Jesus, subby, that's not half, that's nearly five thirds. You really are teh suXX0r at maths.

Algebra was so farking useless. Why do they even bother to teach it?

A while ago, the minister of education here was lamenting that only about 50% of students were meeting the provincial average. He promised to increase that to 75%. All teachers work for him. Ugh.

OMG OMG OMG YOU ARE HURTING MY BRAIN!

That would be 1 out of every 6.6666 are ready for college. ARGHHHH!!! (hyper-ventilates through paper bag say to self "it's going to be ok)

That's also not really algebra. It is math, though, which is nice.

this is why we should be pumping out more liberal arts and arty arts majors

/never had to take college algebra
//ba in history
///working on ms in international affairs
/Phd in slashies

I was told there would be no math.

Drizzit: this is why we should be pumping out more liberal arts and arty arts majors

/never had to take college algebra
//ba in history
///working on ms in international affairs
/Phd in slashies

You also have Phd in fuqtard.

eddyatwork: Algebra was so farking useless. Why do they even bother to teach it?

Because it is very useful.

dyslexia is a disability! stop making fun of me!

15% = 2/1 or 010% plus 1

Unless someone is going to majoring in a subject that requires this, why is it an issue? We don't require biochemistry majors to get an A in Shakespearean Studies, do we?

GoSurfing: Drizzit: this is why we should be pumping out more liberal arts and arty arts majors

/never had to take college algebra
//ba in history
///working on ms in international affairs
/Phd in slashies

You also have Phd in fuqtard.

naah i dropped out before I got that one...it just wasn't worth the loans

I still say we need to move over to the Japanese ways of schooling, only the top part of the class even gets to high school. Learn or die, stop all this "no child left behind" and leave them behind, far behind.

Yeah... I never took Algebra II or higher, in HS or college. Graduated trig in college with an A, did Math for Teachers with a B.

John Buck 41: Unless someone is going to majoring in a subject that requires this, why is it an issue? We don't require biochemistry majors to get an A in Shakespearean Studies, do we?

going to be majoring

Since apparently 40% of people 18-24(I think?) were in college this last year, I think the problem may have been either the test was too hard or it was not representative of college admissions standards.

What failure in mathematics might look like:

Maybe we should tell kids that engineering graduates make the most money and to be an engineer you have to be good at maths.

If you took the actual number of students that are going to need high mathmatic scores for their chosen career sets, and gave all THEM an Algebra II test, I'd wager the percentages come out a lot differently.

Standardized test scores are great, but they ultimately come out to this kind of random number-crunching that shoves all student pegs into the same-shaped hole regardless of aptitude.

Sad reality -- Algebra I is rarely required for most careers. Geometry less so, Algebra II even less. A buddy of mine -- an engineer by trade, and not the kind with a funny hat and a train -- has gone on record as saying that all the Calculus he learned has been rendered largely useless due to computers and automation. That's not to say it wouldn't EVER be useful to know Calculus, but it says a lot when a position that arguably needs the most mathmatical prowess doesn't require the toughest math discipline to achieve success.

Thisbymaster: I still say we need to move over to the Japanese ways of schooling, only the top part of the class even gets to high school. Learn or die, stop all this "no child left behind" and leave them behind, far behind.

as a parent of a difficult child that the schools tried to shoo on through, i support keeping a kid back if the kid and school haen't been able to bring him forward .... or else don't tell him you'll hold him back if you don't intend to. that happens once and the kid knows you don't mean it and all work stops. recipe for disaster. some kids need to be held back and it would help them to get it. nobody wins when everybody 'gets' first place.

Chastain86: A buddy of mine -- an engineer by trade, and not the kind with a funny hat and a train -- has gone on record as saying that all the Calculus he learned has been rendered largely useless due to computers and automation. That's not to say it wouldn't EVER be useful to know Calculus, but it says a lot when a position that arguably needs the most mathmatical prowess doesn't require the toughest math discipline to achieve success.

The people who programmed those computers to make things easier for your friend make a lot more money than your friend.

John Buck 41: John Buck 41: Unless someone is going to majoring in a subject that requires this, why is it an issue? We don't require biochemistry majors to get an A in Shakespearean Studies, do we?

going to be majoring

Yes - Demonstrating why biochem majors as well as liberal arts majors should ALSO study english.

/ AND MATH!!!

Surely fifteen states are representative of America as a whole.

This was set up to fail, and the proof is that most of the Maryland students tested were from Baltimore, not Annapolis or some rich town.

blueswoman: Thisbymaster: I still say we need to move over to the Japanese ways of schooling, only the top part of the class even gets to high school. Learn or die, stop all this "no child left behind" and leave them behind, far behind.

as a parent of a difficult child that the schools tried to shoo on through, i support keeping a kid back if the kid and school haen't been able to bring him forward .... or else don't tell him you'll hold him back if you don't intend to. that happens once and the kid knows you don't mean it and all work stops. recipe for disaster. some kids need to be held back and it would help them to get it. nobody wins when everybody 'gets' first place.

I would like to give you a good parenting award. Too many people act as though their snowflakes are too fragile to withstand any trauma which means that they are unprepared when life decides to shait on them when they are older.

Drizzit: this is why we should be pumping out more liberal arts and arty arts majors

/never had to take college algebra
//ba in history
///working on ms in international affairs
/Phd in slashies

This guy has obviously accomplished more than you ever will in your life. Jealous?GoSurfing: Drizzit: this is why we should be pumping out more liberal arts and arty arts majors

/never had to take college algebra
//ba in history
///working on ms in international affairs
/Phd in slashies

You also have Phd in fuqtard.

This guy has already accomplished more than YOU ever will. Jealous much?

Rozinante: A while ago, the minister of education here was lamenting that only about 50% of students were meeting the provincial average. He promised to increase that to 75%. All teachers work for him. Ugh.

That would depend on the sort of curve you are aiming for, wouldn't it?

I blame Mattel^®.

Agarista: Surely fifteen states are representative of America as a whole.

This was set up to fail, and the proof is that most of the Maryland students tested were from Baltimore, not Annapolis or some rich town.

WTF?? You prejudiced against the poor? Just cuz they're poor doesn't mean they're stupid.

/ or does it?

The article never specified the age or grade level of the students who took the test. This could be anything from the "Only 15% of high school seniors are ready for college-level math" to "15% of our kindergarten class is brilliant and should skip right to college."

/Just sayin

GoSurfing: OMG OMG OMG YOU ARE HURTING MY BRAIN!

That would be 1 out of every 6.6666 are ready for college. ARGHHHH!!! (hyper-ventilates through paper bag say to self "it's going to be ok)

Going to university is only important in the context of a cheap energy society. Since no real work is needed from people to run things, a good scam like keeping them in school for decades is required. When the cheap energy runs out, no one is going to worry about which university to give their money to. There won't be that much money left, and what will be left will be for frivolous things like food and shelter.

Since I took Algebra II in the 9th grade, I will go ahead and agree that I was not ready for college yet.

/I needed more time to refine my weed hook-ups

In my experience, math in high school is nothing like math in college. I did fine in algebra, geometry, calculus, etc in high school. Took a placement test when I got into college and they placed me in precalculus, a class I already took and passed in high school. Long story short, I got my ass handed to me. Maybe it's just a left-brain/right-brain sort of thing but I am retarded when it comes to math and apparently no one ever told me in high school or they just dumbed it down enough so that everyone would pass.

/cool story bro

Chastain86: If you took the actual number of students that are going to need high mathmatic scores for their chosen career sets, and gave all THEM an Algebra II test, I'd wager the percentages come out a lot differently.

Standardized test scores are great, but they ultimately come out to this kind of random number-crunching that shoves all student pegs into the same-shaped hole regardless of aptitude.

Sad reality -- Algebra I is rarely required for most careers. Geometry less so, Algebra II even less. A buddy of mine -- an engineer by trade, and not the kind with a funny hat and a train -- has gone on record as saying that all the Calculus he learned has been rendered largely useless due to computers and automation. That's not to say it wouldn't EVER be useful to know Calculus, but it says a lot when a position that arguably needs the most mathmatical prowess doesn't require the toughest math discipline to achieve success.

If your only method of error-checking your computational method for error is prayer, you're a farking awful engineer.

They teach algebra 2 at college.....So what's the problem?

stazz: Agarista: Surely fifteen states are representative of America as a whole.

This was set up to fail, and the proof is that most of the Maryland students tested were from Baltimore, not Annapolis or some rich town.

WTF?? You prejudiced against the poor? Just cuz they're poor doesn't mean they're stupid.

/ or does it?

Maybe not all poor people, but as someone who now lives in Baltimore... these poor people are pretty much on the wrong side of retarded.

Chastain86: That's not to say it wouldn't EVER be useful to know Calculus, but it says a lot when a position that arguably needs the most mathmatical prowess doesn't require the toughest math discipline to achieve success.

Calculus is hardly the toughest mathematical discipline. Look up "iterated forcing", "Galois theory", or "graph theory".

The Madd Man: these poor people are pretty much on the wrong side of retarded.

there's a right side of retarded?

Isn't Algebra II a middle school thing?

I'd say the 85% that can't hack it by college age don't even need to be thinking about college.

After all, somebody has to take care of my yard, clean my house, and serve my food.

Drizzit: there's a right side of retarded?

Yes, and stay the heck out of it

bronyaur1: This guy has already accomplished more than YOU ever will. Jealous much?

I didn't know you knew my life story. I'm not jealous, I'm laughing at his degrees and disdain for simple math. MS International Affairs? Where is that going to get you? Writing for US weekly detailing who some foreigner is cheating on?

Internatonal Schmafairs is more like it.

Take a look at your local public school system and see if they have some sort of proficiency test that a student must pass to graduate. Almost all of them do these days. If they have one, your children are not getting a real education and they have no business in college.

Americans shouldn't have to learn math because all the important and productive jobs don't require knowing algebra or trigonometry. In fact, we should get rid of all our technical jobs and switch over to a completely service based economy because services are where we can really compete in global markets.

Salacious Salad: Americans shouldn't have to learn math because all the important and productive jobs don't require knowing algebra or trigonometry. In fact, we should get rid of all our technical jobs and switch over to a completely service based economy because services are where we can really compete in global markets.

If for one minute I thought you were serious, I would find out where you live, go there and biatch slap you.

"the first results of an Algebra II test given to a small number of students in the state show less than one in five are prepared for entry-level college MATH courses."

FTFTFA

eddyatwork: Algebra was so farking useless. Why do they even bother to teach it?

You are probably trolling, but:

For one, those are the basic skills needed to understand statistics and probability.

Or: how to know when people are lying to you.

Thisbymaster: I still say we need to move over to the Japanese ways of schooling, only the top part of the class even gets to high school. Learn or die, stop all this "no child left behind" and leave them behind, far behind.



What do you think, I want to be terrible at school? You think I like it? I wish I was as smart as you, I wish it all came easy to me, but it doesn't.

You know, when I was in sixth grade, they told us when we got to junior high we'd be either track one, track two, or track three. Track one is the smart kids, track two is the normal kids, and track three is the dumb kids. And what do you think I got? How do you think it feels to be told you are dumb when you are eleven years old?

Lattices aren't Distributive: Chastain86: That's not to say it wouldn't EVER be useful to know Calculus, but it says a lot when a position that arguably needs the most mathmatical prowess doesn't require the toughest math discipline to achieve success.

Calculus is hardly the toughest mathematical discipline. Look up "iterated forcing", "Galois theory", or "graph theory".

I studied Galois Theory, Complex Analysis, Topology, Graph Theory, and the various other 400 - 600 level math courses offered by my undergraduate degree. Of those, only Complex Analysis has any useful real life applications. Graph Theory lends itself to numerous fun puzzles, but lacks any utilitarian use.

I teach high school math for a living; yet, I got much more out of my German major and English literature minor (both of which focused on medieval lit) that I did out of the 24 hours of mathematical theory beyond Real Analysis II.

BlaineIsAPain: In my experience, math in high school is nothing like math in college. I did fine in algebra, geometry, calculus, etc in high school. Took a placement test when I got into college and they placed me in precalculus, a class I already took and passed in high school. Long story short, I got my ass handed to me. Maybe it's just a left-brain/right-brain sort of thing but I am retarded when it comes to math and apparently no one ever told me in high school or they just dumbed it down enough so that everyone would pass.

/cool story bro

It was the exact opposie for me. I was a high school algebra retard but when I went back to school in my early 20s I kicked ass.