Posted on 09/18/2006 5:18:06 PM PDT by mathprof
The countries that outperform the United States in math and science education have some things in common. They set national priorities for what public school children should learn and when. They also spend a lot of energy ensuring that every school has a high-quality curriculum that is harnessed to clearly articulated national goals. This country, by contrast, has a wildly uneven system of standards and tests that varies from place to place. We are also notoriously susceptible to educational fads.
One of the most infamous fads took root in the late 1980’s, when many schools moved away from traditional mathematics instruction, which required drills and problem solving. The new system, sometimes derided as “fuzzy math,’’ allowed children to wander through problems in a random way without ever learning basic multiplication or division. As a result, mastery of high-level math and science was unlikely. The new math curriculum was a mile wide and an inch deep, as the saying goes, touching on dozens of topics each year.
Many people trace this unfortunate development to a 1989 report by an influential group, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. School districts read its recommendations as a call to reject rote learning. Last week the council reversed itself, laying out new recommendations that will focus on a few basic skills at each grade level.
Under the new (old) plan, students will once again move through the basics — addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and so on — building the skills that are meant to prepare them for algebra by seventh grade. This new approach is being seen as an attempt to emulate countries like Singapore, which ranks at the top internationally in math.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Government ruined education in this country. Calling on them to "fix" it is the very definition of insanity.
I think an appropriate quote for this thread is one by Mark Twain: "Don't let school get in the way of your education"
Asian children do so well in American schools because of Asian parents.
<< .... (Russia's) number one export is slutty tarts for American suckers. >>
Nope, that's number three.
After instructions, via the likes of Soros and Rich, for their Foggy Bottom brahmanas-comprising agents and evil-beyond-belief and leaving-slutty-tarts-for-dead gangsters.
Great writers. Very true.
Singapore math is available from Sonight and Rainbow Resources, which both have internet sites for descriptions and ordering. Both have printed catalogues also.
Uh, I don't know to whom you were responding, but it wasn't me. I don't do the Math in our homeschooling, SirKit does that. He's the PhD Statistician. ;o)
Well its more then just OUT and OUT cheating. Many teacher in China only get paid by how many students actuly pass the exam. Cheating in China is an art form. yes I have cheated on a spelling exam here and there but what goes on here is truely KUNG FU CHEATING. I have seen girls use tiny MP3 players in their ears. I have seen answers written so small on special pens that they have. Its crazy. If 100 students take an exam. there will be 1 teacher per 10 students to watch and make sure they dont cheat. I have had students ask me to find them another student who will go and take their national english exam for them. They pay top dollor for this.
...and athletes, composers, playwrights, scientists, and MATHEMATICIANS
But they do know their math.............
I was a Junior High math teacher for over 20 years. You are correct about the “dumbing down” of our curricula. In our country’s effort to remain politically correct, instead of recognizing that some students simply can’t or won’t perform up to the standards of others, it teaches to the least common denominator. If students can’t pass the test, then it can’t possibly be because they haven’t learned the material ... it must be because the test is too hard. So the difficulty of the test is lowered, so that most students can pass it.
You are absolutely correct. However let’s compare today’s students with students from the 1940’s and 1950’s. Even into the 60’s the discipline in our ElHi schools was much better. Unfortunately, since the United States didn’t and doesn’t have the Europeon/Asian option of funneling children into trade schools who are not suited to the academic channel, the solution was that students who were disruptive and uncooperative were expelled ... or eventually dropped out by the 8th grade. They then went out into the “real world” and had to get a job. Most bounced from job to job, because, as they couldn’t subject themselves to authority in school, so they couldn’t subject themselves to authority in the real world. This was unfortunate, however it was a way of filtering out those students who are now dragging down the education of those students who are trying to learn.
Since students are now not allowed to drop out before they are 17, and teachers’ hands are virtually tied when it comes to dealing with discipline problems, teachers are forced to try and “survive” a teaching career that promises frustration.
The “No Child Left Behind” policy is a lovely idea ... however it is a naive concept. Not all children are meant to go to college and dumbing down the curriculum, so that it appears that students (who are not in fact capable of doing grade level work) are passing, is not only an insult to the student, but a detriment to our society in general.
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