The I, II punch of algebra proficiency | Thoughts on Public Education

The I, II punch of algebra proficiency | Thoughts on Public Education

The I, II punch of algebra proficiency

Share

Early algebra success leads to later math success

Posted on 4/18/11 • Categorized as A to G Curriculum, Assessments, Common Core standards, STEM

By Kathryn Baron

Increases in numbers of students taking rigorous STEM courses. Chart from the NCES 2009 NAEP high school transcript study

(click to enlarge)

If only Aristotle were around to argue the case for Early Algebra I, the debate might not be so….litigious. Here’s the gist of a quasi-syllogism based on results of the 2009 NAEP High School Transcript Study by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics: High school graduates who took a rigorous curriculum earned the highest scores on the 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); nearly two-thirds of students who completed a rigorous curriculum in high school tookAlgebra I in 8^th grade; therefore, students who take Algebra I