In a New York Times op-ed, Andrew Hacker has brought joy to every slackoisie who has to take off his shoes and pull down his pants to count to 21. Finally, someone has bought into the argument made for generations that it’s something no one will ever need. Hacker’s highly controversial view is it’s time to rid our schools of demon algebra.
A TYPICAL American school day finds some six million high school students and two million college freshmen struggling with algebra. In both high school and college, all too many students are expected to fail. Why do we subject American students to this ordeal? I’ve found myself moving toward the strong view that we shouldn’t.
This debate matters. Making mathematics mandatory prevents us from discovering and developing young talent. In the interest of maintaining rigor, we’re actually depleting our pool of brainpower. I say this as a writer and social scientist whose work relies heavily on the use of numbers. My aim is not to spare students from a difficult subject, but to call attention to the real problems we are causing by misdirecting precious resources.
When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping for something not so tough. It’s not my place to defend the honor of algebra, or any mathematical discipline, and others have already done so. Frankly, I have no particular feelings about algebra at all.
What is disturbing, however, is that Hacker’s argument is grounded in fact that learning algebra is hard. Things that are hard make people frustrated and unhappy. When they get frustrated and unhappy, they don’t want to do it. And so, per Hacker, they drop out of school and go on to lives as rock musicians and cable installers.
Breaking news: Life is hard. The solution to dealing with hardship isn’t to tell Buffy and Jody that whenever something is hard, they can pretend it doesn’t exist and go on to subject they enjoy. The solution is to foster a culture where young people toughen up, work harder, overcome their frustration and unhappiness and get it done. Hacker doesn’t like that solution.
Remember “whole language”? It was a similar effort by educators to dumb down difficulties faced by students. Why, the theory went, should students suffer the rules of spelling, punctuation and grammar and stifle their innate brilliance? Why not look beyond archaic rules and allow students to air their genius free of constraints? Why indeed.
The reason soon became apparent. First, they produced incomprehensible words, because they couldn’t spell. The problem with incomprehensible words is that the creator might have some clue what the word was, but no one else did. Then they couldn’t sling together a sentence, so that if there was a thought buried within, no one would ever know. And finally, the truth came out: Little junior was not the reincarnation of ee cummings.
Contrary to the flighty supposition, not only did the elimination of rules free students from the constraints that enabled communication, but from anything remotely resembling thought. The rigor of applying rules to letters came hand in hand with the rigor of thinking. Whole language certainly made things easier, but the price was far greater than its advocates anticipated. Students not only failed to learn the rules of written communication, but lost the ability to think along with it. On the bright side, they were too dumb to realize how dumb they were, and were pretty darned happy about how easy it all was.
What Hacker offers is a variation on a theme. If his argument was limited to the view that algebra was simply no longer a necessary component to live a generally educated life and to participate as a member of society, maybe he would be on to something. After all, the care and feeding of horses is no longer a general necessity, and no one is worse off for the inability to groom or shoe a horse. A few, whose work requires such specialized knowledge, still know how to do it, and that’s good enough for society.
But his argument goes wrong:
Algebra is an onerous stumbling block for all kinds of students: disadvantaged and affluent, black and white. In New Mexico, 43 percent of white students fell below “proficient,” along with 39 percent in Tennessee. Even well-endowed schools have otherwise talented students who are impeded by algebra, to say nothing of calculus and trigonometry.
California’s two university systems, for instance, consider applications only from students who have taken three years of mathematics and in that way exclude many applicants who might excel in fields like art or history. Community college students face an equally prohibitive mathematics wall. A study of two-year schools found that fewer than a quarter of their entrants passed the algebra classes they were required to take.
“There are students taking these courses three, four, five times,” says Barbara Bonham of Appalachian State University. While some ultimately pass, she adds, “many drop out.”
This is the new way to avoid failure. Get rid of anything that’s hard, rub Timmy’s tummy and tell him how smart he is. Problem solved! And then comes the kicker:
It’s true that students in Finland, South Korea and Canada score better on mathematics tests. But it’s their perseverance, not their classroom algebra, that fits them for demanding jobs.
Well, we certainly wouldn’t want to teach American students to persevere. That sort of thing is for Canadians, and they can keep it, thank you very much. They may be well educated and capable of greatness, but American children will all be all smiles and have degrees from prestigious colleges that will enable them to rock the world with their ability to weave baskets. Hah, sad Canadian math freaks!
Hacker then addresses the criticism of his vision of an algebra-less world:
What of the claim that mathematics sharpens our minds and makes us more intellectually adept as individuals and a citizen body? It’s true that mathematics requires mental exertion. But there’s no evidence that being able to prove (x² + y²)² = (x² – y²)² + (2xy)² leads to more credible political opinions or social analysis.
Had he paid any attention at all to American political opinions or social analysis? We’re a nation of idiots, proving so in every quadrennial exercise. The exertion required to perform algebra involves a muscle in desperate need to exercise: the brain. The ability to engage in linear, rational thought is what allows us to solve basic algebraic equations. It’s pretty good for other stuff too, even if our occupations never require us to perform quadratic equations per se.
The underlying message here is that our nation remains dedicated to the removal of barriers to self-esteem and happiness at the cost of, well, everything else. Perhaps our drop-out rate is what it should be, and reflects the distribution of talent and intelligence across the spectrum.
More likely, however, is that it reflects the slackoisie attitude toward hard work. Sorry, kids, but better you learn to persevere, because it’s not going to get any easier later. The way to win the War on Algebra is to overcome it, not surrender.
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I agree entirely, except for the slackoisie drivel. Hacker is an emeritus professor. Maybe he’s a boomer, maybe older. Slackoisie are too busy doing several hours of homework thanks to boomer-designed education systems (if still in school) or looking for jobs that don’t exist due to boomer mismanagement of the economy (if graduated) to worry about such trivialities.
I can’t tell you how meaningful it is for me to receive your approval. Had I known you were going to read this post, I would have used smaller words.
Please, you’ve seen my blog. I don’t want or need smaller words, I want more words, sentences and paragraphs that go on and on until you abandon your attempt to read it.
Well, you’ve certainly accomplished that. Way to go, Max. Red balloon coming your way.
Sad that our educational standards continue to fall. The standard of math competence used to be measured by completion of calculus. I’ve always felt mathematically incompetent because I did not complete calculus.
You’re overlooking an obvious advantage to the proposal. Think about the children and how much money they will save by not paying tuition for that class. Jeez
From The Last Emperor.
Reginald Fleming ‘R. J.’ Johnston: Words are important.
Pu Yi, at 15: Why are words important?
Reginald Fleming ‘R.J.’ Johnston: If you cannot say what you mean, your majesty, you will never mean what you say and a gentleman should always mean what he says.
I’m reminded of that SNL skit where Will Ferrell playing George W. Bush declares, “Presidenting is hard!” … Even 43 did not want to stop teaching presidenting in schools.
For a nation obsessed with debt ceilings and budget-balancing, there is a concerted effort to basically shrug and give up when it comes to teaching anything that is even remotely difficult, such as language or mathematics. What difference does it make if people understand what’s going on, as long as they can figure out whose facile argument is more appealing (or, if they are the ones making decisions, as long as they can sell their facile argument to voters)?
Hacker, as many of the ivory-towered, street-dumb academic elite seem to do, has conflated the question of how something is taught with the value of teaching something in the first place. Could math be taught more effectively? Almost certainly. Does this fact mean that math is not valuable? Certainly not. The slackoisie and the insular, reality-challenged academic elite seem to share the belief that anything that is beyond their ken, personally uninteresting or difficult is not worthwhile; the difference between the two is that tenured professors have the luxury of job and financial security to fall back upon.
But, hey, as Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes fame astutely observed, the kids could always become cavemen. As always, think of the children of today, rather than the adults of tomorrow.
The folks that used stones and clubs survived without algebra.
The guy is a political science professor give him the benefit of doubt.
“On the bright side, they were too dumb to realize how dumb they were, and were pretty darned happy about how easy it all was.”
Yes, ignorance is indeed bliss. But it doesn’t buy you groceries, or healthcare.
“The solution is to foster a culture where young people toughen up, work harder, overcome their frustration and unhappiness and get it done.”
Yes, yes, yes. Well said Scott.
Op-Eds like this, more than anything, make me want kick people in the head.
Yes Algebra is necessary! Yes it’s hard! It takes work, and requires that a person think rationally & logically & most of all – CAREFULLY! Educated people like this PoliSci Professor, who discount the skills Algebra teaches, lets just say that I wouldn’t trust any analysis this man performs, because I don’t trust that he has the capacity to think rationally, logically, or carefully.
The way we teach math in public schools in this country is shameful, and a huge contributor to why so many kids fail at math (and why when you find a teacher who does it right, they are worth their weight in gold).
It took me many frustrating YEARS to understand math, and it wasn’t until I found myself in a technical college after leaving the Navy that I found a teacher who made it click in my head. And to learn afterward that people understand math in different ways, and that if you present it in only one way, you’ll lose 1/3 to 1/2 of your students – well, angry barely covers it.
Why should we give Hacker the benefit of the doubt? Because he has found employment that doesn’t require math? Because he is a poly sci professor? If Hacker didn’t want or warrant criticism, he shouldn’t have said something utterly stupid in the New York Times. It doesn’t take algebra to figure that out.
As for cavemen, note that, at the time, that was the best, most secure and, frankly, only job in town, one that wasn’t precluded by idiocy. Nowadays, the majority of jobs require at least some math (and algebra is not by any stretch of the imagination particularly advanced math), political science professor and New York Times columnist notwithstanding, it would appear.
I’ll save my doubt for those who deserve it, thank you.
The benefit of my doubt, that is.
Hacker made some good points in his earlier stuff on college — that it’s unnecessary for many, and a downright disservice to some. He got a lot of praise for it. So it’s not surprising that he’d make another similar argument about some other aspect of schooling.
But I am surprised that this is the one he chose. He of all people should know that the point of Algebra isn’t to teach kids how to solve quadratics, but to teach them analytical reasoning.
The fact that it’s hard is because we wait until high school to teach it. Like languages, this kind of thinking is best learned at an early age. But that’s all the more reason to teach it.
I don’t see his argument so much as giving kids a pass, but as giving one to educators. They’re not failing the kids if they don’t have to teach things that kids could fail at.
That was Hacker too? I remember the argument, and agreed with it at the time, but didn’t remember that it was the same guy.
Getting into teachers failing students opens a whole ‘nother Pandora’s box of evils. Ain’t going there on this post. But at least on the Slobotkin Self-Esteem Test, teachers can be proud of their efforts.
Gee I did not think a sarcasm alert was necessary.
I’ve seen parents camp in tents outside preferred schools for a chance to get their kid in. Not all are prepared to let fate make the choice. Why not set schools up like a hairdressing salon? The teacher is paid per child, with more money negotiated for disabled/challenged students.
The teacher pays the school to rent the room(s) and buys administrative services and other support from a ‘menu’.
The teacher keeps the difference. Failure is rewarded with poverty. Isn’t that the capitalist system?
Loosen the tin foil. It’s cutting off the circulation to your brain.
See how it feels? Huh?
That was no skit. That was the real 43.
The folks who used stones and clubs have not survived. Maybe they would still be around if they had known algebra. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps their absence is due to a lack of political science education.
The big difference between algebra and political science is that even people who don’t need algebra at work, need it to be able to plan a responsible household budget, and most especially to be able to understand the issues that come up in most elections (proposals involving taxes, spending, and often borrowing). Even in states where the people don’t vote directly on those proposals, they are usually the main reason to vote for or against particular candidates.
It’s too bad the constitution doesn’t allow testing as a condition of the vote. I’ll grant you that that power was being abused — but our country’s finances would not be in the mess they are in now if most voters were numerate.
I think it was guns germs and steel not political science.
I heard Ayn Rand sucked at Algebra. Just stunk up the room.
My son did well in Algebra I and II in 7th and 8th grades, respectively. He’s bright, and a reasonably diligent student for a young teen, but I don’t think his scholarly abilities are much outside the normal distribution. Rather, I think that his success is largely due to parents who care to emphasize the importance of school, and a willingness to try hard on his part.
On the other hand, “There are students taking these courses three, four, five times,” says Barbara Bonham of Appalachian State University. While some ultimately pass, she adds, “many drop out.”
Clearly then, there are attributes other than perseverance that some of these failing students lack. I think the modern trend of encouraging everyone to go to college results in a disservice to many kids who would have been better off getting a jump on life by learning a trade immediately after high school.
I am, it turns out, sarcasm-impaired. I rely on subtle hand gestures from friends and colleagues, Clever Hans-style, to alert me to the presence of sarcasm and to prompt me to respond with one of my pre-scripted reactions. The internet has once again proven my undoing.
Don’t feel too badly. It happens all the time around here.
If you want to improve education, outlaw teacher’s unions. What’s happening in Louisiana right now is easily in the top ten dick moves in human history.
You know in your heart that I’m right. And I’ve taken a ridiculous number of courses and I’ve taught them. I speak from some experience.
I understand your point of creating an incentive system for good teachers. It still won’t work, but it will create havoc. More importantly, this isn’t just about teachers. It’s about the culture of “fixing” problems that are difficult by eliminating anything that’s difficult. Better teachers might improve math skills, but won’t change the culture.