Originally Posted by Val
I've been studying algebra and other math books for a couple years now, and I've concluded that it's no wonder so many students are mathematically incompetent. How could they be anything else, given the material?

I found this article interesting, A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education in the 20th Century by David Klein . He discusses the role colleges of education have played in promoting progressivism in mathematics education. It's one explanation of why math textbooks are so bad.