He was bored within weeks, and he wasn't alone. I could be in geometry right now. Now Santa Ana High is offering Algebra I in just one year because teachers said they wanted to challenge their students. Yet the move, at a school where most students are poor and still learning English, comes at a time when most Orange County districts are moving in the opposite direction. For the first time, the state is requiring that all students pass Algebra I to graduate, and they have put it on the high school exit exam that starts in 2004.
Officials say algebra is a gateway to college and helps students develop problem-solving skills.
But educators are divided over how best to teach algebra. Opponents say research has not shown that the two-year course works, and fear that students are losing a year they could have devoted to a higher math class needed for college. Others say students need the extra time to learn, especially now that all students, even those with low skills, must pass algebra to graduate. Schools that fail to teach what is on the exit exam risk lawsuits from students who are denied a diploma for material they were not taught. Newport-Mesa Unified offers the course in a year and a half.