You're absolutely right. I volunteer for an adult literacy program and focus on adult basic education for math and see many of the same problems that you see wi

You're absolutely right. I volunteer for an adult literacy program and focus on adult basic education for math and see many of the same problems that you see with school-age students. There are many reasons why students fall behind (many of which have nothing to do with school at all), but one of the reasons they _stay_ behind is failure of the educational system to focus on "THE BASICS" before moving on to more advanced topics. The thing about mathematics education is that there are no shortcuts. Students HAVE TO understand and master previous material before moving on to the next topic. I think it is smart the SF schools are waiting until high school to teach algebra. Most kids simply aren't ready for algebra before that time. The few that are ready can always get on an advanced track but it won't be many.