Questions about ALEKS high school math

[TheSchoolintheHills]

My ds has been loving the switch to ALEKS math (Algebra I), but now that he has "mastered 75% of content" I am wondering how we proceed.  Does he take the exam to see if he is ready to move on to Alg. II?  Do I just move him up to Alg. II? Does he stay in Alg. I until he masters 100%?  Thanks!

[EKS]

What do you mean by "take the exam"?  He should be having assessments once every 20 lessons or so.  Unless they've changed it, there is no final exam.

I would have him continue until he has mastered as close to 100% of the content as possible.  If he does this, when he takes the initial assessment for Algebra 2, it will probably place him halfway through the course (because there is a lot of overlap).

(As an aside, I used ALEKS myself to review algebra and geometry as part of my preparation to teach these subjects to my older son.  They no longer tell you this on their website, but it was actually developed for students who needed an efficient way to review before taking college math.  It is great for this in the sense that it is designed to review procedures.  What it doesn't do is help students understand how things are connected, nor does it delve deeply into the concepts.  In short, it is not designed to be used as a primary program, and I think it is unconscionable that they are marketing it as such.)

[TheSchoolintheHills]

Thank you for this. It is alot to think about.  The ALEKS products are so diverse, though; are you certain that all of them are for review only?  And since many colleges use ALEKS for their maths, wouldn't he be fine?  

[EKS]

2 hours ago, TheSchoolintheHills said:

Thank you for this. It is alot to think about.  The ALEKS products are so diverse, though; are you certain that all of them are for review only?  And since many colleges use ALEKS for their maths, wouldn't he be fine?  

I don't know if all of the products are for review only. The products I've seen definitely are.  These include most of the high school level courses. I've never seen the elementary level courses.  The only way I would change my mind about this is if the courses were completely redone from the ground up, and I don't believe that's happened.

The reason many colleges use ALEKS for their remedial math courses is because it's much cheaper to use than the alternative of hiring a qualified instructor to teach those courses properly. The last thing a remedial math student needs is the sort of instruction that ALEKS provides. That said, one thing that ALEKS does do correctly is that it forces students to practice the things they need to practice.  

[A MOM IN GEORGIA]

@EKS thank you so much for posting this.  I had been putting off researching ALEKS, partly because I had wanted to use books this term instead of computer (because my boys spend most of their free time on the computer!), but someone else was talking about how great it was, I was afraid I was "behind the times."    I really appreciate that you shared this!