PZ Myers, at rips into the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen for wasting electrons with a flow of bull called What is the value of algebra?. Cohen consluded that
Writing is the highest form of reasoning. This is a fact. Algebra is not.
… which, however you try to parse it, is sheer stupidity.
In the comments thread on PZ’s blog, though, we find a link to the story that got Cohen to go off the deep end, and it’s much more intertesting that Cohen’s garbage.
A Formula for Failure in L.A. Schools
This is the story of Gabriela Ocampo, a high school dropout, and the LA school system. There appear to be many failures – and blame enough to go all around.
Gabriela failed that first semester of freshman algebra. She failed again and again — six times in six semesters.
Frankly, what business does the school system have putting this student in the same class six times in a row and letting her fail? With this many failures, why wasn’t the student evaluated to see what level of math she was functioning at and placing her there? Or checking to see if there was some sort of psychological problem or learning disability evident? The student’s supposed to be getting an education, not a ride on the “Ferris Wheel of Algebra”!
But it’s not just the school at fault, here.
Shane Sauby, who worked as an attorney and stockbroker before becoming a teacher, volunteered to teach the students confronting first-year algebra for a second, third or fourth time. He thought he could reach them.
But, Sauby said, many of his students ignored homework, rarely studied for tests and often skipped class.
If the parents of these students don’t care enough to see that they’re actually in their classes in the first place, it’s no wonder that the students themelves don’t care. It’s uphill work to teach someone who simply does not want to learn, and it becomes an impossible job if the students simply don’t show up in the first place.
Gabriela’s algebra teacher learned this the hard way.
Only seven of 39 students brought their textbooks. Several had no paper or pencils. One sat for the entire period with his backpack on his shoulders, tapping his desk with a finger.
Gabriela […] skipped 62 of 93 days that semester.
I’m torn when I read stuff like this. On the one hand, I feel sorry for students like Gabriela, who may have been “passed” in lower-level classes that they shouldn’t have passed and find themselves in way over their head in high school. On the other hand, I feel that people who can’t be bothered to make even the most basic effort in a class neither deserve to pass the class nor deserve to be given a high school diploma. Less than 20% of these people could trouble themselves to simply bring their book … and that’s when they did show up!
One other point to bring out is the class size. The last thing students with a history of failure need is to be put into a large class environment. They probably need much more individual help than the teacher (however good) can possibly give them. Even a class half the size of Gabriela’s might be too large. This, unfortunately, is probably caused by lack of funds. (Tax cuts and budget cuts are the rage these days.) Education is expensive, but I still believe ignorance costs more in the long run.
Another interesting point from the article is yet another sign that we might want to rethink how we distribute funds for schools. One school has decided to take students who fail their algebra classes and simply put them into remedial classes focusing not on algebra but on the basic math skills from earlier grades that these students probably lack. Sounds good, and it appears that their students actually end up doing better in algebra in the long run. But …
The state can lower the academic rankings of schools that remove ninth graders from first-year algebra. Consistently low rankings can invite district audits and penalties, including removal of teachers and administrators.
So, getting the students the help they need might cause the school to lose funding and teachers! This, apparently, is what some people think “accountability” means.
Read the article, and see the train wreck in LA for yourself. It’ll take money, effort, and time to get it fixed – from parents, from students, from schools, from teachers, and from government. Who’s up for it?