Write very large. Use lots of paper. Paper is cheaper than repeating classes. It helps with things like misreading. Learn a new way of writing numbers that will reduce copy errors. I always loop my 2's and make a cross on my 7's so that they don't look like each other. If she's misreading 4 as 9 I'm guessing she's writing a closed 4 and the 9 with a straight down vertical line, in which case they look very very similar. I recommend learning to write the open 4 instead -- the one that looks like an upside down h. Hold the paper up to the computer after copying the problem down to compare them side by side. Audibly say the numbers while copying them down. Involving another sense helps. Hold the calculator right next to the paper to verify copying when entering things into the calculator. And I just noticed the thing about the boyfriend. Unless she can carry him into the tests to take them for her, he needs to cut that crap out. Doing someone's math homework for them is like practicing the piano for them.

The only accommodations I've had someone with dyscalculia receive were extra time. I've had a friend who had a student whose accommodation was use of a 4-function calculator even on tests which normally banned calculators. What sorts of copy errors is she making? Copying off the screen? Between steps?

In the UK Year 1 is 5 year olds, so year 7 would correspond to 11 year olds. It's not really high school material. If you look through the actual units, in year 8 they're doing some elementary expanding of products of binomials (unit 8) and in year 9 there's a fair amount more graphing and they get pretty well through quadratics at the end. I'd say year 9 would map fairly well to having completed algebra and a significant amount of geometry/probability as well. It doesn't cover exactly everything but it's not misaligned. I would expect them to be able to move into an algebra 2 class and to find a fair amount of geometry review, but not all of it (it doesn't look like there's much in the way of proof). I've had a quick browse through the GCSE material and I don't see anything about logarithms or functions. It looks like those aren't introduced until A level -- functions seem to be introduced in the second unit and exponents/logarithms in the 11th. These are often covered in algebra 2 although I think a student could probably transition to pre-calculus after GCSE. There is a lot more trigonometry in GCSE than you'd see in most curricula here prior to pre-calculus. Completing the A level pure mathematics units through 11, plus at least 15 (optionally 13), as well as selected parts of units from further pure mathematics, would cover pre-calculus. But calculus is integrated into the instruction, which it frequently is not in the US. Finishing off the pure mathematics units and further pure mathematics units, as well as selected units or parts of units from mechanics, would get you through calculus. So to the OP: I'm not sure switching completely is a good idea. If you do want to do it, you'll need to back-fill carefully with parts of units from the middle school material, and you'll also need to commit to it for the long haul. Because the scope and sequence is so different, switching at non-transition points would be difficult. But I *do* think that if you want more algebra review, choosing parts of units from MEP would be an excellent way to do it.

Another thing to consider is that by the time they're 18, a lot of teenagers are ready to just be done, whether or not it's a true college prep curriculum. I know he's young now, but by the time he's a senior he'll probably be able to grow a mustache if he wants. Anyway, my point is that if it's set up so that he can graduate at 18, it may turn out to be a really good thing if he strongly wants to not continue. Trying to get a 19 year old to buy into still being in high school is sometimes challenging. What I'd try to do (assuming he's still not quite on level by high school) is set up his 9th grade year so that it could easily either be 9th grade or a strong 8th. For example, english (on his level, wherever that is), algebra 1 (assuming he'll be there from where he is in math now), physical science (again, on his level, wherever that is), world geography or similar class that's a standard "core" class, but not something that's often required like US history. Again, that's just an example, many variations exist. Then when he's approaching the end, you/he can decide which grade placement would be better, based on his goals.

I sure wouldn't apply there for grad school and would recommend against it for students as well. I would expect a lot of professors to be packing up and leaving in the next couple of years and I would hate to have someone I was relying on to work with me vanish. If I were already there and working with an advisor, I would be doing my best to get them to tell me (in confidentiality) whether they were applying elsewhere so we could discuss backup plans. Being in a chaotic department is not good for the career and my responsibility is to advise my students to go somewhere that will be good for them, not to rescue someone else's program. I would not be at all surprised if faculty applications elsewhere are looked on with sympathy -- not enough to get them an interview if unqualified, but enough to rank them highly among equally qualified applicants. It also does a great job on the "why is this person applying here" which sometimes causes a qualified person to not receive an interview (there are vastly more qualified people than interview slots) because it is assumed that they aren't serious about applying and are only sending out applications for negotiating power at their current institution. I would also be very surprised if any stigma were attached to the students/former students there or most of the professors themselves. Dysfunction at the admin level is something everyone understands, and it very much appears that that is where most of the dysfunction was.

Toaster oven? I've rather desperately cut up a large frozen pizza with scissors and cooked it in a toaster oven.

FTR, that ACT score would easily place her into calculus at my school. I just wrote up something for someone elsewhere that I'll paste here: Here are some pre-algebra and algebra skills that frequently cause difficulties for students in my calculus classes. Fractions. Negative and rational (fractional) exponents. Simplifying complex rational expressions (fractions in your fractions). Expanding expressions like (x+h)2 (it's not x2 + h2 ) Graphing functions, especially piecewise-defined functions and transformations of functions. You might not have seen these yet -- they're more often taught in college algebra/precalculus. Composing functions and especially evaluating f(x+h) -- if f(x) = x3, then f(x+h) = (x+h)3 and not x3 + h Did I mention fractions? You might notice that 1, 2, and 3 all mentioned fractions.

They're spread out, kinda. http://michaelyingling.com/random/calvin_and_hobbes/search.php?phrase=bike

If the instructor or TA does an "exam review", go unless you absolutely can't for some other reason (or you're really really acing the class, I guess). If there's a review, work it first. I quit doing them because I got tired of showing up to an empty room.

Calculators that do fractions.

Agree with regentrude. My students fail precalculus and precalculus because they don't understand fractinos.

Having problems that the kid can't do is actually a GOOD thing as long as they're extra, starred. One of the hard things for students to do is to get the idea that there are genuinely hard problems that they can't do immediately. It is a really good idea to return to them occasionally and see if they make sense now, because it is a tremendous feeling of victory when you finally do get them.

I was really proud to get a 1/120 the first time I took the Putnam :P That year I think it put me in the 53rd percentile.

I don't give my final exams out. But I post a long list of "sample questions" (it is intended that students can focus more heavily on the areas where they are weaker) and I would give that out to anyone.

Fractions. My freshmen can't do fractions. Please regularly include fractions without a calculator in your algebra classes. Please.

I do not think "more problems" or easier problems will help with careless errors that are not linked to conceptual misunderstanding. Careless errors are actually most common when they're sure that they understand everything well and are therefore trying to do math with half their brain. When they are doing math, are they doing it in a quiet environment with few distractions? One thing that helps many people is doing math on gridded paper or turning lined paper sideways to line up the columns. You might also put "fixing problems" at the end of the day, during what would otherwise have been free time. As far as outside classes, there is often partial credit, so they won't be scoring 40% ... although you are actually right to continue working on this. But I think it's something like training preteens to clean up or bathe or all the other things that are just part of adulting ... it just requires continued effort and some kids struggle more than others.

I just went to a really interesting public health talk last year. He was talking about their promising approach of ... building societal connections. Building the framework for members of the community to connect to each other. To have safe places to interact in public. Apparently (and I don't have the research links) it was showing a significant improvement not only in obesity metrics but also in educational and in drug usage.

Yes. I could totally picture situations where someone might retire in good faith and be asked to come back later for a year to cover an unexpected absence of someone else. Situations like that I'd be fine with.

Especially to illegally kill an endangered animal.

Mostly math-related, although goes for most quantitative subjects. If your professor says "Please come to my office hours, I want to explain this so that you can understand it", they're serious. If you're lost in math class, closing your eyes and putting your fingers in your ears and waiting for it to go away won't work. It's just going to get worse. There's a lot of tutoring available at most schools. Use it. If you understand something in class, work some problems to see if you really understand it. Math is not a spectator sport. If you had accommodations before college or were entitled to them, at least register with the disabilities office. It's much easier to not use the extra time than to fail classes because you're stubbornly insisting on doing it without "help". I can't give them retroactively.

You know ... (and not to snark at JoJosMom, because I know that that was kinda tongue in cheek) ... one of the things that really frustrates me about this is that I am absolutely positive a certain segment of the population is going to generalize what happens at a school that is primarily about credentialing people online, and assume that this is pretty universal across all colleges.

In general, students taking certificate programs from a for-profit college are worse off financially than if they had not attended at all. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/12/study-finds-poor-economic-results-students-who-enroll-certificate-programs-profit

It's causing some serious WTF on academic forums as well. I mean, honestly, you would expect that idiot to at least type "is australia a country" into google before a snarky reply.

Yeah, this is exactly why I think politicians should have to wear the logos of their sponsors donors like NASCAR drivers do.

Kansas specifically has massively slashed their budget. In 2001 the state general fund paid 40.8% of operating expenditures, in 2017 20.4%. The percent of operating expenditures from tuition has gone from 14.9% to 28.6% in the same time frame. The expenditures themselves have doubled, while the actual funds allocated from the state have increased by 1.03% (far, far below inflation). Data is publicly available: https://www.kansasregents.org/data?start=5