California requires Algebra I for all 8th graders

California requires Algebra I for all 8th graders

"I took Algebra I in 9th grade, when I was 13. I presume I could have
done fine in it in 8th grade, but I was a lot more logical in 9th grade
than in 8th grade, due to puberty. But nowadays, every 8th grader in
California's public schools has to take Algebra I.

Why? Because nobody cares about federalism anymore: it's part of the No
Child Left Behind act. The Department of Education has finally noticed
that states were making their mandatory tests easy, so they are cracking
down by requiring Algebra I questions in the 8th grade state test.

And because George "soft bigotry of low expectations" Bush is a liberal
creationist.

Nanette Asimov (yes, she's Isaac Asimov's niece) writes in the San
Francisco Chronicle:

All California eighth-graders in public school will have to take
Algebra 1 beginning in 2011 under a policy approved Wednesday by the state
Board of Education in an 8-1 vote.

The board decided to make algebra testing mandatory in the eighth
grade over the strong objections of Jack O'Connell, the state's elected
schools chiefâ?¦.

O'Connell is a complete nimrod, but even he knows that lots of kids aren't
bright enough at age 12-13 to get much out of Algebra I.

But board President Ted Mitchell said the move shows there is
"unequivocally one set of standards for all kids, no matter their ZIP
code, race or income level."

Ordered by the federal government to bring California's eighth-grade
math testing into compliance with No Child Left Behind, the board endorsed
the mandatory Algebra 1 testing over a more moderate approach urged by
O'Connell, math instructors from around the state and the California
School Boards Association.

But the board members sided with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who
appointed them, and in a rare move overruled the strong recommendations of
the state superintendent. The governor had asked the board to make algebra
mandatory and he expressed satisfaction with the result.

"California's children have already proven that when we set the bar
high, they can do anything," Schwarzenegger said.

Sure. They're not mathematical girly men. All they need are some Brain
'Roids.

To be fair to the Governator, I suspect he's one of the few politicians
who has used much algebra since getting out of school -- he was a
successful building contractor in his spare time, starting off as a
bricklayer.

The decision was also supported by business groups and the chancellor
of the community college system, Diane Woodruff.

Algebra 1 has been a high-school graduation requirement in California
since 2004. Students are encouraged to take it in eighth grade, but can
take it any time before graduating.

There are nearly 500,000 eighth-graders in public schools. Currently,
52 percent take Algebra 1. Each spring, they take the California Standards
Test for Algebra 1.

Eighth-graders who aren't enrolled in Algebra 1 take a different exam:
the California Standards Test for general math.

This year the U.S. Department of Education found that the general math
test was out of compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act because it
measured only sixth- and seventh-grade material.

So California was given a choice: Pump up the general math test to
include Algebra 1 items, or require everyone to take the Algebra 1 test -
which in effect requires all eighth-graders to take Algebra 1.

Failure to comply - that is, if the board had done nothing by the end
of this month - would have disqualified California from several federal
programs and placed most middle schools on a list of failing campuses that
could ultimately be restructured from the bottom up.

"I have strong reservations about requiring all eighth-grade students
to take Algebra 1 within three years without also offering any additional
changes, support or resources for our public school system," O'Connell
told the state's school superintendents in a two-page letter Tuesday.

He said that most eighth-graders who take general math already
struggle with the material and that requiring them to take an even tougher
course without extra help - tutoring, for example - is "highly
irresponsible."

Among the eighth-graders in general math, he said, 86 percent of black
students and 84 percent of Latinos score below proficient on the state
test.

What could be better for all concerned that to shove the bottom half in
with the top half in 8th grade Algebra I classes? I'm sure the 8th graders
who should be in Algebra I will learn even better with classrooms full of
kids who shouldn't be in it.

One thing a state can do in response to this kind of federal meddling is
to raise the minimum age for kindergarten. (I wrote about the spreading
practice of "redshirting" little boys by having them spend two years in
kindergarten back in 2002.)"<<

http://isteve.blogspot.com/2008/07/california-requires-algebra-i-for-all.html

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