Dottie and Val,
Not to play devil's advocate or anything... I'm just woefully ignorant and terribly naive... But could this new algebra requirement actually be a good thing, in that it may force these schools to see how shaky a foundation they have laid for math?
The problem is that the maths courses in 3rd - 7th don't create students who can work with numbers.
Maybe this will be a wake-up call to the schools that they need to revamp their 3rd-7th math in order to get those kids ready for the challenges of algebra?
That's my nightmare...I only have 3 more years to get my last child through that hurdle before the inevitable hits these parts as well. Our top adminstrators see this as a good thing. I see it as a watering down of algebra, .
Am I giving them too much credit for assuming that, if there is a problem, the solution is to strengthen the math skills, instead of watering them down? Or is this another instance of the schools mandating something without the faintest idea of the how to get from point A to point B?
