How would you reform the US Education system.

[golfgal]

Come on! You honestly think a student that isn't good at math can take Trig? So it isn't calculus. Big deal. Trig isn't something the average kid that sucks at math is going to be able to handle. Not every kid is cut out for higher level math and yes, trig is higher level math.

I suck at math and found Trig easy so, yes, I think someone that isn't good at math can take trig.

 

[NotUrsula]

Come on! You honestly think a student that isn't good at math can take Trig? So it isn't calculus. Big deal. Trig isn't something the average kid that sucks at math is going to be able to handle. Not every kid is cut out for higher level math and yes, trig is higher level math.

Tee-hee. Yes, actually, if that kid is a spacial thinker. I couldn't manage more than a C in Algebra to save my hide, but I aced Trig without trying hard. Trig is *real*: when you do trig you get answers that are integers, not formulas.

(Embarassing confession: I had a lazy math teacher when I was a hs senior, and he always gave us the exact same problems in Trig and Algebra III classes, just re-stated them. It was JANUARY before I found that out, courtesy of one of my classmates who couldn't for the life of him understand how I had an A in Trig and a C- in Algebra III. Even after he explained it I still could not recognize which problems were the duplicates of which others.)

 

[LisaR]

I suck at math and found Trig easy so, yes, I think someone that isn't good at math can take trig.

Well, of course, if YOU found Trig easy then it only makes sense that every kid in the world will be able to do it.

You are missing the point. You were originally responding to NotUrsula. She said that other options like bookkeeping and practical math should be taught.

You said that is an option at most schools and you are probably right.

However, state colleges are NOT going to take you based on bookkeeping 101. You need higher level math. Algebra 1 & 2, geometry, trig and calculus are all considered higher level math. However, to the kid that sucks at math, algebra 1 is enough of a challenge. Making it through algebra 2 is not going to happen for some of these kids. There are only so many options on the math track to college.

Telling my daughter that she can take Trig as a junior or senior is not going to inspire her because she needs to get through algebra 1&2 plus geometry first.

There isn't a bookkeeping, accounting, or liberal arts math option that still allows kids to maintain the college track.

 

[littlepeppers]

Telling my daughter that she can take Trig as a junior or senior is not going to inspire her because she needs to get through algebra 1&2 plus geometry first.
[/B]

Tell your daughter to hang in there. Math is such a difficult subject if you weren't blessed by the number fairy. Some people just get it.

Tell her to keep trying, do her best, work problems over & over & over. I would hate to see someone give up their college dreams over one subject.

College isn't always about how smart you are. It is often about how much you can endure. Endurance is a very valuable job skill. If they can endure & work hard at math, then they will also have the skill of endurance in the workplace. Too many people give up when things get hard.

Math can really bite, but work a million problems over & over & get a "C" or better & move on to realize your dreams. I'm going to be a cheerleader here.

(Hard work + Hard work)x eating a lot of poop/biting your tongue = good job.

 

[NotUrsula]

OT, but Lisa, has she tried Danica McKellar's math guidebooks? They are pretty darned good, actually. We force DS to use them at home, but he
would die before he would publicly admit ever setting eyes on something so girl-oriented.

They are oriented towards girls who feel like they have math-block, and they are meant to get you through mandatory HS math. Sometimes they are a tad cutesy, but the real-life analogies and "tricks" help tremendously IMO.

 

[doxdogy]

Lisa I agree with you. Thanks to Sister Paul my basic math skills are great. However, I just can not do higher level math. Poor Sister Josephine gave up Saturday's to tutor me to pass higher level math in eighth grade. In high school, I failed geometry two times. My teacher finally told my parents that I just was not going to get the hang of higher level math. Does it bother me? Not one iota. I have great basic math skills and that is all that matters to me. I actually had one boss ask me if I had a calculator in my brain, because I could do it faster in my head then he could on a calculator.

So to me anything beyond basic math is a higher level math and FSU and all the other state schools in Florida seem to agree with you. If remember correctly when I went to junior college math higher then BASIC math was required to earn an AA degree and anything BEYOND basic math was considered higher level math.

Come on! You honestly think a student that isn't good at math can take Trig? So it isn't calculus. Big deal. Trig isn't something the average kid that sucks at math is going to be able to handle. Not every kid is cut out for higher level math and yes, trig is higher level math.

 

[schmitty]

Really have to disagree with this. Schools are a BUSINESS. They are in the business of educating our children. And right now they are not doing it in a cost efficient manner. We have limited dollars to spend on education (that is a reality) and we need to use those dollars wisely.

We can't keep throwing dollars at the education system.

A CPA to run a school - no. But how about someone with a teaching background who has an MBA?

Yeah lets ask a person with an MBA to take a salary cut
Hmm maybe that is why administrator salaries are so high, because its riddled with low life MBA's.

Maybe someone who manages an NPO would do OK but a straight MBA person would be one of the worst to hire, as it has been shown. There are plenty of MBAs in the system and its only getting worse. When will people learn.

 

[MrsPete]

Four years of HIGHER math is not required ANYWHERE, 4 years of MATH is required and THAT is a BIG difference. This is also how college enrollment requirements get misunderstood too.

Gotta agree. Around here a typical high school student takes these math courses:

Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra 2
And then finally a higher math; could be Trig, Pre-Cal, or Calculus

A math whiz kid will take Algebra 1 in 8th grade, which'll allow him to get Geometry in 9th grade. That'll allow him to fit in multiple math courses in his high school years, perhaps including Statistics. Unlike the typical math student, this one would have multiple higher-level maths.

A kid who's poor in math has to make it through Algebra 1 to get his diploma, but he might then end up in Applied Math, which is remedial. This'll get him into a community college or a small, less-prestigious private school, but probably not a state school. IF he's strong in all his other subjects but weak in math (which is actually fairly uncommon), he might be admitted to a state school with a deficiency (which means he'd have to take a remedial math course as a college freshman, and he would receive no credit for it).

 

[MrsPete]

Yeah lets ask a person with an MBA to take a salary cut
Hmm maybe that is why administrator salaries are so high, because its riddled with low life MBA's.

In 19 years, I've never worked for an administrator with an MBA. Low life or other-wise.

They have degrees in education and/or a subject area (English, math, whatever) as well as teaching degrees. AND they have masters degrees in administration and principal certificates.

Perhaps a few people at the county-office have MBAs.

 

[dejr_8]

In 19 years, I've never worked for an administrator with an MBA. Low life or other-wise.

They have degrees in education and/or a subject area (English, math, whatever) as well as teaching degrees. AND they have masters degrees in administration and principal certificates.

Perhaps a few people at the county-office have MBAs.

Yea. Maybe the PP district is different but our is filled with Education PhDs.