It still doesn't fix the fact that by that time, those students are still starting with 8 years' worth of hash for a math foundation.
The pace at the high school level would still need to be differentiated, granted-- but the real issue is that NO amount of slowing the pace can compensate adequately for not having learned basic number sense in 1st through 4th grade.
This is why DD11 is taking Algebra I at her school in the fall... and attending a math tutoring center that has her working on division. In 3rd grade she had a nightmare experience with math (extreme pressure, public shaming, bullying) with a teacher who had no experience teaching math and no interest in hearing our input. She has such a block about it that it's only because of her LOG that she's managed to compensate and keep doing well in the higher classes. But it's getting progressively harder and slower for her because she gets stuck on the basic stuff. The tutoring center is doing a dual job of teaching her the skills she needs to know and nurturing her through a kind of numeracy PTSD.
Now for her it's less of an issue. After all, the only reason she's pushing to take Algebra this year (as opposed to, say, repeating pre-Algebra) is because she's adamant about needing it to meet her goals. But for kids who have had years of bad math curriculum (with potentially some bad teaching thrown in) hitting Algebra in 9th grade would be ROUGH.
For DD algebra concepts come easy and if she can use a calculator she's good (if a little lacking in confidence). But something about memorizing her multiplication and division triggers near panic. I hope that continued exposure on the side will help it come together for her.
