Pursue Progress in Education With a Plan

By Bonnie Vander Vegte

The state of Minnesota is taking a significant step forward in seeking to bolster the performance in mathematics of its students, an important yardstick for today’s more competitive environment in education. On the heels of repeated studies indicating how students in the U.S. lag behind their counterparts in many countries in their mathematical prowess, school systems are trying to advance the clock, getting students on to higher levels of difficulty at an earlier stage.

This takes the form of a major curriculum change in Minnesota, where beginning in 2010, students will start taking algebra in the eighth grade, rather than in the first year of high school. This is now embedded in Minnesota Statutes, courtesy of the 2008 Legislature. This may be an altogether wise policy direction, although it is viewed by some as too aggressive a timetable and that Algebra I is beyond the readiness level of many or most eighth-graders. Others maintain, however, that the majority can meet the challenge and that higher standards will lead to greater achievement. I tend to take the latter position and view this beefing up of the mathematics as a positive development, but am troubled by the plan for implementation.

In speeding up the introduction of algebra into a child’s life, one important element was overlooked. Students have regularly received a pre-algebra program in the eighth grade, preparing them for the introduction to symbols and formulas in the ninth grade, their freshman high school year. Yet, no provision has been made for the first wave of students to get algebra in the eighth grade. There is no current plan to prepare this fall’s crop of seventh graders for algebra the following year.

This sudden speedup in the education schedule will not be able to bring the desired improvement in achievement without a proper transition. Thrusting students into this new environment without preparation will serve to dictate a less than satisfactory outcome, invalidating the results of the first year as a fair test of eighth grade algebra. It would be unfortunate, indeed, if in trying to take a major step forward, we shoot ourselves in the foot, instead.

Bonnie Vander Vegte is the president of A+ Tutoring Service, Ltd., which provides individual and school-sponsored tutoring to students in Minnesota and Illinois.