Fuzzy Math: A Nationwide Epidemic

Townhall.com ^ | November 28, 2007 | Michelle Malkin

[ClearCase_guy]

Ignorance of basic math affects 7 out of 5 people.

[Jack Hammer]

Not to worry - the kids mostly don’t do their homework, anyway, since they can’t read, either!

[Travis McGee]

Math ping

[Red Badger]

...New York City remains wedded to "Everyday Math" (which became the mandated standard in 2003), ... Texas just voted ... As Texas goes, so goes the nation.

Liberal, thy name is NYC.................

[elpadre]

this all part of educational reform which was going on in the late eighties emphasizing mediocrity over excellence.

State educators involved in this reform began doing away with such things as spelling bees as there was only one winner. Competition with math teams and academic teams between schools was stopped. Outside pressure caused a reversal in some cases. Their aim, which has yet to reach fruition was to stop all competition, even sports. As far as I know that has not taken hold anywhere, YET.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

The History of Math Word Problems

Teaching Math in 1950: - (traditional math)
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1960:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1970: - (new math)
A logger exchanges a set “L” of lumber for a set “M” of money. The cardinality of set “M” is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set “M.” The set “C”, the cost of production contains 20 fewer points than set “M.” Represent the set “C” as a subset of set “M” and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set “P” of profits?

Teaching Math in 1980:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math in 1990: - (Outcome-Based education)
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? There are no wrong answers.

Teaching Math in 1996:
By laying off 40% of its loggers, a company improves its stock price from $80 to $100. How much capital gain per share does the CEO make by exercising his stock options at $80. Assume capital gains are no longer taxed, because this encourages investment.

Teaching Math in 1997:
A company outsources all of its loggers. They save on benefits and when demand for their product is down the logging work force can easily be cut back. The average logger employed by the company earned $50,000, had 3 weeks vacation, received a nice retirement plan and medical insurance. The contracted logger charges $50 an hour. Was outsourcing a good move?

Teaching Math in 1998:
A logging company exports its wood-finishing jobs to its Indonesian subsidiary and lays off the corresponding half of its US workers (the higher-paid half). It clear-cuts 95% of the forest, leaving the rest for the spotted owl, and lays off all its remaining US workers. It tells the workers that the spotted owl is responsible for the absence of fellable trees and lobbies Congress for exemption from the Endangered Species Act. Congress instead exempts the company from all federal regulation. What is the return on investment of the lobbying costs?

Teaching Math in 2000:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $120. How does Arthur Andersen determine that his profit margin is $60?

Teaching Math in 2010:
El hachero vende un camion de carga por $100. El costo de production es........

[P8riot]

My 5 yr old can do simple multiplication and is learning long division. I’d hate to think about where he’d be if he were in a public school.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

But then you start to sense something's not adding up when your kid starts second grade and comes home with the same kindergarten-level addition and subtraction problems -- for the second year in a row.

Er, that should be for the third year in a row, unless they were starting their kindergarten level math in first grade....

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

My 5 yr old can do simple multiplication and is learning long division. I’d hate to think about where he’d be if he were in a public school.

Amen to that. My wife and I have already decided that when we have kids, we're going to homeschool. We ought to be able to do a better job than a whole school full of educrats.

[Tanniker Smith]

math teacher ping for later read.
Off to math class now.

[VOA]

bump

[Dahoser]

Like the Illinois mom who found these "math" problems in the fifth-grade "Everyday Math" textbook:

A. If math were a color, it would be --, because --.
B. If it were a food, it would be --, because --.
C. If it were weather, it would be --, because --.

What is this, a Netflix commercial?

[taxcontrol]

“Everyday Math” is an abomination and the primary reason my children were failing. I have since pulled them from public school, and put them into a Saxon math program. They have returned to a reasonably proficient state (mostly B’s) and are now progressing towards mastery (regularly getting A’s in math).

But the local school district still REFUSES even under an IDP (individual development plan) to move away from this program.

[HIDEK6]

A company outsources all of its loggers. They save on benefits and when demand for their product is down the logging work force can easily be cut back. The average logger employed by the company earned $50,000, had 3 weeks vacation, received a nice retirement plan and medical insurance. The contracted logger charges $50 an hour. Was outsourcing a good move?

This is actually a pretty good word problem. Once you find out how many workers you're talking about, and what the insurance and pension costs are, you can actually come to a decision.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Not all public schools are bad. And my children exceed because my husband and I teach our children at home. Their number one responsibility in the home is to succeed academically. Our goal is to make sure our children aim for the top levels in the class, no matter what pressure there may be for them to conform and fall to the middle of the spectrum.

My children attend a public school where they have an academic “bowl”... a team of top performing students who meet up with students from other schools in the county and they face challenging puzzles. It is good for their self esteem to actually participate in a county-wide event.

My children are both accelerated readers and my son is in advanced math. He’s been selected to try out for a gifted program through Duke University.

My daughter is in the gifted program at her elementary. And she has already started multiplication in the first grade.

It is possible for parents to work with the system.

[MrB]

Another homeschooler here - I’m certainly planning on teaching the basic math (add/subtract/mult/divide) the same way that I learned it. After understanding the “why” of it, then just MEMORIZE via flash cards.

[BenLurkin]

Sickening.

[1rudeboy]

I lol’d at the headline.

[P8riot]

The funny thing about the whole thing is that he enjoys learning. He doesn't seem to look at it as being a chore. It's part of his day and it's almost a game (like helping me restore my VW bug, gardening, and target practice). He is learning academics and life skills and no one is shoving them down his throat. He is doing it because he wants to, and it is amazing what he has absorbed to date.

Technically and chronologically he is a Kindergartener, but we had him tested back in September and he was already at an advanced third grade level in reading, reading comprehension, math, and science.