Is Algebra Necessary?

Originally Posted by Ekcrbe

The rest of your post is reasonable, but this section is of note. I agree, but I must point out that "get a better curriculum" is unfortunately very hard without more money, and that doesn't seem to be coming. Again, failing students means keeping them in school for another year, costing more money. The government also seems to think that the embarrassment from being held back is not worth learning the material.



I expect some of those solutions would be related to spending, but the students themselves are much to blame. We need to change schooling at the elementary level, so students are not so averted to high school. Kids need to love school early, so they stick with it the rest of the way. That would take care of a large part of the problems with students failing classes, because General Education classes are not too hard to pass for those students who care, regardless of natural ability.

Very true. I agree 100% with everything you've said. For those who fail Algebra at my school, a lot of the time it's the student's fault, and it's always students who have a negative attitude towards the class.