yea, the 'tracking' debate... it is very hard to do differentiated instruction in a skills-based class like Math. Lots easier in a content course like HIstory.

Great gobs and hordes of the population never even consider a major that would make them *take* Calculus - so who the leaders are in those classes is already a limited slice of the population.

There's an organization called The Algebra Project; they believe that getting students in the math-achievement loop is a critical key in opening up the doors to high educational expectations and a fair shake at being a full-grown, full-blown active citizen in teh community.

Oh, but I loved (NOT) when my home county decided that since people who had taken Geometry did better in college, therefore everybody needed to be signed up for Geometry. Period. It's simple, right? Guess nobody explained the difference between cause/effect and correlation to them, and that the name of a course doens't give you an education.