From the Washington Post..
an interesting piece that glances at Advanced Algebra as a graduation requirement.
End of course testing is mentioned.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/25/AR2009012502415.html?sid%3DST2%26s_pohtthttp://www.washingtonpost.com:80/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/registration/register&sub=AR
Algebra for All The Push for Higher Math
II Doesn't Always = II
Similarities in Advanced High School Math Courses Often Mask Differences in Standards and Requirements
By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 26, 2009; Page B01
From Northwest Washington to the suburbs of Fairfax and Prince George's counties, advanced algebra often appears the same from class to class: Students are expected to learn dozens of skills, including factoring trinomials, solving rational equations and graphing quadratic functions.
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3 comments:
Advanced Algebra according to the Achieve Standard is vastly different from the traditional Algebra 2 Standard.
For one, factoring trinomials is a traditional Algebra 1 standard. If you look at Core Plus Algebra 1, students do not factor trinomials and the authors (Hirsch and Ziebarth) only recently added a section on parabolas to the second edition - WMU took their sweet time rewriting it.
Bellevue trashed it last summer, opting for a more traditional curriculum.
Core Plus is aligned to the Achieve Standard. Not much else. There is nothing standard about this bizarre oddity of the math education world (its like some sort of hideous deep sea creature.)
The attempt in Washington has always been to align its standards as close as possible to Core Plus. That's why it scores as high as it does, and no where else. Any district considering it, should have their heads examined.
You are so wrong! A good place to observe Core Plus getting used in the classroom, is Burlington Alternative School. Kids excel at math after using Core Plus. They like using the graphing calculators, it makes the math so easy and our students get frustrated when they can't multiply. Graphing calculators are easy to use.
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