” Algebra II should be required for all high school students. As my classmate mention many students will drop out of school because some students think it will be waste of time taking algebra II, while they can take other class or could be working. First off, I think students drop out of school because they simply don’t like school, I don’t think algebra II is a reason for students to drop out. Many students now a day they still don’t know if they want to keep going to school to pursue a degree in math/science all they want to do is graduate at least from high school and get their diploma. In the other hand, what will happen if they want to continue college later on in life? Will they have to take algebra II? Or just go straight to college algebra? I think keeping Algebra II will be the best decision for all students to have the same core class requirement regardless on their plan for the future if they decide to go to college after a few years. In conclusion, the education system should keep the same requirements; it would not hurt any student to gain any extra knowledge.
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