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Algebra-for-All Policy Found to Raise Rates Of Failure in Chicago

Ohanian Comment: I've
long thought that it is wrong-headed to ask
mathematics experts how much math an informed
citizen needs. Why not ask English majors or
philosophers or stay-at-home moms or, god-help-
us, journalists, how much math they need to
function well in life?

By Debra Viadero

Arlington, Va.
Findings from a study involving 160,000 Chicago
high school students offer a cautionary tale of
what can happen, in practice, when school
systems require students to take algebra at a
particular grade level.

Buoyed by recommendations from national
mathematics experts, growing numbers of
districts and states, such as New York and
Texas, have begun requiring students to study
algebra in 9th grade. Notably, California
recently moved to require the subject even
earlier, in 8th grade, although the policy
faces legal roadblocks.

The Chicago school district was at the
forefront of that movement in 1997 when it
instituted a mandate for 9th grade algebra as
part of an overall effort to ensure that its
high school students would be “college ready”
upon graduation.

The policy change may have yielded unintended
effects, according to researchers from the
Consortium on Chicago School Research, based at
the University of Chicago. While algebra
enrollment increased across the district, the
percentages of students failing math in 9th
grade also rose after the new policy took
effect. . . .

Education Week does not
allow posting of their articles. For full
article go the url below.

— Debra Viadero
Education Week
2009-03-11
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/03/11/24algebra.h28.html?tmp=1526373465

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