SF no longer teaching algebra in middle schools

SF
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OK, this may be old news to many, but I didn’t know about that until now!

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-responds-to-parents-in-algebra-10415538.php

The school district’s current sequence of math courses makes Algebra 1 a ninth-grade course, even though private schools and many other public school districts offer students the option of taking algebra in middle school, putting them on a track to take calculus senior year.

Frustrated parents have accused the district of dumbing down math, leaving advanced students bored and behind their peers enrolled elsewhere. Parents petitioned the district last year, submitting more than 1,000 signatures to restore Algebra I to the middle school curriculum.

WTF is this? They should have taught that in primary schools! I need to plan my escape route out of SF now…

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I think that’s the right move. Correct sequence is algebra for 9th, geometry 10th, trig 11th, and calculus 12th. No shortcuts allowed!!!

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I took calculus at 10th grade. Don’t remember trigonometry or geometry. But that was in Hong Kong. All the other kids do the same. I am not in a gifted class or anything like that…

What do they teach in algebra 1? Something like 2X = 4 what is X? Or do they solve linear equations?

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Um… I think you got it backwards. Linear algebra is post calculus and learned in college.

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Algebra should be middle school level math. Maybe they set it for ninth grade to baby the teenagers. I remember I was bored out of my mind in that class.

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Time to move to cupertino.
They allow 9th graders to take calc bc without asking any question.

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:cry: Looks like I need to at least move to Millbrae or Burlingame…

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Asking a 9th grader to study calculus is like asking a 14 year old to get pregnant. It’s possible, but premature.

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8th algebra
9th geometry
10th algebra II
11th stats and trig
12th calculus

This is what happens with no child left behind. They have to dedicate more resources to kids that struggle. The gifted kids get stuck taking normal classes.

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You know I am the biggest Fab 7x7 cheerleader there is, and I don’t know why the heck you moved up here (yes, chinese immersion school if I recall correctly). But I understand your SO likes it here too, so I guess you like it here too…

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That’s fine… just need to course correct. Millbrae, here I come!!

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AP Calculus BC curriculum doesn’t include epsilon-delta definition of limit.
Calculus without epsilon-delta is really high school level math.

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That’s fine let’s leave all the omicron-kappa and sigma-omega definitions of limit to the college students…

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How is this immersion program different from regular Chinese school? Is it like a science class taught in Chinese?

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I doubt the teachers’ language competence level is that high. Also, why would kids even need to learn scientific terms in Chinese? ==> overkill.

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One of my friends took eight years of Chinese school. She can write her name in Chinese, but that’s about it. It’s like people in Asia trying to learn English, doesn’t really work. At the end of the day it comes down to whether the kid has the desire to learn the language or not.

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I think these immersion schools have kids start learning the language at a very young age. Like 6 years old. It does make a difference.

Asians fail to learn English because they don’t start learning until high school. Too little too late.

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Really? I thought most Asian countries start teaching English lessons in elementary school at the very least (maybe except Japan)…

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Although my kid is not in chinese immersion program, her school has one. Until 5th grade, they teach both chinese and english 50:50. In middle school, they have special chinese class and social study in chinese. Rest of classes are just regular english classes.
Whenever i visit clip room on open house day, i am always very impressed by how good their english writing is. Average standard test score for clip kids is slightly higher than neighborhood kids although the test doesn’t include any chinese.
Chinese moms are certainly outperforming. :slight_smile:

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Don’t think so. Even if they did, English teachers in Asia are so incompetent that it would not have made any difference…