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 ...
BTW sticks and stones.
Lisa, I think you miss understood my post. My daughter is in HONORS and getting straight A's why would she need to do more homework if SHE GETS IT THE FIRST TIME??? When I took AGBII I was required to do 30-50 problems a night as HOMEWORK for a GRADE and I was bored after the first 5 problems but had to do all 30 and that was publx scchxl.
But I bet they wouldn't let you teach in the public schools without an education degree or certification. It is ironic, you can teach the teachers, but not the students.
Perhaps you could play with a spheroidical rubber object to ease your pain!
I actually think Carter started the Dept of Education. Reagan had an opportunity to shut it down but he blinked.
>>YOU try doing what they do for 40 grand a year.<<
I do it for a hug and a kiss.
However, there are some good teachers who are smacked down by their administrators. It's a pity.
And then again my sister is a whiny/ex-Cleveland teacher/flaming lib/with Munchausen Syndrome. They hired and paid her. At 60,000 a year until she went onto disability.
And also one must divide that 40,000 by only 9 months. You do the math, I teach it all day.
You're close, although my daughter is not of Asian descent, she's 5'5". She worked from grade school to high school to maintain a 4.0 GPA. While other kids, (probably you included) spent their summers doing whatever, she was playing basketball in tournaments around the country. Her work ethic paid off, and she did get an athletic scholarship, which was her dream.
Freshman year at Ohio State was really fun for her. As she got up at 5am, she had the pleasure of tripping over all the partiers in her dorm room who had passed out drunk the night before, to go run 5 miles. And this is the "off season".
Believe it or not, some of those that she stepped over were there on academic scholarships! But they only had to attend classes, while my daughter had so much more on her plate, as a STUDENT-ATHLETE. Grueling practices, games (getting knocked around by much bigger players, and always getting back up and playing hard), torn ligaments, bandaged ankles, endless workouts, all while maintaining her 4.0
At the end of the day, she has more than accomplished her goals, and is married now, and a dedicated MATH teacher. But let me tell you, it has not been an easy road for her. I am so proud of her, but when I have to listen to uneducated, uninformed people like you, it makes me ill.
You might want to know your subject matter before you try to speak to it.
Where did you find the Singapore math program that you used?
...............
"So don't always believe these stats."
~~
That was a great post. Best of luck to you in Trung Quoc (VN word for China).
What was interesting was a comment made by one of the board members here stating that she knew her kids would do better academically on the traditional schedule but that she was willing to allow the teachers to have what they wanted and would sacrifice her children's grades to see that the teachers got what they wanted. What kind of parent makes that kind of decision for her own children?
I'm sure little Johnny is thanking his mommie for making that decision for him as he sits in remedial classes because mommie wanted what was best for the teachers.
By the way, six years later, they are back to a full traditional schedule because SAT scores dropped like rocks for those kids on the full block schedule, just as the studies we presented to them showed.
Actually, no it's not 9 months. At least for some.
My daughter has 8 weeks off at best. The rest of the summer she is attending meetings, and working on her lessons plans for the year. Not to mention how she stayed after school today, meeting with administrators, to see how they could improve their math program. She does that many days.
As a teacher, I would think you would understand. What grade do you teach?
Their number one export is slutty tarts for American suckers.
>> My daughter has 8 weeks off at best. The rest of the summer she is attending meetings, and working on her lessons plans for the year. Not to mention how she stayed after school today, meeting with administrators, to see how they could improve their math program. She does that many days.<<
I'm sorry but I did the same as an office manager for a Psychiatrist and worked 12 months out of the year. My hubby works 10 hour days and gets two weeks off a year, if he is lucky. He is paid 50,000 for 50 weeks a year.
Teachers can moan all they like, they have it pretty plush next to a person in the business world.
>>As a teacher, I would think you would understand. What grade do you teach?<<
I teach 3rd and 5th.
"We're last in science too. We're last overall in educational quality, which isn't good. But still, you are right, we are number one in other things, so things could be worse, I suppose..."
KungFuBrad makes a great comment earlier on this thread.
Here's another observation. Standards differ country to country. What does it mean to be literate? I worked in Vietnam in the '90's. The state provided free schooling thru Grade 4 - were you literate at that age level?
After Grade 4, parents had to ante up US $15 per kid per month to continue on to Grade 5 and beyond. The per capita income at the time was $30 per person per month. Got one kid? Half of the typical monthly income was required to continue little Huy on to Grade 5; two kids? Well, just stop eating, live on the street, ... you get the idea.
Literacy rates in VN are quoted at about 98% which is about as accurate an estimate as the Dimocratz saying that they support the war in Iraq.
3rd and 5th grade? That's quite a load. I didn't know elementary teachers could teach two grades at that level.
Oh trust me, it can be done. Ask any other homeschooling mother. Tons of us teach even more grades!
I don't have a problem with people who get paid to do what I do for free while my tax dollars pay their salaries. I do have a problem with the idea that they have it tougher than anyone else.
I would have died for a flexable eight hour day in my younger years.
And trust me, I know all the "I have it so tough" statements from my own sister. Even she had to admit that 180 days a year is pretty nice.
However, I find the Americans who marry these broads to be worse...
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