Andrew Hacker: Is Algebra Necessary? (PUUUUUUUUKE)

[dballance]

9. I think Mr. Hacker's Supposition is Completely Off-Base

Math (algebra) is everywhere in our day-to-day lives. As other posters have pointed out store clerks now can't seem to make change if the register doesn't tell them what it should be. How do you figure what that 20% tip amount for your server should be without math?

How do you convert gallons to quarts or cups to quarts or any number of one measurement to another while cooking without math? I can't count the number of time I've had to remember how to convert teaspoons to tablespoons because I could't find my tablespoon in my well-organized kitchen Yards to feet or meters? Fahrenheit to Celsius? All math some of it algebra.

How about that flower bed you're planting? How are you going to figure out how big it is so you buy the right amount of mulch or soil when you go to Home Depot. With a little geometry I'd say.

Sure, lots of people can safely stop taking math courses after completing the basic algebra and geometry courses required by high schools and of freshmen in college. They'll never use calculus or differential equations.

But I believe those basic courses are necessary. They don't just teach us math, they teach us a bare minimum level of logic and how to reason as well. If you become an attorney you certainly don't need calculus but you need to be able to use logic and reasoning.

If you are a navigator on a ship or plane I'd bet there is some pretty specific math involved in plotting courses that could not be mastered without the basics of algebra or geometry.

Lots and lots of kids fail their reading classes. We don't just decide to punt reading courses because they are causing students to miss other developmental opportunities. We work with the kids and help them learn to read. I'd guess that some of that help comes in the form of hand-holding and some of it through assigning stories, essays and books for practice reading.

As one poster pointed out the more problems he worked the easier it became. So maybe we need to look into more hand-holding and practice for math like for reading. Yes, I know the obvious flaw in that statement given the pressure on school budgets and cutting teachers. And I can't say parents should just take up the slack because so many of them are working mulitple jobs to keep their families afloat. My answer to those problems is let's stop spending more on weapons than all the rest of the world combined and spend some of that on education so we can help kids "get" math. Yep - Pollyanna moment I know.