http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/arthur_benjamin_s_formula_for_changing_math_education.html
This video was awesome and I have to say that I happen to agree. I honestly haven't really thought that much in to it because I just teach what I was taught and what I am told to teach. However, it is true that most of math education is leading up to Calculus. Students always ask when they are ever going to use this and the truth is that a lot of the math ideas they wouldn't be able to apply until they get to calculus. If they don't make it to calculus they will never see how it is used and what the point of it is.
However, if instead of calculus, stats and probability was the big idea, I think students would get more out of the math curriculum that is taught in High School. I know that Westerville North has a stats and probability class that is only offered for half a semester and is not even for a math credit. Now that I am thinking more about this, I realize that this is kind of sad! I think students would benefit so much more from learning statistical analysis than learning how to solve a quadratic equation by completing the square because they can easily see how and when it is used in the real world.
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I know when I was in high school, stats and probability was the class taken by the students who were smart enough to take pre-calculus or calculus. I, of course, was in stats and probability. However, I actually found it to be a very useful class later on! I totally agree with your review.
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