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I have only skimmed the responses here and I did not read the article. (I will when I have more time, though!) And, my response is from the aspect of a high school special education teacher in a southern state, so keep that in mind.
In my state, it is now required that every student in the regular course of study (be they SPED or not) must pass Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, an Advanced Math, and Physical Science before they can graduate from high school. (Just two years ago, most of those courses were only required of the college/university bound students.) Of course, in two years, you don't have hard data, but I know this is going to affect the State's graduation rates.
I teach SPED Algebra--so I teach students with disabilities in a small class. These students have every classification from mental retardation, ADHD, Austism, to learning disabled and I can usually get any student who works through Algebra I. A good majority of my students have average IQs but huge discrepancies in achievement (ie-Little Johnny has a 93 IQ but in math he is achieving at the level of someone with a 53 IQ). Does it take a little extra effort, as a teacher, to get them through Algebra? Sure, but it can be done. Will most of these kids go on to be successful in Algebra II and above? Most of them aren't.
I am concerned that, with these new requirements, many students will drop out after having repeated a course 3 or 4 times. But, with job specific training, many of these students can and will go on to, at least, hold a full time job.
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