Algebr No Reasoning Without Algebra - 1311 Words

No Reasoning Without Algebra I am a math major, I love and excel at math, and I failed my first algebra test. I know of many people who hate math, who struggled with math, who could not get past algebra, no matter how hard they tried. Yet we cannot blame them—and we cannot blame algebra either. I got past that test and I passed the class, and algebra has helped me in countless ways, and it has made me a better student. It is the responsibility of schools to prepare students for the working world, to prepare them to be a thoughtful, skillful, and knowledgeable member of our society. Some people mistake a lack of technical, specific abilities as a weakness, but the focus on general knowledge like algebra allows for a breadth of tools to be opened up for students to learn in the future. Schools should teach students to reason abstractly, to acquire skills to be used in many contexts, and to learn to solve practical problems. Algebra does this. Before we even consider the benefits of algebra, and the ben efits of abstract skills, there is an elephant in the room that must be discussed: why is algebra so difficult for students? In â€Å"Is Algebra Necessary?† (2012), Andrew Hacker claims â€Å"algebra is an onerous stumbling block for all kinds of students,† saying that algebra â€Å"blocks further attainment for much of our population† due to high dropout rates coupled with low math scores on transcripts. He believes that forcing students to take algebra means that fail will be