"Testing, testing. . . ."

The Boston Globe ran a piece recently about a controversy in the Cambridge Public Schools. The issue is not unique to Cambridge, and its resolution, I think, illustrates the hopeless situation that the convergence of racial and economic issues has gotten us into.In 1960-1, I was among the first children in the US to do Algebra I in 8th grade. The idea of giving Algebra I to exceptional students had developed, I believe, in response to Sputnik. When I went into 7th grade at North Bethesda Jr. High I was given a battery of standardized tests, and placed in an advanced 7th grade section with more demanding math classes. This practice eventually enabled me and many of my classmates to take calculus in our senior year.The Cambridge Public Schools, along with thousands of other districts around the country, had been following the same practice for decades until 2017, when they began a gradual three-year period that eliminated the distinction between "grade-level" math and "advanced math"…