New math class to be added to curriculum, if approved

After about two months of deliberation, the math department has decided to submit a proposal to the school board to add a regular Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus course to the curriculum in addition to offering the current Honors course.

According to assistant principal Brian Safine, the board will decide whether to approve the class for the 2010-13 school year at its Jan. 17 meeting. The new course is officially titled Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus College Prep.

“The regular course would be directed toward students who have some success in math, but do not want to be strictly in that honors pathway,” Safine said. “We’re always interested in students finding different pathways to success, which is especially important in an area like math where student aptitude varies greatly.”

Students who previously fed into the Trig/Math 4 class from Algebra II regular were required to take a more rigorous trigonometry course in order to move into calculus.

“It was always really weird to repeat the trig,” math teacher Debra Troxell said. “We didn’t have a path for average kids to go from Algebra II regular through a regular Trig/Pre-Calc and go to calculus.”

Senior Natalie Berg, who took Trig/Math 4 in her junior year, feels that the addition of the new course will be a “much-needed change.”

“Trig/Math 4 was too easy for me, but Trig/Pre-Calc Honors would have been too hard on top of all the other honors and AP classes I took last year,” Berg said. “It would have been really nice if I could have taken a medium-level Trig course last year and signed up for Calculus AB this year. I’m so glad they’re adding a medium-level class.”

Because so many eighth graders are succeeding in Algebra I, geometry has become the entry-level math class for many freshmen, Safine said. In order to address the changes in student abilities, the math department is providing a route to calculus for the average student, not just the honors student. The change, if approved, will accommodate a greater part of the student population.
“It is an appropriate third path through mathematics, where there had primarily been two before,” Safine said.

Students who take Algebra I as freshmen would have the option to take a regular trigonometry course in their senior year and end with Pre-Calculus. About 60 percent of students take geometry as freshmen, Safine said. Of those students, only those who select the honors route are currently able to take calculus during senior year.

The proposed addition of Trig/Pre-Calc regular allows for the rest of those students to take calculus or statistics and eliminates the need to repeat trigonometry.

Safine believes that the current arrangement can sometimes be an awkward progression. A senior in a densely sophomore-populated Trig/Pre-Calc Honors class can be an unwieldy mix, when the younger kids are highly devoted to the subject.

Safine added that three distinct levels of trigonometry will enable the school to meet the needs of all students.

Senior Mishi Maniar believes that students should not have to resort to taking an important math class like Trig/Pre-Calc honors, especially when they may face other external pressures.
“Math isn’t my best subject, so I chose Trig/Math 4. I’m positive I would have taken the class if it had been offered this year,” Maniar said. “I really wanted calculus on my transcript. Taking a regular Trig/Pre-Calc course would have been ideal.”

Senior Andrea Liu also believes that the change in curriculum could be a positive one.
“It’s a good idea to add another class so that students don’t necessarily have to deal with the difficulty of an honors class,” Liu said. “Now, they don’t have to waste time and repeat trig when they’ve already taken it.”

Trig/Pre-Calc College Prep may require review of difficult Algebra II concepts prior to learning new, connected topics in the new course, according to Troxell. Concepts from Trig/Pre-Calc Honors will be simplified, but will still meet California standards and prepare students for calculus.

“There’s certainly support from the school level,” Safine said. “We’re always very encouraged to see different ideas that work to support students and their different learning styles.”