[prpl]

I have a hard time believing above average students (with parents with parents without engineering/science degrees) could take linear algebra and multi variable calculus at university rigor along any other courses they are required to take. Sure, maybe at Paly and Gunn there’s enough to fill a 20 person class, but those are still pretty steep courses which require math majors and not math education majors.

If the students are prepared enough for those classes, what’s the point in keeping them in High School anyway?

I had a strange experience where I had a bunch of AP courses lined up my senior year and then moved to a place which did not have nearly any of them. In hindsight, I should have really pressed for direct enrollment to college instead of faffing around my senior year in “communication skills”, AP english, and “Economics” - all three required by the school district but mostly useless.

[com2kid]

> I have a hard time believing above average students (with parents with parents without engineering/science degrees) could take linear algebra

Linear algebra is not hard. I had a math teacher who taught the basics of linear algebra in my middle school math class. While she was an exceptional teacher (incredibly good, we still talk over 25 years later!), I can attest that the concepts presented no great difficulty to any of the students (with the caveat that all of us were in an advanced learning program)

Now calculus, I feel that at least some high school students I've talked to really didn't "get it", even for single variable. Then again I get the feeling that most people who take calculus don't get it, which I find sad because IMHO calculus is absolutely phenomenal. For me, it was when math started really connecting to the real world and making an impact on how I saw things in my day to day.

[staunton]

> Linear algebra is not hard

Keep in mind that this term covers a huge range of math that can be introduced at very different levels of abstraction and generality. You might think linear algebra is mainly matrix multiplication and Gaussian elimination, someone else might think it's about the representation functor in Abelian categories.

[com2kid]

We're talking about HS intro classes, so my use of Linear Algebra was at the same level as saying, well, Algebra. E.g. Non-math major uses of those terms.

Almost any subject in math can go really deep!

[staunton]

Yes. However, I read your post as suggesting (given the quote you respond to) that significant numbers of high school students can/should take university level courses of the same name as their high school courses, presumably because it's the same thing.

[testfoobar]

For many advanced kids, math is not hard. It is a tool that must be mastered to solve the next set of problems. Profound understanding comes along the way.

[lokar]

At some point the answer should be to support students just taking a class or two at a local university. This is totally reasonable.

[jakeinspace]

My senior year math course (after Calc BC in grade 11) was discrete math at the community college across the street. Felt a little embarrassing for us to take up half the classroom, sitting next to adults, and realizing that most of us high schoolers were towards the top of the class. But other than that unfortunate situation, I think it was a good system, and if anything, cheaper for the school district than finding someone to teach in-house.

[testfoobar]

This is in fact how the programs are structured at many high schools with dual-enrollment. Most top high schools in the Bay Area offer such options for Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra. What Palo Alto is doing is dropping formal support of the program - in practice that has meant bringing college professors to school sites and providing these classes without fees for students. Without formal support, students have to pay and have to commute.

[UncleEntity]

I went to community college in California and there were high school kids in some of my classes.

Not that I was taking particularly hard classes or anything so I think they were just getting a leg up on the prerequisites for later on.

[lokar]

My school only offered one language and I wanted a different one. So I went to the nearby public university.

[testfoobar]

These courses are the next step after Calculus BC. Lots of kids take them with the support of their high school. Paly & Gunn combined have something like 90 kids who take Calc BC their junior year.