Posted on 03/15/2008 1:58:58 AM PDT by neverdem
American students’ math achievement is “at a mediocre level” compared with that of their peers worldwide, according to a new report by a federal panel, which recommended that schools focus on key skills that prepare students to learn algebra.
“The sharp falloff in mathematics achievement in the U.S. begins as students reach late middle school, where, for more and more students, algebra course work begins,” said the report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed two years ago by President Bush. “Students who complete Algebra II are more than twice as likely to graduate from college compared to students with less mathematical preparation.”
The report, adopted unanimously by the panel on Thursday and presented to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, said that prekindergarten-to-eighth-grade math curriculums should be streamlined and put focused attention on skills like the handling of whole numbers and fractions and certain aspects of geometry and measurement.
It offers specific goals for students in different grades. For example, it said that by the end of the third grade, students should be proficient in adding and subtracting whole numbers. Two years later, they should be proficient in multiplying and dividing them. By the end of the sixth grade, the report said, students should have mastered the multiplication and division of fractions and decimals.
The report tries to put to rest the long, heated debate over math teaching methods. Parents and teachers have fought passionately in school districts around the country over the relative merits of traditional, or teacher-directed, instruction, in which students are told how to do problems and then drilled on them, versus reform or child-centered instruction, emphasizing student exploration and conceptual understanding. It said both methods had a role.
“There is no basis in research for favoring teacher-based or student-centered instruction,” Dr..
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
My daughter and I were in JoAnn Fabrics to buy fabric for my grand daughter’s christening dress. Of course this meant calculating the amount of fabric needed for the dress, bonnet, over-skirt and underskirt. All of these fabric measurements were in fractions.
I added the fractions in my head faster than the check out girl could reach for her calculator. She was AMAZED! Yet, for many in my generation the ability to do this was expected and routine.
My grandmother, who was born in 1893, taught me math facts using the cardboard caps that toped the old glass milk bottles. My father's grandparents, who were born in the 1860’s, taught him.
We too had the same experience with Saxon Math. (See post # 37)
Did your tables include fractions?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes! My children memorized the top 20 or so most common fraction, decimal, and percentage conversions. ( please see post #37)
I recall seeing a man on TV years ago that had devised a method of dealing with math problems completely different than I/we were taught.
He devised this while in a Nazi concentration camp.
None of the ‘put down the 9, carry the one’ stuff.
He could add, subtract, multiply, divide large numbers in his head.
Anyone know what I’m talking about?
Anyone struggling with these clunky methods is going to be in the basement with his SAT scores.
When a person has instant recall of math facts, it is usually a **very** good bet that he has a very good grasp of the concepts underlying these facts as well.
Why not? I certainly do, and have done it already as a little kid. Of course, you don't do it algebraically like that. Look exactly what is written there, then you will see that it is just an algebraic way of doing this:****Or perhaps you remember that 3*7 is 21, so 6 * 7 = (3+3) * 7 = 3*7 + 3*7 = 21 + 21 = 42 etc.******OMG, do you really think people would do problems that way, and be proficient?
|
= |
|
You can do that sort of thing easily and quickly in your head, but only if you practice “helping yourself” like that when you're stuck.
I’m still laughing. I have this image in my mind, something like a Gary Larson cartoon. In the NASA control room, the scientists are sitting around, trying to figure out how to bring a shuttle in for a landing. Some of them are counting pages upon pages of dots they’ve drawn. Some of them are gathered together on the floor, counting their collective fingers and toes. Not one of them can remember what 6 X 7 equals, but they’ll figure it out eventually, and then move on to the next calculation. Unless the ice cream truck shows up first.
Then you have not read a Saxon Math book.
I have read **every** page of Saxon Math from 4/5 through Algebra II. I **testify** that Saxon Math DOES teach thinking.
Was this a government school that your grandchildren were attending? If so THAT may explain a lot. Or, if it was a private school, was the private school staffed by graduates of colleges of education? That too would explain the failure of this school.
Remember?? I think that was the point. If you do fractions, or multiples of billions, you still need to remember that 2X2 is four. That requires a memory, ie, memorization.
My homeschooled kids didn't. They also learned the 15x15.
What’s the square root of 12345678987654321 ? No paper or calculators, please.
If not, what do you do for a living?
When a person has instant recall of math facts, it is usually a **very** good bet that he has a very good grasp of the concepts underlying these facts as well.Well, I'd like to have it the other way around: Sure, I want instant recall, too. But I want you to be fast because you are good at thinking, not just good at memorizing.
Whatever. I don't think our positions are very far apart. I am not even opposed to teaching multiplication tables ;-). The only really important thing is that calculators must be banned.
I have had to use Saxon. No thinking is involved - just rote, and not enough per lesson.
Let’s put it this way: If they are not able to work out what 6*7 is in case they have forgotten it, then they’ll never be able to solve the much harder problem of bringing the shuttle in, either :-)
Sounds great in theory but doesn’t work that way in the real world.
Do you work in a technical field designing and producing products?
“In the NASA control room, the scientists are sitting around, trying to figure out how to bring a shuttle in for a landing.”
LOL.
I like that. There’s a huge difference between those who research and those who create. Most people have to produce, not just do research, and that’s why producers need to know WHY to do something and also to know HOW to get something done efficiently.
Math also involves logic. “Memorization is a necessary skill in mathematics” does not equal “memorization is the only skill necessary in mathematics.”
My kids would have been able to do this using a pencil and paper, and with some quick review I would be able to do it as well.
Also, I believe that you are throwing out a red herring, hoping that those of us who defend the memorization of math facts will chase it.
By the way, are you a government teacher? ( just wondering)
If not, what do you do for a living?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.