<story><title>An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post and an open letter</title><url>https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6146</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mherdeg</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t understand how you can remove algebra from middle-school curricula without exacerbating inequality.&lt;p&gt;Supplementary math education in our area costs about $1500-$2500&amp;#x2F;year (looking at Russian School of Math list prices). The exemplary private schools in the area I grew up charge $30k-$35k annual tuition (with financial aid available for some families). And you can DIY home instruction -- I&amp;#x27;ve been working through the Moebius Noodles play with our 4yo, and I guess you could try to see if there&amp;#x27;s a Math Circle to sign up for.&lt;p&gt;But not every household can afford the time or money to coordinate extracurricular instruction. The kids whose parents are hyper-prepared and able to spend the time and money will end up with better math background, maybe a better shot at the AHSME&amp;#x2F;AIME&amp;#x2F;USAMO, and I guess &lt;i&gt;maybe&lt;/i&gt; better career outcomes, versus their peers. Is that a fair outcome? Is it a good thing to do?&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m very willing to be wrong here … I just don&amp;#x27;t understand how this plan promotes equity.&lt;p&gt;p.s. saw this in the news and tried introducing algebra to the 4yo. We&amp;#x27;re not quite ready yet.&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Hey kid -- if I have four of something but I want to have six of them, how many do I need to add?&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;He holds up a fist, empty. &amp;quot;Four.&amp;quot; Then he starts counting out fingers. One finger: &amp;quot;Five!&amp;quot;. Two fingers: &amp;quot;Six!&amp;quot;.  He says, &amp;quot;Two!&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;That&amp;#x27;s right, kid. Sometimes we say 4+x=6, so x=2.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;He gives a sly grin. &amp;quot;But &lt;i&gt;I&lt;/i&gt; know my numbers so well that I don&amp;#x27;t need to use x!&amp;quot;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ucm_edge</author><text>Related, I also have a hunch that the UC system dropping the SAT is going to promote inequality.  I don&amp;#x27;t want to defend standardized tests as flawless, but the SAT has been around forever, you can go to basically any public library and get a prep book, one of the librarians can probably help explain it to you, most teachers are familiar with the strategies to improve score on it, resources exist on the internet, etc.   So there exists a multitude of paths toward showing proficiency on it.&lt;p&gt;Now that we&amp;#x27;re not doing standardized tests and turning admission into high school transcript plus additional material it&amp;#x27;s really going to help the kids whose parents can organize and pay for the most extra circulars.</text></comment>
<story><title>An alarming trend in K-12 math education: a guest post and an open letter</title><url>https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6146</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mherdeg</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t understand how you can remove algebra from middle-school curricula without exacerbating inequality.&lt;p&gt;Supplementary math education in our area costs about $1500-$2500&amp;#x2F;year (looking at Russian School of Math list prices). The exemplary private schools in the area I grew up charge $30k-$35k annual tuition (with financial aid available for some families). And you can DIY home instruction -- I&amp;#x27;ve been working through the Moebius Noodles play with our 4yo, and I guess you could try to see if there&amp;#x27;s a Math Circle to sign up for.&lt;p&gt;But not every household can afford the time or money to coordinate extracurricular instruction. The kids whose parents are hyper-prepared and able to spend the time and money will end up with better math background, maybe a better shot at the AHSME&amp;#x2F;AIME&amp;#x2F;USAMO, and I guess &lt;i&gt;maybe&lt;/i&gt; better career outcomes, versus their peers. Is that a fair outcome? Is it a good thing to do?&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m very willing to be wrong here … I just don&amp;#x27;t understand how this plan promotes equity.&lt;p&gt;p.s. saw this in the news and tried introducing algebra to the 4yo. We&amp;#x27;re not quite ready yet.&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Hey kid -- if I have four of something but I want to have six of them, how many do I need to add?&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;He holds up a fist, empty. &amp;quot;Four.&amp;quot; Then he starts counting out fingers. One finger: &amp;quot;Five!&amp;quot;. Two fingers: &amp;quot;Six!&amp;quot;.  He says, &amp;quot;Two!&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;That&amp;#x27;s right, kid. Sometimes we say 4+x=6, so x=2.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;He gives a sly grin. &amp;quot;But &lt;i&gt;I&lt;/i&gt; know my numbers so well that I don&amp;#x27;t need to use x!&amp;quot;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jkhdigital</author><text>This should be the foundation for all teacher training: spend most of your time sitting with small groups of kids at various ages and try to teach them concepts that are obviously beyond their current knowledge. Take copious notes. Patterns will emerge, and you’ll develop an intuition about what sticks and what doesn’t.</text></comment>