Keep learning bar high to best prepare students for the future
Most people never use pure algebra after high school. However, even when unaware of doing so, educated individuals often use algebraic concepts — particularly when solving problems.
This is probably the case with Annette E. Farrar, who wrote in her letter to the editor on Sunday: “I have never in my life needed algebra.” Perhaps it didn’t occur to her that the tools of algebra have significantly helped her when she dealt with variables, reasoned abstractly, constructed arguments or budgeted for her businesses and home.
Algebra teaches the skills of problemsolving more effectively than any other school subject. It teaches one to think logically and to systematically organize data while examining pieces of information with the goal of reaching a solution.
Algebra is a tool for creating efficient ways of performing tasks and for making sound decisions (like wisely using time, spending money or choosing between jobs).
Farrar’s letter was in reference to Frank D. Rohter’s statement in his Oct. 19 guest column that “85 percent ... of the students who fail Algebra I do not graduate.” This statement is undoubtedly true. But the implication that students drop out of school because they fail algebra (usually studied in eighth or ninth grade) is a fallacy in logic. A correlation between algebra performance and high-school graduation exists, but no cause and effect is demonstrated. Students who fail algebra and/or drop out of school generally have weak academic foundations.
The solution to academic failure is not to drop educational requirements. If this is done, it allows more young people to be given virtually worthless pieces of paper. More students can clear an already low bar, but they remain unable to collaborate and compete. It is our obligation to make sure our students succeed. We cannot do that by dumbing down the curriculum.
Possession of a diploma should indicate mastery of a defined set of skills and knowledge, not completion of a certain amount of time in school. To be prepared for the future, students must achieve a standard level of education before being awarded a highschool certificate.
Thankfully, more than 40 states have adopted a set of CommonCore State Standards that consistently reflect the skills and knowledge needed for success in the work force and in college.
In his essay, Rohter made several useful recommendations. Unfortunately, he proposed offering an “assembly of select trade courses relevant to the vocational aspirations of noncollege-bound students.”
Whoare these “noncollege-bound students”? And why are they not “collegebound”? Sadly, what is being advocated is a course that will short-change large numbers of students from certain segments of our society, prematurely condemning them to a lower level of possibilities.
By teaching job-specific skill sets, the students’ opportunities will be limited. These youths will essentially be consigned to dead-end jobs. They will have suffered an unforgivable disservice, with chances to enter future careers narrowed — particularly in the cases of late bloomers.
For these and other students, a good foundation in mathematics can open doors later on, especially as familiar jobs disappear and entirely new industries emerge.
Today’s students need a broad educational foundation that equips them to keep up with rapid technological changes, to master new skill sets, and to visualize connections between seemingly disparate issues. Such a foundation includes the abilities to work with formulas and variables, to think precisely and logically, and to use abstraction in solving problems. These are skills gained when studying algebra.
Rohter pointed out that we have the opportunity to roll back some of the taxpayers’ spiraling financial burden by addressing costs incurred by socioeconomic problems related to high-school dropouts. We do indeed have that opportunity. But it will become a reality only if we ensure that all students, no matter where they live or which schools they attend, are provided with rigorous educational opportunities.
The tax burden that results from inadequate education can — and will — decrease only when all segments of the population can compete successfully. And that will happen only when we increase support for pre-high-school education so that all youth have the skills, knowledge and opportunities to succeed in courses such as Algebra I.