STUDENTS UNPREPARED CHANGING ELEMENTARY MATH REQUIREMENTS DOESN'T ADD UP.

Byline: Mike Wiener Local View

It sounds good. In this age of technology, begin teaching children in elementary school the essentials of algebra and geometry and require them to pass at least two years of college-prep mathematics in order to earn a high school diploma. Get tough; raise academic standards.

Education officials love the idea; politicians support it, and parents accept it. It's happening in Los Angeles and New York City, the nation's two largest school systems. But as this ``give 'em more math'' movement takes hold in our nation's schools, it will lead to an academic nightmare.

One of the core tenets of this trend is the false assumption that every child is capable of mastering college-prep math. Talk to secondary school math teachers and they'll tell you, mostly off the record, that too many students who have not mastered elementary arithmetic (whole numbers, common fractions, decimal fractions, percents and their everyday applications) are being pushed into algebra and geometry, or integrated college-prep classes. These kids are simply not prepared.

California school officials claim that introducing every student to algebra and geometry concepts in elementary school, as now required by state education guidelines, will enable all youngsters to handle college-prep math in secondary school.

Unfortunately, a considerable number of students will still fall through the cracks. A youngster who cannot subtract 2 1/2 from 10 or who cannot make change on a $10 bill without being prompted by the cash register will be helpless in a legitimate secondary school college-prep math class.

If every student, regardless of basic arithmetic ability, is forced into algebra and geometry, look for the fail rate to skyrocket. One school official told me, under a promise of anonymity, that the algebra fail rate in his district is now approximately 50 percent. (And this does not include a large number of ``gift D's,'' minimum passing grades given to students who tried hard, couldn't master the material, but who were nevertheless promoted to the next higher level class.)

As the large number of students failing these college prep math classes in coming months and years becomes known, the inevitable blame will be put on math teachers, who will respond by issuing fewer failing grades and more and more ``gift D's.''

Another result will be a substantial watering down of algebra and geometry course content to the point where these classes, or their integrated equivalents, will bear little resemblance to the rigorous high school college-prep math classes of a generation ago.

I do believe that every youngster who wants to learn algebra and geometry should be given every chance to succeed. Help for those needing it should include, but not be limited to, after-hours tutoring and summer remedial classes.

We must, however, recognize that, even with such help, many students, who may have considerable talent in other areas, will fail to measure up in higher mathematics.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the vast majority of colleges today require two or three years of college-prep mathematics for admission, even for prospective majors such as journalism or English, where a knowledge of algebra and geometry is irrelevant.

Even if math-challenged students manage to struggle to marginally passing math grades in secondary school, their grade point average is significantly lowered. Add this to an inevitable poor performance on the math portion of the SAT and many college applicants face an obstacle similar to the way that Latin became a hurdle to college in generations past.

Two myths need to be addressed here:

--Most jobs in the future will require a math background. Nonsense. While the U.S. will certainly need many more technology-trained people, our country also will need carpenters, photographers, lawyers, social workers and hundreds of other types of college graduates and non-college workers - and none of these require advanced math skills. (I cringe when I remember a wonderful, intelligent Latino student of mine, who would have made a sensational Spanish teacher. Unfortunately, she could not pass algebra and could not get into a four-year college.)

--The study of math is imperative to help youngsters learn how to analyze, organize, reason and solve problems. While math may be useful here, the statement assumes that the math class is the only place that students can develop these skills. There are a multitude of other school activities in other classes where, if the teachers are doing their jobs, students should be learning how to think.

If the purpose of education is to give students a broad cultural background and to prepare them for the responsibilities of the adult world, two types of students should be excused from at least part of the college-prep math requirement: those who cannot master basic arithmetic and those college-bound students who plan to major in art history or some other subject totally unrelated to math or technology. Instead of the wasteful struggle with concepts they will never use, they should be able to take classes which would better meet their educational desires and needs.