Faces of Algebra 2By Deb KollarsBee Staff Writer(Published Dec. 14, 2000)If American children went to school most anywhere else, their algebra experiencewould be vastly different.Here, many students never study it. Among those who do, most wait until theirfreshman year in high school or later. By then, it is an abrupt shift into the worldof abstraction.Not so in Germany, Japan, Argentina, Korea, France and other developedcountries. In those nations, all students are expected to conquer beginningalgebra. They start early -- routinely in the sixth or seventh grade -- and study itthoroughly until they reach high school."In the United States, only about 25 percent of students in the middle grades getalgebra. Everywhere else, basically 100 percent get it at that point," said WilliamSchmidt, national coordinator of research for the Third International Mathematicsand Science Study. Widely known as TIMSS, the study draws regular headlinesbecause it usually shows American children behind other children in the world.That embarrassment has helped prompt a revolution of sorts in math education,especially when it comes to beginning algebra. Although few U.S. schools aregoing as far as those in Europe, Japan and other places, the shift has beenunmistakable.In California, the algebra overhaul is hitting two levels -- middle school and highschool. The state's academic standards now say that algebra should be taughtbeginning in the eighth grade, a new and somewhat controversial ideal. And statelaw now requires that all high school students, starting with this year's freshmen,master Algebra 1 to graduate.It is a tall, tall order, and one that is rocking schools throughout Sacramento andthe state.The eighth-grade algebra goal has left middle schools grappling with how toteacha tough subject that historically has not been their province. Responses have runthe gamut. Some schools have cautiously studied the options, while others havejumped in and placed all students into algebra.Teachers and principals have expressed private doubts, saying middle school istoo early for many to learn algebra. Even at the high school level, some teachersbelieve that not all students can or should be required to complete the subject.To the naysayers, the algebra allies point across the sea."I don't believe it for a second. I see too much evidence in other countries, wherealgebra is just the norm for everyone," said Sue Stickel, an assistantsuperintendent for the Elk Grove Unified School District.Elk Grove has been on the algebra bandwagon for years. It has required Algebra 1as a condition of graduation since 1989, and it recently added geometry to its listof graduation requirements.When it comes to the eighth-grade front, however, Elk Grove looks like most otherdistricts -- about a third of its top students complete Algebra 1, while themajority enter high school without it.Middle school algebra has long been a hot topic for families in the area. Thoseeighth-graders who have taken it often had savvy and aggressive parents whopushed for it.Take Spring View Middle School in Rocklin. At one time, the campus offered noalgebra. But about five years ago, a small group of parents began insisting onitfor their high-achieving youngsters.The mothers and fathers wanted their kids to be challenged in math. And theywere aware of something else: Those who don't get beginning algebra out of theway before high school may not get all the way to calculus by the time they areseniors.It's a basic math problem: There are four years of high school, but five years ofmath courses in a typical precollege lineup -- Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2,some form of Trigonometry or Math Analysis, and Calculus.Algebra proved popular at Spring View. By last year, the school was putting about30 percent of its top students through the course.But reaching all eighth-graders, as the standards now recommend, will not beeasy, even there."It's going to be a real stretch," said Spring View Principal Marjorie Crawford. "Themajority of our kids are not ready for Algebra 1 at the eighth grade."The same is true in districts across the Sacramento region. The San Juan UnifiedSchool District, long considered a premier system for its historically strong testscores, had 16 percent of its eighth-graders mastering Algebra 1 during the1998-1999 school year.It's a common problem in the United States, according to Schmidt, the TIMSSexpert.To understand why it happens, and also why it need not, look at how math istaught elsewhere in the world, he said.In the United States, students have tended to study basic arithmetic fromkindergarten through eighth grade. Seventh and eighth grade are notorious forbeing wastelands of arithmetic -- fractions, decimals, multiplication, division --that students have seen before.Then boom, in ninth grade, students hit algebra -- a mathematics course that istough and abstract. They are expected to learn it in a single year.By the standards of other nations, Schmidt said, that is cruel and unusualpunishment.Most developed nations teach arithmetic through grade five or six. Then, for thenext two or three years, students study beginning algebra at a pace that is slowand thorough. Most also learn geometry alongside algebra. By the time they reachhigh school, nearly all are ready for higher mathematics. Some may wind up goingdown a vocational or technical track rather than college prep, but that sortingprocess occurs after Algebra 1 and Geometry have been covered."In Asia, in Europe, it is so much more sensible and humane. The students havetime to really absorb the material," Schmidt said."Here, people are just plopped into algebra, and they end up struggling all year. Itis only the brightest kids in mathematics who are able to make this abruptshift.That's why algebra is considered such an elite course."That stigma could be on its way out in California.In the state's new math standards, algebra turns up in kindergarten as a majortheme. Although children may not hear the "A"-word for several years, thestandards recommend that young minds be exposed from Day One to algebra'searliest concepts."Algebra and Functions," the standards say at kindergarten: "Students sort andclassify objects. Which pencil is longer? Describe how the following two objects (abig button and a little one) are the same or different."In second grade, students are to be taught the "commutative rule," although theymay not be given that mouthful, per se. Instead, they might be asked to
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