PERSPECTIVE: PERSPECTIVE:
SECOND SIGHT: An administrator with the right priorities is taking a second look at a math textbook that has created some controversy in his district. Broward County, FL Schools Superintendent Frank Till says that he personally will review the Everyday Math program to find out why parents believe it offers sub-standard content that shortchanges students. Everyday Math was the subject of much controversy months ago when the officials in the U.S. Department of Education put it on a list of recommended texts, resulting in an uproar from amongst the scientific and research communities. Mathematicians who reviewed this text found little substance and few results, and argued that the text is a mish-mash of feel-good exercises that call upon students to "reflect" more than to do math. Locally in Florida, there is no evidence that Everyday Math has improved FCAT scores. (From CER Newswire, January 22, 2002.)
DOING THE MATH: Want to know why world-class leaders like Singapore score ahead of U.S. Students in international comparisons? Compare these 8th grade NAEP questions with 5th grade Singapore problems, and you'll see why - and read what CER proposes be done about it. (See also: NAEP MATH RESULTS: THE GAP PERSISTS:, August 2, 2001.)
OUT WITH THE NEW, IN WITH THE OLD -- "I'm a parent and I'm relieved. The National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM) has retreated on its hard-line stance that understanding concepts is more important than basic fluency in mathematical computations.... The release of the revised math standards by NCTM means that there could be less concentration in math books on pictures, word games and even multicultural exercises intended to let us know how other civilizations live and work, which of course has never been a necessary part of mathematics.... The job now falls to parents to make sure this information is relayed to decision makers in their schools and to demand that their educators impart basic, in-depth math skills before turning to more esoteric goals. So for the power to do that, I'm relieved, but I'm still keeping the pressure on." -- Jeanne Allen, CER President
BACKGROUND
and DEVELOPMENTS:GO FIGURE: The latest skirmish in the Math Wars is in South Carolina, where the state textbook adoption committee rejected the use of a program that has yielded high test score gains in virtually every school where it is employed. But because the program - Saxon math - does not use the preferred pedagogy embraced by many leaders in the education establishment, it will no longer be permitted in schools. The state review of textbooks ignored the results of the program outright, and based their recommendations on "expert" analysis. So much for local control and a quest for high achievement. From CER Newswire, April 16, 2002.
THE GREAT MATH DEBATE, CER Monthly Letter, Oct / Nov 1999: The academic community appears generally torn as to whether or not traditional mathematics teaching and reformed math are compatible. Most parents don't care, except when it comes to whether the approach actually succeeds with their children. In that case, it is vitally important that we all know the score. Herewith is a quick, brief, and unscientific (though reliable) primer on what ails the math profession, and thus, why our children can't do basic math effectively at just about every level.
MATH PROBLEMS: Why the U.S. Department of Education's recommended math programs don't add up, By David Klein (American School Board Journal, April 2000) -- an excellent summary of the case for teacher-directed, content-focused math instruction.
From Anemona
Hartocollis, The New York Times:
FUZZY ANSWERS / A SPECIAL REPORT: The New,
Flexible Math Meets Parental Rebellion, April 27,
2000
MATH TEACHERS BACK RETURN OF EDUCATION IN BASIC SKILLS, April 13,
2000
THE
NEW CONSENSUS IN MATH: SKILLS MATTER, by Bill Evers and Jim
Milgram, Education Week, May 24, 2000.
WHY JOHNNY CAN'T ADD, By
Williamson M. Evers
Hoover Institution Weekly Essay, January 17, 2000
UPDATE, CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Unified School District votes not to fix their math program in alignment with the state's new standards. CER Newswire, May 16, 2000.
THE MATH MELTDOWN, If this is math, then we're at war, by Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor, May 16, 2000.
THE BATTLE LINES:FUZZY MATH: On November 18, 1999 about 200 mathematicians and scientists, including four Nobel laureates, wrote an open letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley urging him to withdraw the federal government's endorsement of 10 mathematics programs for schoolchildren. As one of the letter's authors told the Chronicle of Higher Education: "These programs are among the worst in existence. It would be a joke except for the damaging effect it has on children.... There's a very problematic aspect of these recommendations that has to do with race.... The dumbed-down program ... hurts the students with the least resources the most."
RESIGNATION: Nine mathematicians who helped create new state guidelines for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System resigned from the state's Mathematics Curriculum Framework Revision Panel. More...
QUOTE WORTHY:
BACKPEDALING: "Eleven years after they issued what is commonly referred to as the "New-New Math" standards, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is now urging teachers to emphasize the fundamentals of computation, accuracy, and basic math fact memorization skills.... While this is good news to those of us who have been urging our districts and schools to focus on fundamentals, it is a crime that it has taken 11 years for this to occur." -- Leah Vukmir, Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools (PRESS), April 13, 2000.
From MATH WARS, Wall Street Journal Lead
Editorial, January 4, 2000:
"A Grade 5 [Everyday Math] worksheet asks students to fill in the blanks on
the questions below:
A. If math were a color, it would be_____, because____.
B. If it were a food, it would_______, because_____.
C. If it were weather, it would be_______, because, ______.
"We'll allow a pause here for primal screams." Link to full editorial.
WHOA: "California's efforts to improve math education are being undercut by the federal Education Department's funding of nontraditional math nearly to the exclusion of traditional math. If public leaders cannot agree on the importance of lessons as basic as the multiplication tables, it's fair to ask whether they are leaders at all." Multiplying Math Woes, Editorial, Los Angeles Times, November 27, 1999.MATHEMATICALLY CHALLENGED EXPERTS: "I used to be a mathematician, and if my son were still in school, I wouldn't want him taught mathematics this way... Parents should take a long, hard look at their children's math program -- especially if it has been recommended by Washington's so-called Expert Panel." By Linda Seebach, Scripps Howard News Service, Pacific Stars and Stripes, December 1, 1999.
MATH FOR ALL MEANS: "I've seen absolutely no relationship between mathematical ability and socioeconomic status,'' said Lawrence Braden, a longtime math instructor at a private school in Concord, N.H., that serves a variety of children. 'The poorest kid in the Bronx should have access to the best program because that kid could be the next Albert Einstein ... If you take this mediocrity across the U.S., no one will benefit.'' from Math Wars Heat Up in Washington, Associated Press report, November 27, 1999
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