Early-Algebra Push Seen to Be Flawed

Autor/in	Viadero, Debra
Titel	Early-Algebra Push Seen to Be Flawed
Quelle	In: Education Week, 29 (2010) 21, S.1 (2 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0277-4232
Schlagwörter	Academic Achievement; Grade 9; Grade 8; Grade 7; Algebra; Minority Groups; Mathematics Curriculum; Mathematics Achievement; Science Achievement; Disadvantaged; Ability Grouping; Arkansas; California; Illinois; Texas; United States + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schulleistung; School year 09; 9. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 09; School year 08; 8. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 08; School year 07; 7. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 07; Ethnische Minderheit; Mathmatics sikills; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematical ability; Mathematische Kompetenz; Homogene Gruppierung; Niveaugruppierung; Streaming; Kalifornien; USA
Abstract	Spurred by a succession of reports pointing to the importance of algebra as a gateway to college, educators and policymakers embraced "algebra for all" policies in the 1990s and began working to ensure that students take the subject by 9th grade or earlier. A trickle of studies suggests that in practice, though, getting all students past the algebra hump has proved difficult and has failed, some of the time, to yield the kinds of payoffs educators seek. Simply sticking students in courses without preparing them ahead of time for the class does not seem to work as an intervention. It seems to work with adequately prepared students, but not for the most challenged students. The research news has not been completely bad, however. Michigan State University researcher William H. Schmidt, in a not-yet-published study, analyzes data on 7,000 7th and 8th graders across the United States who took part in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study in 1995. He compared the performance of 8th graders with that of "feeder classes" of 7th graders from the same school to calculate how much students gained in mathematics over the course of that pivotal 8th grade school year. What Mr. Schmidt found was that the learning gains were greatest for students who moved from either a general math class or a prealgebra class into a full-blown algebra class. His findings are in keeping with a larger body of studies from the 1990s and early 2000s that suggested algebra was, for many students, the primary gateway to advanced-level mathematics and college. The problem was that too many students--particularly those who were poor or members of disadvantaged minority groups--were turned away at the gate, screened out by ability-grouping practices at their schools. (ERIC).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10