Common Core for Gifted Students

When California adopted the Common Core Math standards it dropped its previous requirement that students take Algebra I by eighth grade. The move is causing a lot of controversy among parents and educators because Algebra I has always been considered the single best predictor for college graduation.

Does this shift in curriculum leave college bound students behind? Students that plan to attend a four year university are expected to complete Calculus in the 12th grade. If students do not take Algebra until 9th grade, they may find it difficult to complete Calculus in their senior year. They would need to find a way to complete Geometry, Algebra II and Trigonometry in their sophomore and junior years.

The Issue: Do Common Core State Standards prepare students for elite universitys or for two year community college?

Jason Zimba (architect of the Common Core math standards) has acknowledged that ending with the Common Core standards in math could preclude students from attending elite colleges or pursuing STEM careers.

“If you’re a young person who wants to become an engineer, or who wants admission … to an elite university, you would be advised to take mathematics beyond the college- and career-level,” he said. “If you want to take calculus your freshman year in college, you will need to take more mathematics than is in the Common Core.”

Stanford University emeritus mathematics professor James Milgram, the only academic mathematician on Common Core’s validation committee, refused to sign off on the final draft. He described the standards as having “extremely serious failings” and reflecting “very low expectations.”

“There are a number of extremely serious failings in Core Standards that make it premature for any state with serious hopes for improving the quality of the mathematical education of their children to adopt them.”

"The main critique of the math standards, however, is that they don’t include a full course of Algebra I until high school."

"Algebra in eighth grade prepares students to take more advanced classes in high school, which in turn better prepares them for college and a possible career in science, technology, engineering or math (what are known as the STEM fields)."

"In math, the new common standards delay the progression to all-important Algebra I—the gateway to higher math study—by two years."