As Math Scores Lag, a New Push for the Basics

The New York Times ^ | 11/14/06 | Tamar Lewin

[siddude]

SEATTLE — For the second time in a generation, education officials are rethinking the teaching of math in American schools. The changes are being driven by students’ lagging performance on international tests and mathematicians’ warnings that more than a decade of so-called reform math — critics call it fuzzy math — has crippled students with its de-emphasizing of basic drills and memorization in favor of allowing children to find their own ways to solve problems.

[megatherium]

The New York Times ran a devastating letter on "fuzzy math" a couple of months ago:

To the Editor:

In your editorial, you lament the practice of allowing people to teach math who have not studied the subject seriously. But in most districts these are the people who are allowed to select the math curriculums for schools.

It is the “fuzzy” approach advocated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics that appeals to the math-phobic types and leads them to select “fuzzy” math curriculums.

As a result, when my sixth-grade son is in school, studying his “fuzzy” math, he is asked to contemplate why dividing the day into 24 hours was a better choice than 23 or 25. When he gets home and studies his sixth-grade Singapore Math book, he learns how to solve simple algebraic equations.

Sadly, the unwillingness of the teaching profession and N.C.T.M. to approach the teaching of math seriously and rigorously is having untold consequences, especially in urban districts, where most parents don’t know that they need to step in and teach their children real math at home.

Ellen Hoerle

Eden Prairie, Minn., Sept. 18, 2006

[megatherium]

I should have mentioned the letter appeared in the Sept. 24 issue of the Times.

[Tanniker Smith]

Whereas I don't think kids should use regular calculators in math class, particularly four-function calculators, I'm a convert to using the graphing calculators to supplement their work (not as a replacement for learning). If they are taught how to use them in high school, they'll be in good shape to use them in college when they are learning more advanced topics.

Most mistakes in algebra are arithmetic in nature. Most mistakes in calculus are arithmetic or algebraic in nature. Allow the student a graphing calculator to knock out the tedious, repetitive stuff and they can concentrate on the procedure and the new material.

How they help me as a teacher -- I can use more difficult numbers in my problems, which encourages the kids to use the procedure and think through the problem and work it out rather than guess. Students also like using them so they pay more attention and behave better so I'll bring them in.

And I would be derelict in my duties as a teacher if I didn't teach them how to use them because the NY State Regents exams allow them, and being able to use one means a higher grade. (They aren't the most obvious thing to use. In fact, they can get a bit complicated.)

TS

[Freee-dame]

bump

[cinives]

Funny how the basics never seem to mean what it did 40 years ago.

[VOA]

bump for publicity

AND FR Homeschoolers and teachers...
please post your best suggestions for K-12 math cirricula!

[luckystarmom]

I agree with you. Since my son started Algebra, I have told him that he can use a calculator to do some of the arithmetic. He needs to learn the concepts of Algebra, and not worry about the arithmetic at this point.

My daughters are in 4th grade, and they still need to learn the arithmetic. They don't need to use calculators (unless it's to check an answer).

I basically think that calculators are okay once the kids get into high school (and higher) math.

[cinives]

Yes, but they shouldn't start using them in 3rd grade ! When they hit the middle of the Algebra I year is early enough.

Heck, I'll admit it. I'm old enough that I bought my first calculator as a freshman in college for my calculus class, and it cost me a roboust $200 in the University bookstore(I still have it today, and it still works). Before that ? A slide rule or longhand.

[Vinny]

“When my oldest child, an A-plus stellar student, was in sixth grade, I realized he had no idea, no idea at all, how to do long division,” Ms. Backman said, “so I went to school and talked to the teacher, who said, ‘We don’t teach long division; it stifles their creativity.’ ”

I agree with you that rote learning and memorization are invaluable in arithmentic. I went to a Catholic school and in the 2nd Grade we had to do the same thing your father made you do.


Isn't it funny that the kid in the above quote is an A-plus stellar student but he has no idea how to do do long division.

You can't even trust their evaluations of your child, "he's an A-student but he can't read to well and cannot do basic math...but he is "creative". Ridiculous.

[luckystarmom]

I don't like Saxon math. My son used in K-2 and my daughters are using it in 4th grade. I think it is boring and tedious. It is toooo repetitive.

I actually liked the Harcourt-Brace math curriculum that my kids used in public school in 1st-5th grade. There was challenge homework for kids that were good at math, and then homework for kids that needed extra help. It was also more interesting.

[underbyte]

Front end estimation, back end estimation sideways estimation.......... I spend more time with my daughter (weeks) with stupid methods just so she can get a good grade.

Then I supplement with a basic math book out of Barns and Noble and teach her something like division in a couple of hours.

Having been through it I know what the problem is, they are over teaching by trying to introduce multiple related concepts when only one would suffice. They just muddy the waters.

Waste of time and money

[cinives]

Saxon or Singapore.

I like Saxon for kids who need more repetition at succeed at math, and Singapore for those who seem to enjoy it and seem to need less repetition.

[VOA]

thanks for the info.,
and here's another bump

[r9etb]

There are two problems with math instruction:

1. Modern math books are terrible!

2. The art of teaching math to kids has all but disappeared.

These two things feed on each other, but of the two, horrible math books are by far the biggest factor.

[r9etb]

Here's a solution. Disband government indoctrination camps entirely, give schooling back to the individual, and give the tax dollars back to the taxpayers.

Here's a suggestion: think before you type. It's a fine slogan, but a moment's thought will show you the problems inherent in your slogan.

There most certainly are problems with public schools, but that doesn't make them inherently poor. Since you're allegedly only a teenager, perhaps you're simply unaware (having not been taught?) that public schools did a pretty good job for a long time, and some of them still do.

[VOA]

Thanks for the advice!

Bump for publicity...
and other advice/experiences

[achilles2000]

Singapore, Saxon, Horizons

[vamoose]

I find it interesting that the dateline of the article is Seattle. Isn't 'fuzzy math' how Dems win elections in Washington?

[luckystarmom]

We've actually had good luck with online sites for math.

If anyone has any good websites, please post them.

Here's one that I like:

www.algebrahelp.com

[Tanniker Smith]

In 3rd grade? Definite no to graphing calculators. As for regular calculators? There should be a class set brought out once in a while for the students to get used to them.

I'd love to say that they are great for checking their answers, but how do you stop them from using them to do the work instead?