That's a separate question-- how (especially earlier) math classes should grab student engagement and encourage all students to progress as much as possible.
Re: your point: I've said often that I think most math classes should be roughly equal amounts of
* Exploration/play/intuition-building
* Rote practice of problems, facts, specific problem solving or symbolic manipulation techniques.
* Rigor / careful explanation
(The exact balance may shift a bit, from younger students doing the first two a bit more and older students doing the latter a lot more).
I think if you do this better, more of the populace will happily make it past Algebra 2. But still, even so, others will still get stuck in real understanding somewhere between Algebra I and Geometry, and I think we need to decide what to do then so as to best serve those students.
Re: your point: I've said often that I think most math classes should be roughly equal amounts of
* Exploration/play/intuition-building
* Rote practice of problems, facts, specific problem solving or symbolic manipulation techniques.
* Rigor / careful explanation
(The exact balance may shift a bit, from younger students doing the first two a bit more and older students doing the latter a lot more).
I think if you do this better, more of the populace will happily make it past Algebra 2. But still, even so, others will still get stuck in real understanding somewhere between Algebra I and Geometry, and I think we need to decide what to do then so as to best serve those students.