Wrong Answer

Nicholson Baker is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction. He wrote an article titled Wrong Answer: The Case Against Algebra II. The main concept of this piece was to pose the question of whether Algebra II should be a required course or an elective given to high school students. Students are not pawns in a political chess game, despite what others may think. Students are being pushed to their limits and beyond, forced to accomplish unrealistic goals, and ultimately end up failing; and the ones holding the power to release them of this unnecessary stress are sitting on top their high horses reaping the benefits. Nicholson Baker investigates this ongoing problem and talks to many individuals to gain their opinions on this subject. Baker shows both sides of the story and reveals to us his own opinions, but when one steps back to analyze all the evidence, it is abundantly clear that there is only one true answer, even though many would like to remain under the impression that it is in fact, the wrong answer. Algebra II should not be a required course for high school students, instead it should be listed as an elective because not every student needs to know Algebra II to advance into their career of choice.
I do agree with Nicholson Baker’s opinion on Algebra II. It doesn’t do anybody any good if you are putting a kid through the hardest class of his life and he doesn’t even need it for his future endeavors. Some may say that completing Algebra II will double your chance of getting into college, but that is not true if you end up failing the course.
Government officials now say that they want everyone to be “above average” in their math test scoring. So their solution is to give us new books, that don’t even have their facts straight, and new tests that are harder than the ones before to help us succeed in math. But, I have some questions for you. How is a new book and a new test going to help me understand Algebra II better? Is it going to somehow rewire my brain to think like a mathematician, because that is the only way some students will ever understand math. And, lets say that we somehow end up getting better scores. That “above average” you were telling us to get, has now become average again because we are ALL “above average”, which creates a NEW average! One last question. When will this cycle end? Michael Wiener, a former math teacher that is currently an english teacher, comments, “These people in charge, they think that just because they raise the standards, the kids are going to level themselves up. And I have news for them. A kid that can meet the standards is going to meet the standards, but a kid that can’t, won’t. It’s as simple as that.” And really, it is as simple as that. There is no other way to put it. We are who we are.
Nicholson Baker’s solution is this, “Tell them how great it is, but don’t force them to climb until their arms go numb and they fall. Then turn the rest of Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry into elective courses…” It’s so simple it might just work. Make it optional for the students who have the natural ability to solve math problems. Let them decide if they want to have a career in math or science. But, don’t force it down everyone’s throat. Those who don’t have that ability can simply opt out. Make Algebra II and elective and not required. Everyone wins, no harm done.