[zenjenn]

I was surprised to read in the paper today that Alabama is now going to require 4 yrs of math including Trigonometry to graduate from high school.

What do you think of this?

I was quite surprised to read this. In California those who are not college-bound can take business math, accounting, etc to meet their math requirements. In my opinion, there was nothing wrong with that, and it was practical.

I hope the Alabama system has an ability-based system for math because when I went to school, Trig was Trig, and if you weren't ready for it, you took Geometry, and if you weren't ready for Geometry, you took Algebra, and if you weren't ready for Algerbra, you took Pre-Algebra. And so on. There better be some kind of watered-down Trig class offered because there is NO WAY an entire student body would pass the Trigonometry I took in school.

[cpg35223]

Looky there. Some political hack is running for re-election. You can almost see him know in his seersucker suit, thumbs proudly stuck in his suspenders, bellowing out his achievements on behalf of education. "Why, I'm making those kids learn trigonometry in school...It's important!"

Of course, if you ask that same legislator to actually define the difference between a sine and cosine, he'd probably blanch and change the subject to cutting taxes.

[chj]

I graduated in 2002 and my brother graduated in 2007 and at that time they had algebra a and b. algebra a and b was regular algebra split into two seperate classes spreadout over 2 years and counted as two seperate credits.

[Keeper]

It is a bit misleading as I read it, all freshmen will be put on the college track which includes foreign language and advanced math, however parents can request the student be placed on regular track.

They use to have to pass all 5 sections of the exam to graduate, now they only have to pass 3 as long as their grades were passing during the year. If they didn't pass all 5 previously they received a certificate of attendance, not a HS diploma. At least that is what I remember as I type this.. see full story below

State enacts new graduation rules more stringent for some students, looser for others.- al.com

[pennquaker09]

As a math teacher, I will admit that trig really isn't something that is all that useful. However, it's not hard either.

I took trig when I was in the 8th grade and then it was a part of Algebra II. I think they've changed a few things since I graduated high school. Traditionally, trig is basically in the second semester of Algebra II. If one takes an advanced or honors Algebra II course, then they might be exposed to trig in more depth, but otherwise the trig in Algebra II is baby stuff. The real stuff is taught in Precalculus.

I think if they were going to make the Advanced Diploma is the new standard then they should have created an honors diploma.

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by pennquaker09

As a math teacher, I will admit that trig really isn't something that is all that useful. However, it's not hard either.

I took trig when I was in the 8th grade and then it was a part of Algebra II. I think they've changed a few things since I graduated high school. Traditionally, trig is basically in the second semester of Algebra II. If one takes an advanced or honors Algebra II course, then they might be exposed to trig in more depth, but otherwise the trig in Algebra II is baby stuff. The real stuff is taught in Precalculus.

I think if they were going to make the Advanced Diploma is the new standard then they should have created an honors diploma.

It was the same for me - the course was called Algebra II/Trig....

[zenjenn]

I guess our trig class was "precalculus" because we didn't have a precalculus class. Trigonometry was the class preceding Calculus. Algebra II was just called Algebra II. For those who wanted to go to college it was 4 years of math: Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II, and Trigonometry - or, for those with a mind towards a science field: Geometry, Algebra II, Trigonometry, Calculus. I think you could even get away with stopping after Algebra II if you were headed for a non-competitive university.

[pennquaker09]

These days, I think all student (all capable students) should at least take Precal to graduate high school.

I think it's a shame that students are going away to college without the preparation to take Precal as freshmen.

[zenjenn]

I really think that is a bit of an elitist notion. As a college requirement, fine, I can understand that. I really do feel college has been "dumbed down" instead of being the true achievement it should be.

However, high school on its own should not be an achievement of academia. The high school diploma is merely the stamp of approval that a cognitively capable person possesses the basic level of knowledge to succeed in life, which should mean proficient literacy in the English language, proficient with any basic mathematic operation necessary in basic day-to-day life (which IMO is up through basic algebra), and a basic understanding of society, culture, and personal health.

It's college that has its standards too low for what it's supposed to be, in my opinion. Not high school. Not sure about the Alabama state system but I attended UCLA, and unless you were in a technical or scientific major, you could skate to your bachelor's degree (or master's, or phd for that matter) with 80% of your classes devoid of much substance. The sole "math requirement" I had at UCLA was filled by "Introduction to Computing" in which I took an idiotic class which taught nothing more than how to use Microsoft Word and Excel. I am NOT joking.

[pennquaker09]

Elitist or not, high school . . . well school in general needs to be more rigorous. I'm a teacher and I stand by my statement 100%.