Revisiting Richard Cohen and Gabriela

By now, you might have read about Richard Cohen's column that claims algebra is pointless.  PZ does a super job of ripping the argument apart, so I won't repeat what he says.  But j.d. went back to the source, and dug a little more into Gabriela's academic history.  Apparently, she skipped 62 out of 93 classes. I realize that when someone fails algebra six times no single cause can be blamed and that students can and will get discouraged. But you can't learn if you don't show up. Maybe Cohen should have included that piece of advice in his letter too.

Despite what Cohen says, algebra does matter:

After dropping out, Gabriela found a $7-an-hour job at a Subway sandwich shop in Encino. She needed little math because the cash register calculated change. But she discovered the cost of not earning a diploma.

"I don't want to be there no more," she said, her eyes watering from raw onions, shortly before she quit to enroll in a training program to become a medical assistant.

Could passing algebra have changed Gabriela's future? Most educators would say yes.

Algebra, they insist, can mean the difference between menial work and high-level careers. High school students can't get into most four-year colleges without it. And the U.S. Department of Education says success in algebra II and other higher-level math is strongly associated with college completion.

Apprenticeship programs for electricians, plumbers and refrigerator technicians require algebra, which is useful in calculating needed amounts of piping and electrical wiring.

"If you want to work in the real world, if you want to wire buildings and plumb buildings, that's when it requires algebra," said Don Davis, executive director of the Electrical Training Institute, which runs apprenticeship programs for union electricians in Los Angeles.

Unless of course, you're a dumbass journalist who doesn't actually do anything.

But enough snark. This is the real tragedy (italics mine):

After dropping out, Gabriela found a $7-an-hour job at a Subway sandwich shop in Encino. She needed little math because the cash register calculated change.

That's not a problem with algebra, that's a problem with basic arithmetic. When I was teaching, I found that usually the problem wasn't with comprehension, but the problem, instead, was rooted in inadequate background knowledge. My guess is that if someone taught Gabriela arithmetic, she could probably understand algebra.

Even a halfwit like Cohen should recognize that subtraction and addition are necessary.

(crossposted at Mike the Mad Biologist)

Comments

[gordo]

My favorite part of Cohen's article was this:

Writing is the highest form of reasoning. This is a fact. Algebra is not. The proof of this, Gabriela, is all the people in my high school who were whizzes at math but did not know a thing about history and could not write a readable English sentence.

Shorter Cohen: Writing requires no critical thinking skills whatsoever, as I will now demonstrate.

[Invigilator]

If you feel mean sometime (I've never actually done this to embarass intentionally), give the cashier an additional amount after the purchase is entered in order to make your change more handy (i.e., total 3.67, they ring up 5.00 - 3.67 = 1.33, then dig out 17 cents, and sometimes you get that old deer in headlights look). Sad, really. I recall lessons in change-making in grade school, but then I guess I now qualify for old farthood (50+). And I flunked algebra, too, but that had more to do with personal conflict than anything else.

[gordo]

Invigilator--

I do that all the time, because I don't like carrying around a lot of loose change. Sometimes I get a puzzled look, but they usually figure it out. Once in awhile, they ask me if I have a dollar so they don't have to hand me four singles.

[Alon Levy]

I usually do that only in one go, that is paying 10.10 when something costs 7.10. I don't add change after paying 10, though.

[Eric]

I have a completely different take on Cohen's column. Robert Moses, an important civil rights activist, now claims that Algebra is the next battleground in civil rights. Algebra is perhaps the most significant gatekeeper in terms of college education. Without it, one's chances of being accepted into college slim considerably. So Gabriela needs it, as do all kids. It seems more than cooincidental that minority kids are often denied this tool that would help them make it to college.

For those who are interested, check out the book Radical Equations, by Moses and Charles Cobb (Beacon Press 2001). It lays out the argument for Algebra as a civil right, a methodology for teaching it to kids who have not had the math they should have already had, and some Quine theory beyond this social scientist!

[realestateglendaleca]

Once in awhile, they ask me if I have a dollar so they don't have to hand me four singles.

[john]

Cohen could have mentioned his gratitude that there are people who understand algebra and trigonometry and calculus. His life would be drastically different if there were not.