Comment Re:Wait, what? Algebra in HIGH SCHOOL (Score 1) 490
I spent my teenage years during the 1980's - this is how the math curriculum was administered in an affluent suburb of Seattle at the time (when Jr. High was prevalent. Grades 7-9):
Jr. High:
7th Grade - Everyone took "7th Grade Math". There weren't different levels of "7th Grade Math", everyone took the same class. We spent all of the class and homework doing endless problems of long division and multiplication. It sucked.
8th Grade - Everyone took "Pre-Algebra". This was our first exposure in school to solving for X
9th Grade - Everyone took "Algebra 1". We had a math book from the 1960's that was awful.
High School:
10th Grade - Everyone took "Geometry". Fun class - I liked it.
11th Grade - Only students interested in a math-related career continued taking math at this point. It was "Algebra 2" and included Trigonometry.
12th Grade - Only students REALLY interested in math-related careers took math their last year of high school. This was called "Math Analysis" and was essentially Pre-Calc.
There actually was a Calculus class at our high school, but there were only about 5 students who could take it, and they were a very select few who had been allowed to skip the 7th Grade math experience to take the "more advanced" Pre-Algebra class. There was only 1 such kid in my 7th Grade class that got to do this.
So now fast forward to today in a rural state famous for potatoes. When my oldest son was in 5th grade, ALL the 5th graders were allowed to take a math test, that if they passed, would give them the opportunity to take "Pre Algebra" as 6th graders (rather than my sad experience of having to wait till 8th grade). My son passed and is now taking "Algebra 1" as a 7th grader. If he stays on track, he'll be in Calculus in 11th grade, and university-level Calculus in 12th grade. Although this is probably about average to lower average for Europe/Asia, it's considered a fairly rigorous schedule for the United States.
While I want to bemoan our country's struggles with math and science education, I also have to acknowledge how far things have progressed in the last 25 years. Whether or not today's students take advantage of the opportunities they have now, at least they HAVE some decent opportunities!