On My Mind: “Algebra for All”—Increasing Students' Access to Algebraic Ideas, Not Just Algebra Courses

Abstract

Algebra has long been viewed as being a crucial component of American students' mathematics education. In fact, it has been called a “gatekeeper” because the successful completion of an algebra course is a prerequisite not only to further study in mathematics and other school subjects but also to many jobs and later opportunities. Because of the perceived importance of algebra, most American students, who complete high school, study algebra for two years. Nevertheless, the poor performance of twelfthgrade students on many algebra related tasks on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) suggests that enrollment in these courses does not ensure that students acquire mastery of fundamental algebraic ideas (Mullis et al. 1991). Moreover, a lack of algebraic competence among even fairly successful high school graduates is evinced by the large number of remedial mathematics courses offered by the nation's colleges.