So I was excited to see the headline of Texas dropping Algebra 2. Is it because they are jam packing the slow paced Algebra 1 with some trigonometry and some useful things to get kids ready for calculus earlier? Oh it is not... it is to "focus on career and vocational training" and that "Algebra II is so difficult that it was forcing many students to drop out before finishing high school. "
Now if you have to drop out because of Algebra 2 you need a good teacher or a good tutor. That class needs to be modified so you don't need to do stupid factoring of some 5-degree polynomials you pull out from thin air. Look, you will need that to score well in SAT and ACT. Kicking algebra 2 off is lowering your already low requirements.
Math is a cumulative subject... waita minute, are the kids dropping out because they can't even work with fractions while taking Algebra 2? Perhaps the problem is at the earlier grade levels.
Those textbooks perhaps need to be revisited to be more clear and interesting. Topics may need to be revisited to eliminate some not so useful things... If you can't solve some simple equations there is just no way you can have a decent education in any science.
Are you going to say, dude I have never used sin, cos, tan, nor solve a system of equation in my life. Let me tell you this dude, I know how to do this (and much more), I had decent science classes in school requiring these, and I feel encriched. Those who are uninformed and uneducated simply miss out.... and that's actually is ok. A strong nation needs its people educated and enriched. We don't need to be a strong nation and you don't need to be enriched.
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