Is there room for a Fundamentals of Math Course in High School?

While my Math 10C class has some very less-than-motivated students, I have a number of students truly wanting to improve, but lack many of the core skills that are required for success in high school. If a "Fundamentals of Math" course were created, what would it look like? How long would it be? Who would it be for? Hmmmm..I guess some background first.

In 2010, Alberta Education remodeled its high school math curriculum from a pure & applied set of streams, shown below:

While the intentions where very great, post-secondary didn’t accept Math 30 Applied as Alberta Education had hoped. It became the “non-academic” class from the students’ perspective. Students felt the pressure to take Math 30 Pure to "keep doors open" and stay "academic".

Around 2008, many schools began to feel the competitive edge and from parental pressure, felt they could no longer advertise recommended grades of ~65% to properly stream students, and so student began selected courses above or below their ability. Choice became dangerous! My school, in particular, saw the brightest of 30Applied flounder in 30Pure. Our diploma averages reflected this almost instantly. The Math 30 Pure school average dropped. The percentage of standard of excellence students in Math 30 Applied dropped. 50% became enough for parents and students to validate the next level of math.

Enter 2010. Math 10C and Math 10-3 sets the foundations for most of high-school math. 

Math 10C hosts the grade’s future valedictorian as well as the student who achieved 50% in grade 9. While a similar effect can be seen in science, grade 11 sets a very different stage.

Science offers: Physics 20, Chemistry 20, Biology 20, and Science 20. Students get to choose a discipline of interest or simply take a more general Science 20 class. Below are graphs of every Student that has taken Science 10 and Chemistry 20 at my school. Notice the correlation that suggests many students improve or stay the same from grade 10 to 11. While a number fall below, at least there are "few" that fail:

Considering Math 10C to Math 20-1, though, sees many students with a dangerous drop in grade. According to the graph below, students achieving less than 70% in Math 10C are not doing well. Part of the issue is the large number of students struggling through Math 10C and then “attempting” the most challenging Math course in their K-12 formative years. See below:

Even in Grade 10, students need to understand that missed skills in grade 9 (and earlier) result gaps in learning that WILL catch up with them. Perhaps the most haunting piece of data I have:

(Pulling data from 2 different teachers)
Of all the Math 10C students who got below 65% in grade 9, exactly 5 out of 25 are currently passing Math 10C. That is a scary number.

First, I hear this in other schools, districts, provinces:

“Students are weak”. “They don’t’ practice anymore”. “They don’t want to learn”. While the majority of students are needing much more encouragement than ever before, their lack of fundamentals is causing the root of my concern. There are 3 areas of focus:

1. Number/variable operations: What is the difference between:  (x)(x)  versus “x + x” versus (x²)³ ?
2. Balancing equations:  The heart of “Solving for x” begins in grade 7 and my grade 10s still make fundamental mistakes.
3.  Mental Math: If I ask my class for two numbers that multiply to 24 and add to 11, I would get blank stares from about 30%. If I ask to add fractions without a calculator, I’m not confident that they could.

Regardless, "success" in grade 9 doesn't necessarily indicate success in high school. Motivation and implicit skills can only detail a likelihood for success. We are running out of time in math 10C, and I want to reteach these skills, but there just isn't time to reteach elementary and junior high skills.  Is it time to create “fundamentals of math” course which walks students through their grades and build the skills needed for success in high school?

The motivated students that I have who struggle in Math 10C would do better simply getting a solid base before “half-learning” Grade 10. Whether this is for Math 10-3 or Grade 9 students, give me a class of 20-25 students who were motivated to do better, “High School Math Fundamentals” would be a dream to teach. Confidence builds. Understanding grows. The appreciation for math returns.

Life would be good again.