Mindless Math Mutterings

Become a teacher. Your country needs you.

2011-01-26T09:20:00.004-05:00

President Obama made a noble call to our young people in yesterday’s State of the Union Address:

In fact, to every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child – become a teacher. Your country needs you.

Before we call in the droves of young, eager men and women ready to take on the classroom, we must consider whether teacher preparation programs are up to the task at hand. As it stands, the answer is an overwhelming NO. When our President called upon students to become teachers for the sake of our nation, by implication he called upon our teacher preparation programs as well. The problem is that our teacher preparation program are not up to the task of meeting the demands of"high expectations and high performance" and that must change.

Our country needs new teachers who will rise to the challenge of setting high standards for learning and making sure that their students achieve them. But we need to do more than just encourage our young people to become teachers; we need to improve the schools of education that prepare these teachers to educate our children. As it stands, they are mostly profit centers for universities that espouse unproven theories at the expense of content-knowledge-- in this scenario our children lose. Instead, our nation's teacher preparation programs must be transformed into the content-rich, demanding centers of excellence our future demands.

We need schools of education that teach proven teaching strategies and effective methods instead of useless theories that have been failing our children for decades. We need to demand more of applicants to our schools of education: more skills, deeper content knowledge, and higher aptitude (yes, I'm talking higher SAT scores) if we expect better results than what we've been getting. We need to be honest about what isn’t working in our classrooms and open to considering ideas that really do work. We need to prepare professionals who seek to grow and rise to the challenge as the bar gets moved higher and higher for the benefit of our children.

Back in October 2006, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan said:

By almost any standard, many if not most of the nation’s 1,450 schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom. America’s university-based teacher preparation programs need revolutionary change--not evolutionary tinkering.

Clearly, we need to do more than just reform our schools. The reforms required go much deeper than that. We need to do much more than just train an army of eager, new teachers. We need schools of education prepared to educate them to be effective and efficient educators. We need to restore teaching to a place of honor in our society-- a profession with all the rights and responsibilities that this career choice should entail.

I couldn’t agree more with what Arne Duncan said at Columbia Teacher’s College over two years ago:

“[T]he bar must be raised for successful teacher preparation programs.”

Yes. The bar must be raised and it must be raised now. It's all well and good to encourage our youth to consider a career in education, but we must be prepared to give them they tools they need to become the "nation builders" our children need them to be. Our country needs teachers who want to make a difference in the life of a child, but that's just not enough. We need teacher preparation programs that properly prepare our educators to meet the challenge of giving "every child a chance to succeed".

2009-06-14T15:29:00.002-05:00

Concern About Proposed Algebra Curriculum

2009-04-29T20:11:00.007-05:00

CT Academy for Education says “NO” to guidelines established by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel and ACHIEVE’s American Diploma Project despite call to benchmark standards

The CT Coalition4 World Class Math expressed shock and disappointment at the Model Algebra I curriculum being developed under a quarter of a million dollar grant from the Connecticut Department of Education. The new Algebra course is the first step in Commissioner Mark McQuillan's ambitious high school reform effort to raise achievement across Connecticut schools.

The model curriculum, even at this draft stage of design, has already provoked serious concerns about its suitability for Connecticut students. Critics complain that the model Algebra course would leave out important topics that most mathematicians agree are essential to preparing students for college and career.

“Connecticut has not had a successful program in mathematics for at least the last 10 years,” said Stanford University’s James Milgram, Professor Emeritus Algebraic Topology. “There is now overwhelming evidence that these mathematics curricula do not work.” Milgram predicts Connecticut will “continue its decline in math outcomes relative to the U.S. and even more dramatically, relative to the rest of the world.”

· A staggering 40% of incoming college freshman at Connecticut colleges and universities need remedial math courses

· Only 5% of college students take higher level mathematic classes necessary in fields such as engineering and finance

· The high remediation rate comes with a steep price as well. It is estimated the state would save $12.5 million annually and students would earn an additional $16.4 million if the remediation rate were lowered

Algebra is considered a gateway course for students, as data by the College Board found a close correlation between completion of Algebra in high school and the ability of students to earn a degree. Nevertheless, students are arriving to our colleges and universities unprepared and in need of remediation. The Accuplacer Exam, developed by the College Board to determine placement in college level courses including mathematics, covers topics that are in keeping with the recommendations of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel and those of ACHIEVE’s American Diploma Project.

The state of Connecticut is a network member of ACHIEVE, an organization created in 1996 by the nation’s governors and corporate leaders, whose goal is to improve the rigor and clarity of the process of standard-setting and testing. The CT Coalition4 World Class Math is disquieted by the drafters’ (CT Academy for Education) dismissal of ACHIEVE and the American Diploma Project.

Achievement in the state as measured by critical indicators (CAPT, CMT, NAEP) is stagnant or declining. “There is clearly something wrong,” says Sandra Stotsky, Professor of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. “Large percentages of students report taking advanced mathematics courses, such as Algebra II, trigonometry, and pre-calculus. But scores are flat. What is being taught in these courses? Are they being watered down?” questions Stotsky.

Commissioner McQuillan sought to address the poor performance of many Connecticut students in his high school reform proposal known as The Connecticut Plan. “I fear that the disastrous model Algebra course could doom the Commissioner’s entire high school reform effort,” said spokesperson Laura Troidle. “Connecticut citizens are counting on the Department of Education to get this first step right. It will serve as a model for future courses and this could endanger the Commissioner’s desperately needed high school reform effort.”

For more information visit http://www.ctcoalitionforworldclassmath.com/
or email ctmath@sbcglobal.net

Bad at math? Blame your parents. (Yeah, right.)

2009-04-05T21:39:00.025-05:00

Bullpucky.

Balderdash.

Baloney.

Bad at Math? Blame It on Your Parents
And if your kids aren't good at math, blame yourself

This hogwash is brought to you courtesy of NBC - Connecticut.

I have no doubt that what the UCLA researchers found as to faster nerve impulses resulting in faster signaling and therefore, faster processing of information is true. Clearly, some people learn things at a faster rate than others. We all have our cognitive limits.

Nevertheless, these limits can be challenged. Intelligence is malleable. (See Daniel Willingham, Why Don't Students Like School? )

We already have a problem in our country with accepting this view as part of our culture, we don't need people going around making excuses for their lack of math ability. Our children, in particular, need us to be convincing them of quite the opposite.

"In China, Japan, and other Eastern countries, intelligence is more often viewed as malleable. If students fail a test or don't understand a concept, it's not they're stupid-- they just haven't worked hard enough yet. This atrribution is helpful to students because it tells them that intelligence is under their control. If they are performing poorly, they can do something about it." -Willingham, p. 131

Math ability is the result of deliberate practice, the kind of practice that makes perfect. Doing well in math requires effort and sometimes it's not particurlarly fun. As Willingham so clearly points out, sometimes we do our best to avoid thinking altogether. That's precisely why effort matters. "When children believe that their efforts to learn make them smarter, they show greater persistence with math." (National Mathematics Advisory Panel) This is the message that we need to communicate to our children (and to ourselves as parents).

So am I saying the researchers at UCLA got it all wrong? Not at all. Science supports what they've discovered about genetics influencing intelligence. However, we must temper this view with caution. "Our genetic inheritance does impact our intelligence, but it seems to do so mostly through the environment. There is no doubt that intelligence can be changed," states Daniel Willingham. Clearly, a child born to parents who are good at math or who communicate a passion for math, and who encourage this trait in their own children are going to alter the outcome.

The environment isn't limited to home and to parenting either. This news story is irresponsible because it's letting educators off the hook and blaming parents and children for a lack of math ability! Clearly, well qualified teachers of mathematics armed with a coherent and cumulative curricula can increase mathematics ability in children. They do so in Singapore and Finland and many, many other countries that outperform us on internationally benchmarked assessments. Our children are no less capable. Our children are underperforming.

I'll close with what's now become my favorite math quote:

"The universe is a far more beautiful and elegant place than any of us can imagine. We must be ready and able to both construct and use mathematics to help explain ever more subtle aspects of it, and the phrase `I will never use it' should be deleted from our students' vocabularies."

James Milgram, Professor Emeritus
Stanford University

I would only add that the phrase "I'm bad at math" should be deleted from our students' vocabularies as well.

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If you'd like to know how you can get involved with improving Connecticut's math standards, visit http://www.ctcoalitionforworldclassmath.com/
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Bad at Math? Blame It on Your Parents And if your kids aren't good at math, blame yourself - NBC CT
Study gives more proof that intelligence is largely inherited- UCLA Newsroom

He's Back

2009-03-24T19:19:00.006-05:00

I was doing some research on Connecticut math standards when I happened across the Connecticut Academy for Education and a reference to the Algebra I Curriculum Project. Channeling the eternal optimist, I wanted to believe that perhaps there was hope and that CT might finally be on the path to joining the ranks of those states with world-class algebra standards.*

One click led to another and I ended up learning that in December 2008, the CT DOE opened up the bidding process for a curriculum grant for the Connecticut Algebra I Model. They don’t appear to have had an overwhelming response given that of 25 available spaces at the bidder’s conference, only 4 were taken. Four. Not yet ready to abandon all hope, I trudged on to the winning proposal submitted by the Connecticut Academy for Education folks.

I was stopped dead in my tracks when I hit page 8, regarding personnel:

“The Steering Committee includes a diverse group of individuals, respected within the state, nationally, and internationally, who will provide vision and guidance for the work. The committee members are Steve Leinwand…”

Leinwand.

This would be the same Steven Leinwand who in February 1994 said, It’s Time to Abandon Computational Algorithms.

"It's time to recognize that, for many students, real mathematical power, on the one hand, and facility with multidigit, pencil-and-paper computational algorithms, on the other, are mutually exclusive. In fact, it's time to acknowledge that continuing to teach these skills to our students is not only unnecessary, but counterproductive and downright dangerous."

The same Steven Leinwand who in September 1998 sealed our doom with CT Math PIRK. The very man who can take all much of the credit for our failing math standards -- earning an “F” as well as a place on the list of “states to shun”. His hand in our state standards is glaringly obvious and the result of his handiwork makes it no surprise that 40% of incoming freshman at Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut state universities are ending up in remedial math. (Courant)

The same Steven Leinwand who made decisions on which math programs recommended by the Department of Education to the tune of billions of edu-dollars, would be rated “exemplary” or “promising” despite having “personal connections with ‘exemplary’ curricula.” (Math Problems) The very programs which have prompted districts such as my own to sink boatloads of taxpayer money into well-hyped and expertly marketed snake-oil.

Yes. He’s back.

He’s crept back into the Connecticut math standards game and that’s a very, very bad thing.

In fact, I'd say it's "counterproductive and downright dangerous".

*Not surprisingly, Connecticut is NOT on the list of states with standards for Algebra I and II courses. (National Mathematics Advisory Panel Final Report: Report of the Task Group on Conceptual Knowledge and Skills- Figure 2)

Mind the Gaps

2009-03-23T20:06:00.001-05:00

Is your child a word guesser?

2008-12-17T11:56:00.004-05:00

Many of us know that poor reading instruction is often disguised as “balanced literacy” (revisit When Phonics Isn't). Schools like to sell it to parents this way because it sounds safe and well, it's balanced. How bad can it be? Throw in a little phonics and it's all good, right? The balance thing appeals to that nagging danger-of-extremes fear. On some level, balanced literacy sounds reasonable.

When parent-teacher conferences are limited to fifteen minutes a couple of times a year and the school is not open to allowing you watch the teacher teach or bring home the reading materials for careful review, how do you recognize the signs of poor reading instruction? How can you tell whether your child is being or has been taught to read the whole-word way?

Jessie Wise of The Well Trained Mind recommends observing how children read (and not just what they sound like).

Children who read by the whole-word method often did not learn to move their eyes from left to right through words and sentences. If you notice that your child’s eyes are wandering all over the page when he is reading, he is searching for clues to guess words.

So, your child's a word guesser. What can you do about it?

The only cure for word guessing is to go back to phonics.

How do you break the guessing habit?

If your child persists in this habit, you may have to sit across from him at a small table where you can see his eyes. This will allow you to move your pencil or finger above the line of print, so you will not get in the way of the child’s vision. You may also want to cut a window out of heavy paper that will reveal only one line at a time. Then, have the child run his finger under each word from left to right, sounding out each word as he comes to it. If a common word is too irregular to be easily sounded out, (such as come or said) tell him that word so that the sentence makes sense.

When the child gets to the end of a line, watch his eyes and make sure they move quickly back to the left, looking for the beginning of the next line rather than searching for “words I know.” Some children may even move their eyes down to the end of the next line. Both of these are common errors used by children who have been taught whole-language techniques. Have the child read out loud to you as long as necessary to make sure he gets into the habit of moving from one line to another.

These recommendations are from Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington’s book, The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading in which they argue that “It is a tragedy that many school-based reading programs actually encourage guessing as a learning-to-read strategy.” Look closely because there’s a good possibility that your child’s school uses a program that does precisely that.

The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading
Jessie Wise and Sarah Buffington

Cross posted at Kitchen Table Math

Take the Quiz

2008-10-26T19:41:00.000-05:00

random thought

2008-09-12T11:53:00.011-05:00

It just occurred to me that most public schools today send out very mixed messages. At least in our district they do. The more I think about it, the more confused I get.

at school:

-You memorize sight words.

-You memorize a list of spelling of words each week.

-You DON'T need to memorize your math facts. That is rote memorization and rote memorization is a very bad thing.

On what planet does that make sense? It's completely backward and the opposite of what grows strong readers, able spellers, and competent mathematicians.

In sharp contrast:

+My youngest DOESN'T memorize sight words. She's learning to read phonetically (no guessing!).

+None of my children is memorizing spelling words because they're learning the rules of spelling instead. (We do Spelling Mastery)

+All of my children have been/will be expected to learn their math facts to mastery. Memorizing those math facts develops the automaticity that will serve them well.

I guess what bothers me most is the double standard. Either educators should be against any kind of memorization work or they shouldn't be entitled to say memorizing stuff is bad or useless. You just can't have it both ways. You just can't.

*end of rant*

post script: Now that I am having the benefit of calm quietness, I realize I was unfair to many of the teachers in my district who see right through this craziness. To all those teachers who run daily math drills, have the children do "holey cards" and such to build that mastery despite whatever Everyday Math tells them is best for the children, I must say "Thank You!"

now here's the good stuff

2008-09-07T21:04:00.001-05:00

old news making the news

2008-09-07T21:01:00.000-05:00

turning lead into gold

2008-03-15T21:28:00.011-05:00

Well, at least the Wright Group/McGraw Hill, publisher of Everyday Math, is attempting to clean up the mess they've created. On the same day the National Math Advisory Panel was busy making their report available to the public, Wright Group was introducing Pinpoint Math.

CHICAGO, March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Wright Group/McGraw-Hill (News) has published a new math intervention curriculum, Pinpoint Math. The supplemental program, with both online and print components, was designed for students in Grades 1-7 who are one to two grade levels behind in mathematics.Pinpoint Math can be used successfully with any basal mathematics program. It incorporates the three essential elements necessary for improvement of mathematics performance among struggling students:

-- Diagnostic Assessment: Identify areas of weakness for individual students.

-- Targeted Instruction: Provides content in an individual Student Action Plan that meets the needs of the student with both print and animated tutorials.

-- Progress Monitoring: For ongoing assessment of students' advancement on individual topics in both formal and informal formats.

Districts who buy the supplemental program better be ready to fork up some serious cash. Not very good news for cash strapped districts in just about every neighborhood.

On the bright side of things, piggybacking on Everyday Math sales is definitely good news for the Wright Group. After all, they have managed to worm their way into 175,000 classrooms and still counting. That's a whole lot of potential sales generated by a whole lot of students who will require a whole lot of remediation.

Conveniently, Pinpoint Math "can be used successfully with any basal mathematics program." That way, schools can help those struggling students "who are one to two grade levels behind in mathematics."

This is edu-business at its finest. First, you sell schools a math curriculum that results in a significant population of struggling students who end up one to two grade levels behind, and then you sell them a scaffolding tool to remediate the problem you created in the first place. Remember, it's all about the children.

Nice job Wright Group/McGraw-Hill. Way to keep the stockholders happy.

Cross posted at Kitchen Table Math: the sequel

Landing in the garbage with a thud...

2008-03-15T19:27:00.011-05:00

This week, after two years of deliberation, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel released their report aimed at improving math education in this country. And you could almost hear the sound of textbooks--that heavy one in your kid's backpack, and a stack of high-stakes math tests, the kind your kid take every year--landing in the garbage can with a thud.

Wow. That's a little harsh. I think that all those Everyday Math books and pitiful standardized tests that mirror them still have some value. They should at the very least be recycled into usable paper products. That way, trees would not have died in vain and all that garbage won't take up space in our nation's landfills.

*reduce * reuse * recycle

Calculating a New Approach
A report on math education fuels the debate about the Singapore model. What is it--and would it work here?

Peg Tyre Newsweek Web Exclusive
Mar 14, 2008 Updated: 4:33 p.m. ET Mar 14, 2008

Reading between the lines...

2008-03-15T08:51:00.007-05:00

Any approach that continually revisits topics year after year without closure is to be avoided.

really means...

Everyday Math is to be avoided.

Happy Pi Day

2008-03-14T13:59:00.003-05:00

It's FINAL - National Math Panel Report

2008-03-13T10:13:00.002-05:00

National Mathematics Advisory Panel Releases Final Report

On March 13, 2008, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel presented its Final Report to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education. Copies of these ground-breaking reports, rich with information for parents, teachers, policy makers, the research community, and others, are provided below.

Foundations for Success: Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel

Final Report PDF (851 KB) Word (1 MB)

National Math Panel works hard

2008-03-13T08:31:00.029-05:00

I sure hope all those Everyday Mathematics books are recyclable because they won't do well on the re-sale market and no developing country is going to want them either.

The National Math Advisory Panel has issued the report they've been working on since 2006 having reviewed over 16,000 research studies in the process. Considering the findings of the panel, I would be worried if I were the Wright Group because if the report is any indication, Everyday Math's approach to teaching math to over 2.8 million students, is anything but right.

Math courses must be streamlined, focusing on "a well-defined set of the most critical topics".

Anyone familiar with Everyday Math knows that this curriculum is anything but. The approach would be best described as a "Jack of all trade, master of none" kind of thing. Students move through mountains of concepts at break-neck speed never slowing down to appreciate the scenery.

Michigan State University professor William Schmidt adds, "In the U.S., we're trying to teach first-graders 20-some topics." There is no call for mastery, because according to Everyday Math's take on the "spiral", the topics will be revisited again and again and again.

Despite the findings of the panel, the folks at Everyday Mathematics would have you believe the following:

Because very few people learn a new concept or skill the first time they experience it, the curriculum is structured to provide multiple exposures to topics, and frequent opportunities to review and practice skills. A concept or skill that is informally introduced in kindergarten, for example, will be revisited, developed and extended numerous times, and in a variety of contexts, throughout the year and into later grades. - About Everyday Mathematics

So, what happens to these children subjected to the Everyday Mathematics "spiral"? Dr. Larry Faulkner, president emeritus of UT Austin said, "There is a problem of kids not feeling like they're getting anywhere, that third-grade math is the same as fourth-grade math." I would add that it's more than just a feeling. They really aren't getting anywhere.

Any approach that continually revisits topics year after year without closure is to be avoided.

Everyday Mathematics does precisely that. In fact, they consider the it one of the program's most salient features. So, if you're the Wright Group and you've been pushing your "spiral" as the basis for your program, just how would you spin it?

In answer to the question of whether math should be all fun and games in order to be engaging and therefore effective (another feature promoted by the Everyday Math folks), the answer, as far as I can tell, is no. Foundational fluency leads to conceptual understanding-- you cannot have one without the other. Automatic recall of math facts is essential to that understanding. Even if you choose "games" to get there, fact mastery is serious business.

Faulkner said that the panel “buys the notion from cognitive science that kids have to know the facts.”

“In the language of cognitive science, working memory needs to be predominately dedicated to new material in order to have a learning progression, and previously addressed material needs to be in long-term memory,” he said.

The panel also determined that "Americans should look at prowess in math less as a talent than as the result of sheer hard work." Furthermore, "Effort counts. Students who believe that working hard will make them smarter in math actually do achieve better."

“Experimental studies have demonstrated that changing children’s beliefs from a focus on ability to a focus on effort increases their engagement in mathematics learning, which in turn improves mathematics outcomes,” the report says.

“When children believe that their efforts to learn make them ‘smarter,’ they show greater persistence in mathematics learning.”

Clearly, Barbie had it all wrong.

As my daughter says, "Math isn't hard, it's just hard work."

Indeed.

A solution to how to teach math: Subtract
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
March 13, 2008

Panel Proposes Streamlining Math
By TAMAR LEWIN, New York Times
Published: March 13, 2008

Panel Finds Faults in America's Math System
By Maria Glod Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 13, 2008

National Math Panel Releases Final Report

You're invited to a Pi Party

2008-03-12T10:02:00.021-05:00

Woo Hoo! Pi day is almost here. How will you celebrate?

Math lovers, teachers and families around the world are gearing up to celebrate Pi Day on March 14, or more precisely to the pi second, 3/14 (the American date format) at 1:59:26 p.m.

Pi or π, approximately equal to 3.1415926, is one of the most important mathematical constants. "If there was just one day that screams math party, March 14 would have to be it," says Susan Jarema, founder of Googol.

So, what do you serve guests at a π party? Why, pi-neapple, pi-zza, and pi-e, of course!

Need music? How about downloading the Pi Rap mp3, Lose Yourself (in the Digits) over at teachpi.org.

From the official Pi Day website:

With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal. Pi is an irrational number meaning it will continue infinitely without repeating. The symbol for pi was first used in 1737 by William Jones, but was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737.

Learn more about Pi here.

Hmmm....I wonder if Hallmark makes a Pi Day *greeting card?

*Who needs Hallmark? You can send a free eCard here.

Singapore Math: the quiet revolution

2008-03-09T10:52:00.013-05:00

Over at Kitchen Table Math, I cross-posted about an article in today's Los Angeles Times: At L.A. school, Singapore math has added value. If the 31 percentage point increase in one year at Ramona Elementary in Hollywood is not a clear indication of the power of Singapore Math, I really don't know what is.

It truly is a must read even if, like me, you're already convinced of the many virtues of those thin, unassuming Singapore Math books.

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed by President Bush, will issue a report Thursday that is expected to endorse K-8 math reforms that, in many ways, mirror the Singapore curriculum.

The report could also signal a cease-fire in the state's math wars, which raged between traditionalists and reformers throughout the 1990s and shook up math teachers nationwide. Fundamentalists called for a return to basics; reformers demanded a curriculum that would emphasize conceptual understanding.

Mathematicians on both sides of the divide say the Singapore curriculum teaches both. By hammering on the basics, it instills a deep understanding of key concepts, they say.

While the panel isn't explicitly endorsing Singapore Math, if you place existing math curricula side-by-side in hopes of finding one that will fit the bill, this little Asian wonder certainly rises to the top.

Sagher, the Illinois professor, said that he would love to see Ramona Elementary become a training ground for L.A. Unified teachers and that Singapore math could radiate out from its Hollywood beachhead. Districtwide, only 43% of fifth-graders last year scored at grade level or above in math, 33 points below Ramona students. "If LAUSD is smart enough to do it, it will be a revolution," he said.

I say, let the revolution begin.

At L.A. school, Singapore math has added value
By Mitchell Landsberg
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 9, 2008

UPDATE - March 10, 2008

Chime in on the LA Times story about Singapore Math HERE.

PowerUp

2008-02-16T22:08:00.007-05:00

February 15, 2008 (Computerworld) IBM is hoping that its new multiplayer online game could inspire kids to work to save the planet while falling in love with math and science.

PowerUp is a 3-D virtual world that challenges players to save the planet Helios from ecological disaster, explained Stanley Litow, vice president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs at IBM. The game, which can be played alone or in groups, features a planet in near ecological ruin where three missions for solar, wind and water power must be solved before sandstorms, floods or SmogGobs overtake the planet. To do that, players need to become virtual engineers who create energy-saving technologies.

Download PowerUp for FREE here and learn more about it here.

Stickers and Stars

2008-02-16T08:29:00.009-05:00

I was recently discussing my kindergartener's report card in which she was graded on her ability to "understand estmation" and "perform simple data collection and create simple graphs."

I find this funny because, well, she's only five years old. Don't get me wrong, she's extremely bright, hardworking and capable. But, estimation at this age is just a fancy word for "guessing," data collection means "asking your buddies their favorite color," and creating graphs means "coloring some boxes in a rectangle" (within the lines if at all possible).

It's not surprising that the opinion piece in the New York Times entitled, So Is That Like an A?, really tickled my funny bone.

"If I got a report card that told me my 10-year-old “uses numeracy and literacy skills to describe, analyze and present scientific content, data and ideas,” I would have reached for a dictionary and an aspirin. It is enough to make me think longingly of the days of happy face stickers and gold stars."

Boy, I sure miss the days of happy face stickers and gold stars. I think my kindergartener does too.

The New York Times
Editorial Notebook
So Is That Like an A?
By MAURA J. CASEY
Published: February 14, 2008

Japan's Learning Curve

2008-02-15T10:16:00.009-05:00

Japanese schoolchildren will spend more time on core subjects such has math and science under guidelines unveiled on Friday, in an effort to boost academic standards months after the country slipped in global education rankings.

The changes, to be implemented gradually from next year, reverse reforms implemented in 2000 to create a more "relaxed" environment that would foster creativity and reduce rote learning.

Japan children to spend more time on math, science
Reuters, February 15, 2008

It's nice to know that some countries learn from their experiments in reform and make adjustments accordingly. It takes character to admit that something isn't working and do something about it.

Actually, it's more like common sense, isn't it?

Japan only waited until their students had fallen to sixth place in the OECD rankings to re-evaluate and begin implementing change. That's a pretty decent learning curve.

So, what do you do when your students continue to rank below most other industrialized nations on assessments such as PISA?

Oops! There goes another generation of poorly educated children. Let's keep doing more of the same only S-L-O-W-E-R and louder.

Highlights from PISA 2006: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy in an International Context

In 2006, fifty-seven jurisdictions participated in PISA, including 30 OECD jurisdictions and 27 non-OECD jurisdictions. The results show the average combined science literacy scale score for U.S. students to be lower than the OECD average. U.S. students scored lower on science literacy than their peers in 16 of the other 29 OECD jurisdictions and 6 of the 27 non-OECD jurisdictions. Twenty-two jurisdictions (5 OECD jurisdictions and 17 non-OECD jurisdictions) reported lower scores compared to the United States in science literacy. On the mathematics literacy scale, U.S. students scored lower than the OECD average. Thirty-one jurisdictions (23 OECD jurisdictions and 8 non-OECD jurisdictions) scored higher on average, than the United States in mathematics literacy in 2006. In contrast, 20 jurisdictions (4 OECD jurisdictions and 16 non-OECD jurisdictions) scored lower than the United States in mathematics literacy in 2006.

"Knowledge is Good."

2008-02-08T23:36:00.001-05:00

"Knowledge comes into play mainly because if we want our students to learn how to think critically, they must have something to think about."

"It’s true that knowledge gives students something to think about, but a reading of the research literature from cognitive science shows that knowledge does much more than just help students hone their thinking skills: It actually makes learning easier. Knowledge is not only cumulative, it grows exponentially. Those with a rich base of factual knowledge find it easier to learn more—the rich get richer. In addition, factual knowledge enhances cognitive processes like problem solving and reasoning. The richer the knowledge base, the more smoothly and effectively these cognitive processes—the very ones that teachers target—operate. So, the more knowledge students accumulate, the smarter they become."

Daniel T. Willingham
How Knowledge Helps
It Speeds and Strengthens Reading Comprehension, Learning—and Thinking

Biting the algebra bullet

2008-02-02T16:32:00.000-05:00

Biting the bullet eventually pays off. California completely overhauled the state math standards making algebra mandatory as of 2004. Critics have been quick to point to this move as a big mistake citing the high percentage of students who score below proficient on the golden state's algebra exam.

The bottom line, however, is that there has been a 53% increase in the number of eighth-graders scoring "proficient" or "advanced" in algebra I between 2003 and 2007 according to research by EdSource. Nearly 239,000 eighth graders took algebra I in 2007 compared to 151, 700 in 2003. During the same period, the number of ninth graders taking algebra I increased 45% by 271,000 students.

"The vast majority of California school districts did not include (algebra) as a graduation requirement until compelled to do so by the state," the report says. "Today, presumably every California student who receives a diploma from a public high school has passed algebra I."

The EdSource report indicates that the top ten jobs in California will require knowledge of math and science. Requiring rigorous math and science courses for graduation gives students the tools they need to succeed in high demand, high tech jobs.

Furthermore, it is clear that algebra is a gatekeeper course required for success in college. Graduates of California high schools will presumably be holding that very important key.

The National Math Panel has made clear its position on algebra in the following findings and recommendations:

The Task Group affirms that algebra is the gateway to more advanced
mathematics and to most postsecondary education.

All schools and teachers must concentrate on providing a sound and strong mathematics education to all elementary and middle school students so that all of them can enroll and succeed in algebra.

It is much more important for our students to be soundly prepared for algebra and then well taught in algebra than to study algebra at any particular grade level.

The National Math Panel also supports the drive for algebra by eighth grade. In the progress report of September 2007, the Conceptual Knowledge and Skills Task Group Progress Report stated, "Federal and state policies should give incentives to schools to offer an authentic Algebra I course in Grade 8, and to prepare a higher percentage of students to enter the study of algebra by Grade 8."

So, is your child on the path to algebra by grade eight? If not, you might want to push for answers and ultimately for change. Researchers have found that delaying algebra until high school puts students at a distinct disadvantage to those who take algebra by eighth grade. But don't wait for middle school to do something about it. By then, it may be much too late.

According to the National Math Panel, "The coherence and hierarchical nature of mathematics dictate the foundational skills that are necessary for the learning of algebra. By the nature of algebra, the most important among them is proficiency with fractions (including decimals, percent, and negative fractions). The teaching of fractions must be acknowledged as critically important and improved before an increase in student achievement in algebra can be expected." The importance of a coherent elementary curriculum that prepares students for algebra cannot be underestimated.

California is under the microscope in this important endeavor. As we look to California as a model of success, it is important to recognize that it is still very much in the nascent stage of accomplishing this important goal. It's certainly not an easy road to travel and along the way they have become a target of the naysayers.

Nevertheless, algebra by eighth grade is the challenge we must all be prepared to take on if the goal is get through this math debacle. There is hope at the end of the tunnel, if we're willing to dig our way out.

We certainly have an important choice to make. Like California, we can choose to bite the bullet and endure a little pain for gain, or instead, we can pretend that math is all fun and games and keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

Kindergarten Math

2008-01-29T12:01:00.001-05:00

My kindergartener received her report card yesterday. So, what do they grade a five year old on in math these days?

Just take a look at the expectation for January:

Applies Understanding of Number Concepts and Basic Operations
Uses one to one correspondence to count objects
Identifies numerals 0-20
Writes numeral 0-20
Counts 0-70
Counts backward 10-0

Applies Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning
Sorts and classifies objects
Recognizes, reproduces and extends patterns
Understands estimation
Performs data collection and creates simple graphs

This is NOT the expectation for January:

Counts 0-115
Counts backward 20-0
Understands the meaning of addition
Understand the meaning of subtraction
Recognizes penny, nickel, dime and quarter
Tells time to the hour

Students aren't expected to know that until June.

This is life in the world of Everyday Math. It's like another plane of reality where it's more important for a five year old to learn how to estimate, collect data, and create graphs than it is to learn how to add, subtract, count coins, tell time or count backward.

Then they wonder why parents get upset.

Missing Math Skills

2008-01-23T08:02:00.000-05:00

What do you think about this?

2008-01-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

This program was actually rated "better" by Educational Research Analysts along with Saxon and SRA Real Math. I like the prescriptive nature of the program and the scaffolding could be a blessing in districts with gaping holes of knowledge caused by programs like TERC and Everyday Math. I want to know more, but in the meantime, those little animal characters sure are cute....

Video and Photo: First-of-Its-Kind Elementary School Math Curriculum Meets the iPod Generation on Its Turf

Math Errors Can Imperil Patients

2008-01-22T20:54:00.000-05:00

How good is your physician at math? Does it even matter?

Well, for starters you'd want that doc to administer the right dosage of epinephrine when you or your child desperately need it.

Just take a look at In the Lab: Simple Math Errors Can Imperil Patients in today's New York Times:

Researchers tested a group of 28 doctor volunteers using a high-tech
patient simulator. The doctors were told that the patient was a 5-year-old with a potentially fatal allergic reaction to peanuts. This was said to be a medical emergency, and the proper treatment was 0.12 milligrams of epinephrine injected as quickly as possible.

Half the doctors were given a glass bottle of epinephrine labeled “1 milligram in 1 milliliter solution.” The other half had bottles labeled “1
milliliter of a 1:1000 solution” — exactly the same thing but expressed as a
ratio instead of a concentration. In either case, the correct dosage would
be 0.12 milliliters of the solution.

Eleven of the 14 in the concentration group, but only 2 in the ratio group, calculated the dose correctly. The concentration group needed an average of 35.5 seconds to make the injection, while the ratio group averaged more than two minutes. One doctor in the ratio group administered a full milligram of epinephrine, about eight times the correct amount.

So, you just might want see just how good your physician is when it comes to math. Of course, I would argue that the lab technicians and pharmacists better know their numbers too. According to Dr. Daniel W. Wheeler, an anesthesiologist and clinical lecturer at the University of Cambridge in England, "errors tend to be by factors of 10-- large and potentially dangerous."

Just one more reason to make sure your child gets a solid math education. That little person of yours just might want to grow up and be a physician some day.

Saxon at North Beach

2008-01-15T21:27:00.000-05:00

For an unscripted kid talking about Saxon, you may want to see this one just for fun:

Education Schools: Help or Hindrance?

2008-01-13T17:44:00.000-05:00

It is not an exaggeration to say that I was thrilled, yes thrilled, to read George K. Cunningham’s Education Schools: Helping or Hindering Potential Teachers? I had just about given up hope that anyone in the ivory towers of the schools of education would ever get it. Then, as if sent down on rays of light through silvery clouds, The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy has the courage to rock the establishment boat .*

“Evidence indicates that the traditional or teacher-centered approaches are more effective in helping students achieve academic goals than the learner-centered or “progressive” approaches.” -- George K. Cunningham

Wow, he actually said it. The emperor isn't wearing any clothes. Amazingly, it was even printed and disseminated to the masses (well, it's available to the masses for free anyway). Cunningham’s position goes against everything school adminsitrators, most newly minted teachers, and the school of education professors are preaching these days.

If you are a parent, you should read it. If you are an educator, you should read it. If you are an education school student, please, please read it. Challenge the establishment, question authority, and dare to take the road less traveled. Come on, be a rebel and turn in an ed school research project about Project Follow Through, Direct Instruction, or precision teaching! (Just think of it as retro-chic.)

While Cunningham is looking specifically at the University of North Carolina, it is clear that education schools across the nation are entrenched in the same progressive/constructivist rhetoric he frowns upon. As a result, this rhetoric rules the day in most public school classrooms and our children are paying dearly for it.

“This advocacy of rhetoric as opposed to practical learning leads education students into realms far afield from normal education as most people understand it. It leaves precious little time to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic.”

In his discussion of the “Math Wars,” Cunningham clearly understands the crux of the dilemma. He offers up the following example to support his argument:

In the reform math, getting the right answer is not as important as the processes employed. Reform math even discourages parents from teaching this algorithm to their children (Schmid 2000). Rather, the goal is to discover novel ways of solving long division problems. Students think through the problem rather than memorize a series of steps that lead to the correct answer without understanding why it works. For example, the student might discover the alternative of making 184 marks on a piece of paper and repeatedly counting off 13 of them to determine how many 13s are in 184. Precision is not mandatory, the ability to estimate is prized, and larger numbers can be divided with a calculator.

Ironically, other more awkward and time-consuming algorithms are acceptable in reform math, such as creating a series of cluster problems. To use the cluster problem method the student multiplies 13 by various numbers until the total is as close to 184 as possible and the remainder is less than 13. This is time-consuming and likely to lead to computation errors. The Everyday Mathematics Teacher’s Reference Manual 4-6 concedes that the use of this process does not lead to a better understanding of the underlying processes than the standard algorithm (Everyday Mathematics 2001).

[snip]

Recognizing that there are big gaps in mathematics performance among ethnicities and socio-economic levels, reform math makes an implausible assumption. It notes that in traditional math systems, some students cannot progress to higher-level math because they cannot grasp and move beyond the fundamentals. Instead of focusing on teaching the fundamentals better, they assume that it will be easier for low-performing students to understand the more abstract higher-level math concepts than to grasp the fundamentals. There is no evidence to support that counter-intuitive idea.

Counterintuitive. Yes, that's exactly what it is.

While we may be aware of the issues with the education schools, too many dissenters seem to have thrown in the towel. There aren't enough educators speaking up and speaking out. Cunningham, in contrast, tackles this crisis head on.

In his conclusion, he offers up recommendations for improving teacher preparation that could certainly be implemented outside of North Carolina.

Public schools must commit themselves to educational accountability- "improving student skills and knowledge in the vital academic areas is its foremost concern."
States should write accrediting standards for education schools that "place the emphasis where it should be -- preparing teachers who are able to help students master the subjects they need to learn."
Replace the PRAXIS with the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) or custom designed alternative that promotes effective instructional methods that ensure higher academic achievement.
Improve the quality of school of education professors through careful evaluation. Applicants who favor progressive/constructivist pedagogy over traditional approaches need not apply.
Secondary teachers should be content area experts in what they propose to teach. Less educational theory and more content knowledge.

"Students—our future teachers—receive too much instruction in failed student-centered theories and little (or none) in direct instruction, scientific reading principles, and other traditional approaches. Instead, they are immersed in the progressive education culture, which turns out graduates who to a substantial degree favor constructive, student-centered pedagogy and the belief that the prime goal of schooling is to solve social problems."

Amen. The goal of schooling should not be solving social problems. The goal of schooling should be achieving academic excellence in the best, most efficient manner. As a bonus, if every child receives an excellent education, we will have equipped them to rise to the challenge of social problems of their very own accord. And, isn't that the point, really?

*Cunningham is quite the revolutionary. Just check out his speech before the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Can Education Schools Be Saved?

University of North Carolina
Education Schools: Helping or Hindering Potential Teachers?

George K. Cunningham

Pope Center Series on Higher Education Policy
January 2008

Mathematics as nourishment

2008-01-07T01:16:00.000-05:00

by Laurent Lafforgue
translated from French by Ralph A. Raimi

Let us take the example of the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Their teaching has been considerably retarded and neglected in recent decades, to where the majority of middle school children do not know the multiplication tables and many high school students are unable to add two fractions. These operations have been neglected because of the emergence of calculators, and the belief that an operation carried out by a machine can be the same thing as an operation carried out by a human spirit. It is the same thing as to result – supposing that one has calculated correctly and not made an error of fingering, and with the reservation that there are, just the same, many occasions where the calculator doesn’t replace a mental calculation: I recently received a letter from a grandfather whose granddaughter had been fired after several hours as a salesgirl in a market because she was unable to make change.

. . But above all, a calculator which one has programmed to perform certain operations knows only those operations for which it has been programmed. Whereas those same operations acquired and mastered by a student becomes nourishment for his spirit, empowers him, is digested by him, is made his own, enlarges and awakens his mathematical faculties and power. A familiarity with numbers, and similarly as to geometric objects, that permits the life that has been given him to enter, little by little, into the world of mathematics.

Are you aware that each year there are written in this world millions of pages of new mathematics? And that they are the result of the direction to the human spirit given by something so simple as the four operations of arithmetic? Do you know that after all these millions of investigations, mathematicians still have not finished with addition and multiplication, that probably they will never be done with them, that the creative power of human beings still finds nourishment in them, and something to transform in the same way that our organism digests food – changing it into bone, flesh, muscles and nerves, then into movements, and so on into the profusion of human actions?

Why the Public Schools?

National Math Panel Preliminary Report

2008-01-06T23:50:00.001-05:00

The Preliminary Report of the National Panel is out, but that doesn't mean we have a clue what their findings of the final report will be. I read through it hoping to find a suggestion of something, a shred of hope, a ray of light. But no. The report was absolutely, frustratingly diplomatic. They're walking on eggshells, it's true, but there's so much at stake I was expecting more.

Just take a look at this:

The discussion about math skills has persisted for many decades. One aspect of the debate is over how explicitly children must be taught skills based on formulas or algorithms (fixed, 2 step-by-step procedures for solving math problems) versus a more inquiry-based approach in which students are exposed to real-world problems that help them develop fluency in number sense, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. In this latter approach, computational skills and correct answers are not the primary goals of instruction.

Those who disagree with the inquiry-based philosophy maintain that students must first develop computational skills before they can understand concepts of mathematics. These skills should be memorized and practiced until they become automatic. In this view, estimating answers is insufficient and, in fact, is considered to be dependent on strong foundational skills. Learning abstract concepts of mathematics is perceived to depend on a solid base of knowledge of the tools of the subject. Of course, teaching in very few classrooms would be characterized by the extremes of these philosophies. In reality, there is a mixing of approaches to instruction in the classroom, perhaps with one predominating.

Just when you think they're committing themselves to the importance of a "solid base of knowledge of the tools of the subject," they start talking about "mixing of approaches to instruction in the classroom, perhaps with one predominating." Which one is predominating and why is it better? That's what I want to know.

Clearly, algebra readiness is the focus.

...the Panel sees its role as addressing all aspects of teaching and learning in mathematics from pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) through grade 8 or so, but not so fully with teaching and learning in algebra per se. While readiness for algebra is the central concern, the Panel also will address, with lesser intensity, elements of early-grade mathematics that may be needed in preparation for higher mathematics distinct from algebra, such as geometry or statistics.

I think that this is a very good thing. This is where the the focus should be because as far as I can tell, this is where the breakdown has been occuring. If these children aren't meeting international standards by eighth grade, it doesn't matter what you're doing or how much money you're spending in high school (are you listening Mr. Gates?). It's way too late by then.

Perhaps if I read the prelim report a couple more times I could speculate on where the panel is headed. However, that time would be more wisely spent teaching my own children Singapore Math with a little Saxon thrown in for good measure. There you have it. A "mixing of approaches to instruction" right in the comfort of my very own home.

Guess I'll just have to wait until March for the final report, just like everybody else.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T11:21:00.001-05:00

This wonderful timepiece is brought to you by the Triple Nine Society and you can get one of your very own right here.

On eating global dust...

2007-12-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

"In my view, global education standards have passed the U.S. by and our current generation of students is in danger of not being globally competitive.

When it was Finland and Singapore ahead of us, I wasn't too worried, but India and China combined are 8 times larger than the US and their economies are growing 3 times faster.

Our challenge is not just our schools - it extends to parents, the community and to our cultural norms."

-Bob Compton*
Executive Producer
Two Million Minutes

* I am not an educator, so the film is not prescriptive. I am an entrepreneur and venture investor who has employees in all three countries and who has seen first hand the educational differences.

"We look nuts."

2007-12-26T15:19:00.001-05:00

The Executive Producer of Two Million Minutes, Bob Compton, responded to reactions to his film and "what most Americans see as a binary education question - to push kids in schoool and cause them 'stress' or to take it easy on them and risk their future careers."

"Having grown up in America and traveled extensively around the world visiting schools in over 3 dozen countries, I would like to frame the question somewhat differently.

Not as 'should we stress our kids with more academics', but rather 'are we helping our children allocate their time most effectively to be globally competitive as adults?'

Americans stress their kids in lots of non-academic ways that we barely mention - primarily in sports but also socially and with after school jobs.

In sports, every year 1-2 high school boys die in August two-a-day football practices and our local orthopedic clinic is regularly filled with serious high school sports injuries - football, baseball, basketball wrestling, soccer, even cheerleading which is the biggest source of serious orthopedic injury, believe it or not.

To Indians and Chinese this sports 'stress' seems bizarre.

Americans’ passion and focus on youth sports — and the time invested in training, practicing and playing — contrasts sharply with how Indian and Chinese youth spend their time.

They use athletics as a way to have fun, unwind, get exercise. They would never spend 20 hours per week for 3 months practicing a high school sport - and then train and be coached in the off-season for the following year.

They spend that time studying, but not just math & science - they are enjoying art and music all the way through high school.

They study world history (most Indian students I’ve met know more American history than American students). The read literature drawn from a global library. They understand and enjoy discussing economics. And of course they are fluent in their native tongue as well as in OUR native tongue.

Yes - Indian and Chinese students work very hard at school starting in kindergarten - but while a few are highly stressed by their parents’ expectations - they are no more stressed than the student athletes whose parents I see at every game screaming at their kids, yelling at the coaches and cursing the referees. Didn’t one US parent actually kill another parent not long ago at a high school hockey game over a bad call?

To Chinese and Indians - we look nuts.

What I hope my film will cause American parents to think about is 'how their kids are allocating their 2 million minutes of high school.'

If the takeaway from my film is we need to squeeze more academics into the same time slots, rather than re-allocating time - people will have missed what I saw in India and China."

Bob Compton, Exec Producer // December 20, 2007 at 11:02 am
comments to blog entry on Tom Kim

A wake up call for America

2007-12-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

"Structurally, the American education system is broken." -- Tim Draper

Two Million Minutes

Swimming Upstream

2007-12-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

Random thought.

I’ve been a little quiet. Life has a way of getting in the way of blogging. Well, life and a nasty flu bug that played “tag, you’re it” with all five in our family.

Anyway, I was thinking about comments I’ve read over the months (years?) about how US students cannot be fairly compared to those in other countries, particularly Asian countries, because they are so culturally different from our kids. They are respectful, driven, focused, and the home puts major emphasis on education…

I get the argument, but it’s based wholly on stereotyping and no one seems to stop to ask- what about US students who have a similar value system at home?

I send children to school who respect their teachers, do their homework, turn assignments in on time, read every day, and go the extra mile. They find pleasure in pursuing knowledge for its own sake and not because someone promises to make it fun and entertaining. Their value system at home highly prizes education and it is the priority on their list of responsibilities. The bar is set high and they work diligently everyday to learn something new.

How are they so very different from the students in Asian schools? I just don’t buy it. I think that too many times, the problem is not the student’s values as it applies to education. It comes down to the culture of education in our schools and in our country.

In the US, some children have that value system at home, others do not. Schools have no control over this variable. They do, however, have control over the culture and philosophy at school. That's one of the reasons why schools like KIPP are so successful. There is an expectation of high achievement, there is an expectation of parental involvement, there is a culture of academic excellence.

This power to establish a culture that values the pursuit of excellence, the quest for knowledge, and the respect for academic achievement at school, can overcome many of the negative influences outside campus walls. Unfortunately, public schools almost always give this power away. They lower the standards to accomodate lack of motivation, focus, and drive instead of setting the bar high and expecting children to rise to the occasion. So, that's what you end up with.

Sadly, the efforts of many of our children go mostly unrewarded. We have become a culture in which the pursuit of excellence isn’t at all necessary. All you have to do is meet expectations and given how low those expectations are, that’s not saying very much.

So, please don’t blame my children or the many, many other equally dedicated students I know when PISA or TIMSS or NAEP make clear how far our nation is sinking. Too many children will just have to keep swimming upstream while schools try to figure out why so many others haven't discovered how to swim all by themselves.

The stuff dreams are made of

2007-11-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

I've mentioned in other posts how un-mathy I am. I studied it through college level, even received my share of A's in the subject, but I've never considered myself a math person. I am an interpreter. I am a translator. I like to read and write. I live and breathe words, not numbers. That said, I use math every day and as an adult I'm learning to love it in a way I didn't imagine possible when I was in school.

My children, on the other hand, love, love, love math. That is a sweet victory. The fact that they are actually very strong in math is just the cherry on top. I still won't commit to a nature versus nurture argument on this one, but I do know I have worked diligently to let them formulate personal attitudes towards math. In fact, they started Kumon in kindergarten precisely because I wanted them to have a positive experience with math. I didn't want any of my unmathiness wearing off on them.

Lately, I find it so exciting to learn all the wonderful applications of mathematics. I'm talking really important, exciting stuff too. The cure for cancer, the war on terrorism, fighting crime and now even fighting fires are the work of mathematicians. How cool is that? Answer: Very Cool!

Building a strong foundation in mathematics, becoming fluent in the language of numbers, and solving complex equations with confidence is the stuff dreams are made of. It's really that amazing. The way I look at it, math means opportunity. Math equals choices. Many of those choices will require the premium math ticket. My kids are happily collecting a whole lot of math tickets these days. They'll be ready to hop onboard to the destination of their choosing when they decide they want to.

You just can't put a price on that.

Do your homework, make your bed, and play your video games

2007-10-30T06:50:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I should share this with my son, but apparently there's a study out that says that spending about 15 minutes a day playing the Nintendo DS video game, Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, improves math skills. Oh yeah, it's supposed to help them behave too.

At the end of the ten week study, not only had their math accuracy improved but their time had improved as well. It seems playing the game improved that optimal balance of speed and accuracy that are the essential elements of mastery. As for the improved behavior aspect of the study, researchers said they found a “noticeable impact on behaviour and levels of concentration throughout the day, with the children becoming more self-confident.”

I wouldn't share these benefits with my son, though. I think that would just about take all the fun out of it. It would be much, much better to just let him think his mom is so cool, she actually lets him play his DS every day. We currently have a strict no-video game, no-computer game, no-television policy enforced Monday through Thursday. Such a radical change in policy would be a big deal around here.

All in all, not bad results for a handheld video game. Just in time for the holidays too.

Sound too good to be true? Read on... Children + DS = Better Math Scores, by Samantha Mason

From Russia, With Love...

2007-10-27T14:19:00.000-05:00

Reinventing the Wheel of Education
by Natalie Kramer
When I hear educators talk about striving to reach a 70 percent achievement rate in standards that would be considered modest compared with those imposed on (and met by!) nearly all of my peers, I cannot help but see such efforts as naive, albeit well-intentioned, attempts to reinvent the wheel.

When I was growing up in Leningrad, there were two pedagogical institutes where future teachers received their training in how to teach. They learned, for example, that multiplication tables up to eight take second graders until April to master, if they practice four times a week for fifteen minutes and get three homework assignments on them a week. These teachers-to-be also learned that teaching multiplication tables by rote only is boring and that combining rote memorizations with interesting applications brings better results. Future teachers were also taught in which proportion to combine rote memorization with applications and how the optimal proportion changes with the age of the students.

Sounds scientific? It is; teaching is every bit as complex as practicing medicine or law. Only in America (and in Canada, perhaps), is a teacher's job perceived as a constant act of inspirational invention. The constant adaptation to local and individual "needs" is little more than an excuse for not having an infrastructure supplying uniformly trained and competent teachers. Throughtout history, teachers have been taught to teach in a systematic and organized way. Their skills are viewed as those of professionals, not of stand-up comedians or babysitters.

Want to read the whole thing? "Reinventing the wheel of education" by Natalie Kramer, can be found HERE.

You'll find links to many articles of interest at illinoisloop. org-- a visit to this webiste is highly recommended.

Natalie Portman gets a little "mathy"

2007-10-27T06:40:00.000-05:00

Move over Danica McKellar... make way for Natalie Portman. This child-star, turned blockbuster diva, has a lot to say about learning. Although she hasn't authored a math thereom, she has been quoted as saying, "I'd rather be smart than be a movie star." In fact, she was so serious about her education, it's rumored that she chose to study for her high school finals intead of attending the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I. Portman's goal was to graduate from college even if it ruined her acting career-- which it clearly didn't. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology from Harvard in 2003.

Star War's Queen Amidala is the guest editor of the October 29 edition of Scholastic Math magazine, a publication targeted at the grade 6-9 crowd. Portman's new movie, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," debuts in November. In the film she plays the manager of a magical toy store. So what does that have to do with math, you say? There's an article in the magazine about a real toy store that explores the concept of profit. Another activity will discuss the change from daylight savings time to standard time. Yet another entry focuses on FINCA, one of Portman's pet projects, which is an organization that provides loans to people in extreme poverty so they can start businesses. Readers will make a bar graph illustrating the world's poorest countries and find out how they can help.

The accomplished actor uses her voice as guest editor to say, "Math was one of my favorite subjects in school. It always gets a bad rap and I'm not sure why. I always found math to be such an exciting avenue to think about the world in new and different ways. Sure, you need to use math daily for knowing how much tip to leave at a restaurant or how much flour you need to make double the amount of cookies in a recipe, but it is the less obviously practical parts of math that are most fun for me -- like considering the principles of infinity. It made me excited about life to consider the limitlessness of the mind and what we can do with it."

And now a break for some good news...

2007-10-25T17:21:00.000-05:00

Finally, somebody gets it. Well, technically, lots of somebodies.

CalTeach, a joint venture between the University of California and California State University sytems has recruited 200 of their students majoring in the STEM fields (math, science and engineering) to enter the teaching ranks. These students know that a teacher's salary pales in comparison to a job at Google, and they're still game.

CalTeach is the golden state's plan to alleviate the severe shortage of math and science teachers by placing 1,000 new teachers into California K-12 classrooms by 2010. "We thought it was going to be a very tough sell, but students are turning out in droves," said Mark Richards, executive dean of UC Berkeley's College of Letters & Science, dean of its division of mathematical and physical sciences and a professor of earth and planetary science.

Cal Teach is responding to the dismal number of California 9th graders who go on to earn a bachelor's degree in science, math or engineering -- 4%. The Cal Teach website states that nearly 1,500 math and 800 science classes in California high schools were taught in 2002-2003 by teachers with no teaching credential with even more taught by someone with an unrelated credential.

George Johnson, a UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering and co-principal investigator for Cal Teach, leads a freshman and sophomore seminar that introduces students to teaching math and science. "Many students enter engineering because of their own successes in math and science, and their interest in applying them," he said. "I believe that engineers can be excellent teachers because they see the connections between math and science. Our goal is for the students in the Cal Teach program to think of themselves as highly skilled engineers or scientists or mathematicians who also choose to teach." (UC Berkeley News)

Wouldn't you want someone like Dorothy Tang, a 21-year-old applied mathematics major or Brian Ikkanda, 19, a UC Berkeley chemical biology major, education minor teaching your child? Some how hearing a biochem major say "I love kids," just doesn't have that old sappy ring to it. Tang goes on to say, "Just being able to spend time with them makes my day. There are always the perks of imparting your knowledge, and hopefully leaving a positive impact on their life."

Tang, who has even taught algebra in Spanish says, "I think that getting the fundamentals and basics down is key in how a student carries on in his or her math later on in life, or anything in general," said Tang. She gets it. Ms. Tang gets the whole foundational knowledge concept and that's a really good thing.

So, now that California's got game, who's next?

YouTube does math...

2007-10-24T17:08:00.001-05:00

Could this be your school?

2007-10-22T18:17:00.000-05:00

Knowledge is not necessarily where you think it is. One of the huge fallacies of performance-based accountability systems is the misconception that nominally low-performing schools don't know what they are doing and that nominally high-performing schools have something to teach them. This year, I have been in nominally low-performing schools that know far more than nearby nominally high-performing schools do about the processes of instructional improvement, creating settings with strong norms of practice, and managing the multiple demands of urban schools.

Most high-performing schools in our highly segregated society have gotten there not by knowing a great deal about instructional practice or improvement but by getting and holding on to students in high socioeconomic groups. The practice in most nominally high-performing schools is emphatically not about improvement but about maintenance of a certain level of confidence with the surrounding community. When I speak about improvement with people in these schools, they often look at me as if it had nothing to do with them. Most of the knowledge about improvement is in the schools where improvement is occurring, and most of those schools are, by definition, schools with a history of low performance.

A Plea for Strong Practice
Educational Leadership, November 2003

Richard F. Elmore

Lack of qualified teachers

2007-10-21T13:30:00.001-05:00

In the year 2000, the Glenn Commission said:

"The teaching pool in mathematics and science is inadequate to meet our current needs; many classes in these subjects are taught by unqualified and underqualified teachers. Our inability to attract and keep good teachers grows. As a result, newer, technologically oriented industries are having trouble finding enough qualified employees from among those teachers’ students. Worse, creativity atrophies and innovation suffers."

Wasn't anybody listening?

Before It's Too Late
A Report to the Nation from The National Commission
on Mathematics and Science Teaching
for the 21st Century

The Beauty of Mathematics

2007-10-21T13:30:00.000-05:00

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?

And finally, take a look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Provided by: Sameer A. Joshi

Collaborative learning rules the day

2007-10-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

Individualism is dead. In our schools, groupthink reigns supreme.

Our children are learning that giving in to the will of many is better than holding on to their own personal views. It hardly matters what choice each child makes, as the results are the same regardless. This is what the education system asks of our children. Instead of learning to carefully consider choices and accept the consequences of the decisions they make, the group makes the choices for them. They are asked to check their self-identity at the door.

In our schools, collaborative learning rules the day. Math is all about group work. The teaching of writing is difficult to recognize within the myriad of collective projects and presentations. Even discipline has become a group activity in which the actions of one or few are the responsibility of all. Children are a herd, a gaggle, a flock. Personal accomplishments, endeavors, and aspirations are overshadowed by the anticipated group outcomes and collective expectations.

In our schools, students sit elbow to elbow, with little if any time for self-reflection or personal thought. In contrast, the opportunities to share, discuss, and work together are plentiful. In many ways, schools are designed with the extrovert in mind as the social aspect of learning is encouraged at every turn.

“Thinking is hard work,” Edison said. Nevertheless, thinking is something that children should learn to do for themselves. Ayn Rand said that a student “has to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by his own effort.” When they lack the opportunities to exercise this individual effort, children do not get to practice leadership. Our country needs leadership. Our very survival depends upon it, and yet, our schools prepare our children to be followers.

Valuable collaboration takes place between strong individuals with a vision, an idea, or belief. This is one of collaboration’s greatest virtues. However, before our children can be expected to collaborate meaningfully, they must be equipped with the ability to think for themselves.

Math Smarts

2007-10-18T07:49:00.000-05:00

American Girl has very good advice for young girls in Math Smarts: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets for Making Math More Fun! Yes, that American Girl.

One of my favorites is the Math Learning Ladder.

Math Learning Ladder

Unlike some other classes you will take, everything you learn in math builds on what you learned before. You really need to understand each math concept before you move on to the next level.

Don't Give Up!

If you're having trouble with math, look closely at what you've learned so far. It may be that all you need to do is back up and make sure you have the previous steps down pat. Sometimes you need to step back before you can move up.

American Girl's parting advice to its young audience is equally sage:

Hang in There!

Ask for help when you need it.

Practice your math facts.

Don't ever, EVER give up!

Math Smarts

American Girl Library

by Lynette Long, Ph.D.

Biography: Lynette Long, Ph.D., has more than twenty years of experience working with children and in education. She has appeared on over 200 television and radio programs, including "Good Morning America" and the "CBS Evening News". Lynette's love for dominoes comes from a childhood of playing the game with her extended family in the apartment building they shared in the South Bronx. She splits her time between homes in Maryland and Florida with her two teenagers.

Much too late

2007-10-14T07:23:00.000-05:00

Initiative To Foster Math And Science Grads
Firms such as Electric Boat welcome grant program to help state high schools develop better training in key technical areas.
By Anthony Cronin Business
Published on 10/14/2007

It's no secret that business needs more math and science majors. A lot more.
But many of today's students aren't performing well in those subjects, and some of their teachers aren't getting the right training and support to properly teach these valuable subjects.

Thankfully, Connecticut is one of a handful of states that took notice – and acted, earning a grant of up to $13.2 million to create a new generation of eager, well trained scientists and engineers.

The news of the grant, which garnered considerable press and business attention this past month, is being welcomed by Connecticut companies, especially its manufacturers, which have long complained about a dearth of qualified candidates coming through their doors.

Connecticut, in partnership with the Hartford-based Connecticut Business & Industry Association, won the grant from a new non-profit association called the National Math and Science Initiative Inc.

The organization's principal aim is to help this country maintain, and bolster, its leadership in technical innovation.

[snip]

“At a time when all young people need higher skills to be successful, it's critical that Connecticut's education system provide students with the skills necessary to compete in today's high-tech global economy,” says Kaufman, who also heads CBIA's Education Foundation.

The grant has been awarded to CBIA's Education Foundation, along with supporting partners including the state's education department. It is funded in large measure by ExxonMobil, which has provided $125 million to the National Math and Science Initiative, or NMSI.

The non-profit NMSI points to a number of troubling statistics to support its mission to bolster the sciences and mathematics, including:

• Only 18 percent of high school seniors performed at or above the
“proficient level” in the sciences.

• About 30 percent of high school math students have teachers who didn't major in the subject or were not certified to teach it.

• Among low-income students, 70 percent of their middle-school math teachers majored in some other subject while in college.

I couldn't agree more that our nation needs to invest in mathematics education nor with the fact that we need to develop domestic talent in the STEM disciplines. The statistics speak for themselves and they're certainly not pretty. However, waiting until high school to do something about the problem is a severely flawed strategy. By then, it's much too late.

By the time a child is in high school the die has been cast and those children lacking a solid foundation in mathematics are either not prepared for the types of math courses that they require in high school if they are to go on to a career in STEM, or they have simply given up trying by then.

I do applaud investing in our students and in making changes that secure that we have a steady supply of homegrown engineers, but we need to start much earlier. We need to look at this issue as one of elementary and middle school education. High school is but one piece of the puzzle, and it may not be the most important piece either.

If we wait until high school, we will have waited much too long and that would not only be unfortunate, it would be a tragic waste of potential.

They all look the same...

2007-10-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

"You know, talk about curriculum, if I put in front of you a fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade textbook in math and opened up to page 200 and I jumbled them up, and said, “order them from fifth through eighth grade in order,” you'd have a very tough time because they all look the same. That's because, unfortunately, we have this national strategy of “we're not really going to teach to mastery, we're going to teach to exposure and over lots and lots of years of kids seeing page 200 in the math book, eventually somehow they're going to learn it. We're going to teach them how to reduce fractions in fifth grade, in sixth grade, in seventh grade, in eighth grade, in ninth grade and continue until finally somehow magically they're going to get it.” Instead of thinking, “let's teach the kids how to reduce fractions at a mastery level in fifth grade, maybe spend a little time reviewing it in sixth grade but let's move on to pre-algebra and let's move on to algebra then.” And that's been our take and so it's not that we have a different math curriculum as much as we have a different math strategy and a different math philosophy."

-Mike Feinberg,
Co-Founder Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP)
Making Schools Work: School-by-School Reform

Surprise! Tutoring Works.

2007-10-10T07:52:00.000-05:00

I was reading an Education Week article this morning about tutoring and how the provision on tutoring is playing out with NCLB renewal. The article cites a study that demonstrates how students’ test scores grew faster in years in which they had received tutoring than in years they hadn’t. I don't even understand how that's a surprise.

While politicians and educrats are squabbling over how much money this is costing, I'm wondering why no one is asking why tutoring is effective? How are they doing it? Why aren't we transfering some of these (dare I say it?) methods of direct and guided instruction to the classroom?

And yes, I do realize that there is a significant difference between teaching a class of 24 students and tutoring one or a few children. However, is that the only variable creating the chasm in learning? Could it possibly be that the type of instruction (DIRECT) is making a difference? Isn't the point of education having the child actually learning something or are we ready to admit that the pedagogical theory takes precedence over the objective of actually teaching our children?

Maybe I just don't get it.

No Leaving Without Learning...

2007-10-09T18:38:00.001-05:00

Maths Mansion is brought to you from the U.K.'s Discovery Channel via YouTube. A little strange, maybe. But did it catch my children's attention? Yes.

Perhaps being trapped in a spooky mansion until you can solve math equations was intriguing. Apparently, the only way out is mathematically. Who knows?

The guy with the sparkly magic elbow is so weird, he's kind of cool. Look for more episodes of Maths Mansion on YouTube.

#1 Not the Big Hen
#2 Not the Big Hen Again
#3 The Deciworms
#4 The Negs
#5 The Fraction Aid
#6 The Rounding Machine
#7 Get Some Fraction Action
#8 The Whole Class Should Be Expelled

Why Men Dominate Math & Science Fields

2007-10-09T10:42:00.000-05:00

Social scientists have studied it, lawyers have tried to fix it and post-feminist society is over it. But women are still outnumbered by men in math, science and engineering fields.

Most overt discrimination against women in the sciences has been reduced or eliminated in recent decades through legal, academic, corporate and government measures. But a climate that is less than fully friendly to women remains, and its texture is often still so taken for granted that it tends to be invisible.

[snip]

However, relatively few women continue on to high-level faculty positions. In 1972, women made up just 3 percent of full professors in science and engineering fields, a figure that inched up to 10 percent by 1998, according to the NSF.

A recent study, detailed in the October issue of the journal Psychological Science, claims to bring a new feature of gender bias to light. Women are less likely to participate in science and engineering settings in which they are outnumbered by men, found Stanford University psychologist Mary Murphy.

Want to know more?

Read Why Men Dominate Math and Science Fields
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 09 October 2007 08:39 am ET

Tales from the Trenches: Dad Does Parent Night

2007-10-08T08:13:00.000-05:00

October 7, 2007
Parent-Night Hint: Keep Mouth Shut
By WOODY HOCHSWENDER
New York Times

[snip]

The teacher was discussing the prealgebra and basic geometry the children were studying, with many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse, and so forth. On the blackboard he sketched out a few impressive-looking equations. Conversation lagged.

Turning from the blackboard at intervals, the teacher prodded the dozing parents with a familiar refrain: “Any questions?

Silence.

Any questions at all?”

[snip ]

He spoke. “So what is x to the zero power, that is, you know, x0?”

The teacher looked momentarily as though he were a fawn caught in the headlights of a large truck. This is perhaps the origin of the word dumbfounded. Perhaps some earnest pedagogue long, long ago was asked a trick algebra question — and was found dumb.

[snip]

The teacher, recovering his confident mien, stated: “Oh, uh, that would be zero, of course,” accompanied by an iron smile. “X to the zero is zero,” he reiterated.

Which was a problem. You see, the answer is not zero, as any middle school math teacher should know. The father, unfortunately, felt compelled to point this out. (You see, this really is a gift.)

“Er, no, that is not correct,” Dad said evenly. A deeper hush, like that whiter shade of pale one hears about, enveloped the room.

“Actually,” the dad went on, “x0 is 1.”

All eyes riveted now on the teacher, who was squirming, and Dad, who was sensing his own impending doom and the end of his child’s academic career. Mom was staring at the ceiling, her eyes performing round-the-worlds continuously.

Dad continued: “According to the law of exponents, when two equal numbers with exponents are multiplied, one simply adds the exponents. For example, x1 times x1 equals x2.” And, he went on, x1 times x-1 would equal x0. Therefore, since a negative exponent by definition is expressed as a fraction, x1 times 1/x becomes x/x, or 1.

That would be the end of story, except that in the next marking period, the child received a 67 in math, which, for those of you long away from the groves of academe, is a D. On all subsequent parents’ nights, Mom has barred Dad from appearing anywhere within 500 feet of the school.

So I watch the ballgame instead. And the moral of the story? On parents’ night, keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.

October 7, 2007
Parent-Night Hint: Keep Mouth Shut
By WOODY HOCHSWENDER
New York Times

Mixed messages

2007-09-27T18:01:00.000-05:00

I was pondering the disconnect between two very recent "news items". On the one hand, everyone is gushing about the improvements in math scores on the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress. I'm reading about it everywhere, it seems. On the other hand, the U.S. is sitting out the Advanced TIMSS which is designed to show how our advanced students compare to those in other countries. Strangely enough, I'm NOT reading about that everywhere.

It seems we've managed to raise the floor (every so slightly) while letting the ceiling come crashing down. I guess that puts "good enough" somewhere near the bottom. Apparently, the goal is mediocrity. Based on those parameters, I'd say we're right on track.

Cross-posted at Kitchen Table Math.

School Choice Myths

2007-09-27T17:01:00.000-05:00

Myth #1
Giving parents choices over their children’s education drains money from public schools.

Myth #2
Parental choice harms public schools and society.

Myth #3
Parental choice does not benefit students.

Myth #4
Schools that parents would choose for their children are not accountable.

Myth #5
Parental choice encourages fraudulent schools.

Myth #6
Private schools limit enrollment, so they do the choosing instead of parents.

Myth #7
Private schools discriminate.

Myth #8
Parental choice results in segregation.

Want more details?
Read the the whole enchilada here.

Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice
Lance T. Izumi, Vicki E. Murray, and Rachel S. Chaney
with Ruben Peterson and Rosemarie Fusano

Hat tip: D-Ed Reckoning; Kitchen Table Math

Mathematical Dystopia

2007-09-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

"Nine times seven, thought Shuman with deep satisfaction, is sixty-three, and I don't need a computer to tell me so. The computer is in my own head."

from The Feeling of Power by Isaac Asimov

Triumph of the "covertly tutored"

2007-09-25T22:04:00.000-05:00

What does Penfield, N.Y. math champion, Jim Munch, have to say about earning a perfect 5 on his advanced placement calculus exam when the district tries to turn him into the reform math poster boy?

Jim set the record straight when he told the NY Times, "My whole experience in math the last few years has been a struggle against the [reform math] program. Whatever I’ve achieved, I’ve achieved in spite of it. Kids do not do better learning math themselves. There’s a reason we go to school, which is that there’s someone smarter than us with something to teach us.”

Turns out "poster boy" had been “covertly tutored” in traditional math by his parents. Surprise, surprise.

Mathematics is precision

2007-09-24T20:05:00.000-05:00

"If you want to learn mathematics, you must learn it precisely. Mathematics is precision and one of the first objectives in teaching K - 12 mathematics is for students to learn precise habits of thought."

R. James Milgram
Professor of Mathematics
Stanford University

Why Long Division? transcript of speech

Do we want domestically educated engineers?

2007-09-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

In the postcript to his paper Elementary School Mathematics Priorities, W. Stephen Wilson, Professor of Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University and Former Senior Advisor for Mathematics Office of Elementary and Secondary Education - U.S. Department of Education, poses this provocative question: "Do we want domestically educated engineers?"

My response to Professor Wilson is "Yes, of course we want domestically educated engineers!"

So how do we assure that we develop the talent we need? Just take a look at what Professor Wilson has to say:

A very high percentage of the U.S. professional science, technology, engineering, and mathematics personnel are foreign born and were given their K-12 mathematics education in their home country. If we want homegrown engineers, certain things have to take place in our K-12 mathematics education system.

If students arrive at college with large gaps in their science education they can survive, college will essentially start from scratch with science, however undesirable that may be. This is not the case with mathematics. The concepts and skills developed in every year of K-12 mathematics education are essential to success in college mathematics, mathematics that engineering students must all take. Manipulative skills with numbers and rational functions have been disparaged recently in education circles. However, the engineering student will face one class after another, year after year, where the professor comes in and writes equations on a blackboard for 50 minutes straight. Those manipulative skills must be second nature in order to survive an engineering course of instruction.

Those necessary skills and concepts for the engineering student begin with the foundation discussed in this paper in early elementary school. There is a tendency to suggest that most students do not need all of these skills because most students will not become engineers. Even if this were true, and many believe that all students actually need these skills and concepts even if they are not going to be engineers, we would be in a serious quandary. Would this mean that we should not teach them to all students? Students who don’t get these skills and concepts will definitely not become engineers. So, if we want some students to be able to be engineers we have to teach these skills and concepts to these students. Is there any way to decide who in the fourth grade should be given the mathematics that would allow them to grow up to have the option of becoming an engineer? Any attempt to separate elementary school children into two groups, one group that will never have the option of becoming an engineer and another group that will be given that option, would seem grossly unfair. All elementary school children should have the option of choosing to try to be an engineer, so all children must be given the necessary mathematics in elementary school.

So, what are the necessary mathematics that all elementary school children need, you may ask. Just take a look at what Professor Wilson has to say about the "Five Building Blocks" (Numbers, Place Value System, Whole Number Operations, Fractions & Decimals, Problem Solving) here.

Keeping the doors of opportunity open: PRICELESS.

A glimpse of how it could be

2007-09-20T08:18:00.000-05:00

This is a story of great teaching. It’s also a story of great administration. It’s certainly a shining example of what could be.

When Lisa Suben was 23 years old, she accepted a job as a fifth-grade math teacher at a KIPP school in our nation’s capital. Although this Teach for America graduate didn’t yet have a shining track record and was still a little wet behind the ears, she believed that she could improve upon the math program KIPP was already quite successfully implementing in their schools.

Suben had guts and determination and the KIPP adminstration trusted her instincts. They handed her the ball with the expectation that she would run with it, and boy did she run!

After a grueling 10-hour day at KIPP, Suben would spend another 3 hours at home writing her own lessons on her trusty laptop. She created her own math workbook to get her kids where they needed to be. Fast forward one year and Suben’s students jumped from the 16th percentile to the 77th. It was more than any other KIPP school (or any school, for that matter) had ever seen.

This is inspired teaching that touches the lives of children forever. Could it have happened in our public schools? I’m afraid that given the current models in place—probably not.

The trust placed in this teacher was certainly a risk, but a risk worth taking. It takes an administration with a vision and the guts to take on change in such a dynamic way.

But one of the secrets of KIPP's success in attracting the brightest young teachers and raising achievement for low-income children throughout the country is its insistence on letting good teachers decide how they are going to teach. KIPP principals, such as Johnson, have the power to hire promising young people such as Suben and let them follow their best instincts, as long as the results -- quality of student work, level of student classroom responses, improvement in standardized test scores -- justify the teacher's confidence in her approach.

New Teacher Jolts KIPP, Jay Matthews

Sometimes, you’re lucky enough to find a public school teacher who has hung in there long enough to make a significant difference. Rafe Esquith comes immediately to mind. But at what personal, financial and emotional cost to these visionary teachers? Where are the Rafe Esquiths that our public schools so desperately need?

Public schools make it difficult, if not impossible, for such dynamic, engaging teachers to survive the bureaucratic rhetoric and the endless red-tape. Too many potentially life-changing teachers decide it’s just not worth the effort to fight the uphill battle everyday. These individuals are lost to our children forever. In turn these children and their potential are lost to our society as well.

Would Lisa Suben have been such a force in a public school setting? Would she have had the freedom and responsibility to make such a difference? The honest answer is NO. This could only happen outside the confines of our typical public school system.

Lisa Suben and KIPP are but a glimpse of how it could be if we had choice. This story is precisely why I believe in it.

Another Everyday Math debacle

2007-09-15T17:46:00.000-05:00

I fail to understand why districts keep adopting Everyday Math despite everything we know about it and regardless of its very many shortcomings. A district in New Hampshire recently signed on with Everyday Math and it seems they're a bit worried about it.

They should be very worried.

Curriculum Coordinator Heather Cummings said that the Everyday Math curriculum, introduced this year, is still being worked in by teachers, and that there would be a learning curve before teachers could feel comfortable with it.

"It is a language-based program, so for those students who might struggle with that, we are working with teachers to deal with the issues," she said.

Just wondering...

Since when did math become "language-based" and more importantly, why? The fact that math is NOT language based is what so many children love about math. When I say language based, I'm NOT referring to word problems. Word problems are good. Word problems are math. By language-based I'm talking short answer response and essays about math. Why?

What happens to the children of Everyday Math while their teachers struggle with this "learning curve" anyway? In the meantime, they don't get through all the modules so that material is not covered at all and the children lose mathematics skills along the way. How is this acceptable? Apparently the plan is to plug the gaping holes left in sixth grade when the children get to seventh grade. Are you kidding me?

In the face of all we know about Everyday Mathematics, the human brain, and the results of those students who have gone through the program only to need remediation, why oh why do districts keep adopting Everyday Math? When will the madness end?

In the meantime, what happens to these children who don't even know what they're missing? What they are missing is rigorous mathematics that makes sense.

Source: The Citizen of Laconia, Math technology showcased at Belmont Shaker meeting

Fighting Terrorism with Math

2007-09-15T16:49:00.000-05:00

Want to eliminate a terrorist cell?
Call a mathematician.

Terrorists and extremists lurk about the Internet recruiting new members, planning attacks and spreading propaganda and it takes math to find them. As part of our own country's counterterrorism efforts, researchers in math, computer science, and criminology come together as part of the NSF sponsored Dark Web project at University of Arizona to track them down by connecting the dots of information. In an effort to emphasize the importance of math in counterrorism efforts, the Rochester Institute of Technology is hosting a conference bringing together mathematicians and interdisciplinary scholars from Denmark, Germany, England, Canada and the United States. The message is clear-- mathematics may be one of our most effective "weapons" in the fight against terrorism.

“I really think that people need to realize how important math will be in the war against terror,” says Bernard Brooks, one of the conference coordinators and an assistant head of research programs in RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences.
“Chemistry was the science for World War I. Physics was the science for World War II. Now, math will play a critical role in the war against terror.”

So when your child asks you why math is such a big deal or you're simply at your wits end with fighting the good fight against reform math, just remind yourself that it's not just the math wars you're fighting... it's so much bigger.

Math is our "quiet weapon" against terorrism and we need to nurture our budding mathematicians. That child you happen to play a role in preparing for advanced mathematics may just grow up to save lives someday.

Sources:

Mathematics plays critical role in war against terror

Scientists Use the "Dark Web" to Snag Extremists and Terrorists Online

Dark Web Terrorism Research

Mathematical Methods in Counterterrorism

Scientists Use 'Dark Web' To Snag Extremists And Terrorists Online

DOA in High School

2007-09-15T07:55:00.000-05:00

There's an article in the Baltimore Sun today about the "math crisis" in Anne Arundel County. Apparently the pass rates on the algebra exam are very low-- particularly among minorities.

The data reveal an Achilles' heel in a district that is increasing its effort to have students take higher level math and science. But district officials are discovering that zeroing in on why algebra performance is faltering is like an equation with too many variables.

"Is it family education? Is it poverty or race? Is a school not providing enough personal attention to students to find out exactly why they're not passing? It could be a combination of any of these," said Anne Arundel's chief school performance officer, George Arlotto, a former high school math and science teacher.

I find it ironic that they didn't plug "reform math" into the "equation with too many vaiables". Could it not be Everyday Mathematics, TERC Investigations, CMP are sending the ranks into high school unprepared? Could it not possibly be that minorities and underprivledged students don't have access to Kumon, Sylvan or expensive private tutors to undo the damage?

Well, at least school board member Eugene Peterson got something really right by admitting that his district needs to do a better job of preparing students to take algebra by the eighth grade.

He said, "It's competitive out there now. You're DOA in high school if you don't have algebra by middle school."

Stupid in America

2007-09-13T07:40:00.000-05:00

Haven't seen it? It's a must-see.

Seen it? Ask yourself, what has changed since you last watched. Anything?

Transcript here.

What do you know about public schools?
Take the quiz .

On mastering algorithms...

2007-09-10T05:57:00.000-05:00

"A mastered algorithm in the hands of a student is an incomparable tool laying bare the conceptual structure of the mathematical problems that the algorithm solves. With such tools, and with the guidance of good teachers in their use, a student can grasp and integrate in twelve years a body of mathematics that it has taken hundreds of geniuses thousands of years to devise."

-- David Ross, Ph.D., a mathematician at Kodak Research Labs

Ridgewood Reform Math in the Spotlight

2007-09-04T15:22:00.000-05:00

"The tide is turning too slowly for parents."

Check out Eclectic Educator for the latest story on CBN News!

"Overlearning" Overrated?

2007-08-31T15:39:00.000-05:00

Science Daily had an interesting article out this week discussing the value of overlearning. Recent research has found that studying material beyond mastery may be a waste of time in the long run.

University of South Florida psychologist Doug Rohrer decided to explore this question scientifically. Working with Hal Pashler of the University of California, San Diego, he had two groups of students study new vocabulary in different ways. One group ran through the list five times; these students got a perfect score no more than once. The others kept drilling, for a total of ten trials; with this extra effort, the students had at least three perfect run-throughs. Then the psychologists tested all the students, some one week later and others four weeks later.

The results were interesting. For students who took the test a week later, those who had done the extra drilling performed better. But this benefit of overlearning completely disappeared by four weeks. In other words, if students are interested in learning that lasts, that extra effort is really a waste. They should instead spend this time looking at material from last week or last month or even last year.

Researchers concluded that once mastery was achieved it was better to leave that subject alone for a while and return to it later. They actually found that an optimal "study break" of about a month resulted in long-term learning-- something they refer to as the "spacing effect".

Is this "spacing effect" an argument for the spiral approach? Perhaps so, yet it does seem to be a well executed spiral in which the content is first studied to mastery and then revisted for reinforcement later. This is certainly not the haphazard "spiral" I've witnessed my children being subjected to with Everyday Math and seems to be more in keeping with Saxon's idea of a spiral curriclum and to a more limited degree with Singapore Math's "spiral".

Just to be clear, it has absolutely no resemblance to the Everyday Math "spiral".

I hope they keep looking into this subject. Children have such precious little time to learn so many important things. Imagine all that could be accomplished if we implemented teaching and study skills that were actually efficient.

That would be a nice change.

Source: Back to School: Cramming Doesn't Work In The Long Term

ABSTRACT—Because people forget much of what they learn, students could benefit from learning strategies that yield long-lasting knowledge. Yet surprisingly little is known about how long-term retention is most efficiently achieved. Here we examine how retention is affected by two variables: the duration of a study session and the temporal distribution of study time across multiple sessions. Our results suggest that a single session devoted to the study of some material should continue long enough to ensure that mastery is achieved but that immediate further study of the same material is an inefficient use of time. Our data also show that the benefit of distributing a fixed amount of study time across two study sessions—the spacing effect—depends jointly on the interval between study sessions and the interval between study and test. We discuss the practical implications of both findings, especially in regard to mathematics learning.

Increasing Retention Without Increasing Study Time

cross posted at Kitchen Table Math

How good is your child's math program?

2007-08-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

How to Evaluate Your Child's Math Program
By Linda Strean, Managing Editor, GreatSchools

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has spelled out three math "focal points" for children in each grade, from kindergarten through eighth. Fennell said the council developed this short list because state standards vary widely and some of them include more than a hundred objectives for each grade. While the NCTM wrote these focal points for teachers and other educators, the list also offer parents a way to understand what their children should be focusing on.

"If my child is in Grade 6, I know a focus will be fractions," says Fennell. "That will take up more time than, say, adding whole numbers, which he should know how to do by now."

W. Stephen Wilson is a Johns Hopkins math professor who teaches freshman calculus and is a former senior advisor for mathematics in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. He also reviewed the states' K-12 math standards for the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, and he has strong opinions about which offer the best guidance. He called California's math standards "the gold standard." Wilson recommends that parents who want to make sure their students are getting prepared for high school and college compare the topics in their students' textbooks to the California standards.

"Odds are, if you can't do that easily then there is something very wrong," he says.

Look for Homework Clues

Wilson offers this advice to parents trying to evaluate their students' math instruction:

"If a student isn't bringing home work that requires lots of manipulation and lots of word problems, then there is probably a problem."

Fennell suggests talking to your child and the math teacher about how homework is used. You may learn a lot from the answers if you ask:

*Are homework assignments corrected and returned in a timely way?
*Is homework reviewed in class so students can learn from their mistakes?
*Does the teacher change the pace or direction of his instruction, based on the feedback he gets in homework?

You don't need to be a mathematician to ask good questions about the content of your child's class, Fennell says. "Ask the teacher 'What is the math? Is it a repeat of math that should have already been mastered? When my child finishes this year, will he be ready for high school math?'"

Bill Moore directs the Transition Mathematics Project in Washington state, which is working to better prepare students for the transition to college math. He summed up what middle school students need to get out of math this way:

"Students need to have a very solid foundation of basic procedural skills that really make problem-solving more fluid. There's a fundamental set of stuff that just has to be memorized, and there there's a sense of numbers, a sense of what's a reasonable answer. That's particularly important with the use of calculators. In some cases, in the elementary grades, they've been used as a crutch. Students go straight to the calculator and if the calculator says it's right, then it must be right."

Look at How Calculators Are Used

Talk to your child's math teacher about how calculators are used in the classroom. Debate has raged for years over whether students are relying too much on calculators and failing to learn the standard algorithms - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. But there does seem to be general agreement with the view expressed by Fennell that "the calculator is an instructional tool. It should support but not supplant anything. You don't use it for 6 x 7."

Fore more articles about education, visit the GreatSchools website.

Algebra: The Great Gatekeeper

2007-08-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

Why Is Algebra a Big Deal?

Algebra is the "gatekeeper" that lets people into rewarding careers and keeps others out.

By Linda Strean, Managing Editor, GreatSchools

It is frequently called the "gatekeeper" subject. It is used by photographers, architects, upholsterers and just about everyone in a high-tech career. It is simply a civil right, says Robert Moses, a veteran of the civil rights movement.

Basic algebra is the first in a sequence of higher-level math classes that students need to succeed. Because many students fail to get a solid math foundation, an alarming number of them are graduating from high school unprepared for either college or work. Many are taking remedial math in college, which makes getting a degree a longer, costlier process than it is for their more prepared classmates. And it means they're less likely to complete a college-level math course. For middle school students and their parents, the message is clear: It's easier to learn the math now than to try to relearn it later.

What Makes Algebra So Important?

The first year of algebra is the prerequisite for all higher level math: geometry, algebra II, trigonometry and calculus. According to a study by the ACT, students who take algebra I, geometry, algebra II and one additional high-level math course are much more likely to succeed in college math.

Algebra is not just for the college-bound. Students headed straight from high school to the work force will need the same math skills as college freshmen, the ACT found. This ACT study looked at occupations that don't require a college degree but pay wages high enough to support a family of four. Researchers found that math and reading skill levels required to work as an electrician, plumber or upholsterer were comparable to those needed to succeed in college.
Algebra is, in short, the gateway to success in the 21st century.

What's more, your child develops abstract reasoning when he makes the transition from concrete arithmetic to the symbolic language of algebra. That helps him become an abstract thinker, a benefit that will carry over into his study of other subjects.

College math readiness

2007-08-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Is Your Child Ready for College Math?

Help your high school student gain the necessary math skills to succeed in college and beyond.

By Linda Strean, Managing Editor GreatSchools

Your high-school student is on track to complete the math classes required by your state university. He may even have already passed the high school exit exam that your state requires. Does that mean he's prepared for college math?

Not necessarily.

Many Students Aren't Ready

Of the students in the high school class of 2006 who took the ACT for ollege admissions, less than half tested at a level indicating they would earn a C or higher in college algebra, the ACT reported. In another survey, one released in 2005 by the national nonprofit Achieve Inc., college instructors estimated that half of their students were inadequately prepared to do college math.

A significant number of these students probably wound up taking remedial math once they got to college. That means it is likely to take them longer and cost them more to get their college degrees. Studies also show that they are at higher risk for dropping out of college altogether.

At a time when an increasingly competitive global marketplace has focused attention on the need for math skills and when students are taking more standardized tests than ever, how did so many students graduate so unprepared?

Some of them didn't take enough math, some took the wrong math and some managed to pass the classes without learning the math. The high school exit exams many of them passed were designed to test 10th-grade skills, not college readiness.

The statistics are scary.

Scary, indeed.

Why memorize?

2007-08-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Why do I have to memorize this? Memorization isn't learning. Besides I know I'm going to forget it anyway.

We memorize in order to facilitate learning, so we can function with the demands of the field. Memorization is not an end in itself, and it does not constitute learning. But when you use this information, you won't forget it. Every field requires memorization, and most fields -- biology, history, physics, political science, languages -- require far more. We are only able to solve problems if we are familiar with the necessary terms and laws. To improve your memory, don't trust your recognition memory when it comes to a test. Practice writing out the definitions and theorems, and make outlines of the major points of the theory. Check back to your text for accuracy. It is easy to think we know something until we attempt to put it in writing. By practicing studying continuously in this way, rather than cramming at the last minute, you will find memorization will feel more naturally like part of the learning process.

from the Mathematics Survival Guide, James Martino

Referenced on the Home Page of W. Stephen Wilson
Department of Mathematics - Johns Hopkins University

Groovin' Math Teachers

2007-08-23T18:57:00.000-05:00

How to "teach to the test"

2007-08-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

If someone has a way of turning lemons into lemonade, it would have to be Rafe Esquith, an actual classroom teacher. In his most recent book Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, he illustrates just what teaching to the test should be all about.

*"He puts a simple addition problem on the board: 63 plus 28 equals ? Below the problem he writes the standard A., B., C. and D., leaving the possible answers blank for the moment."

Rafe: All right, everybody. Let's pretend this is a question on your Stanford 9 test, which as we all know will determine your future happiness, success, and the amount of money you will have in the bank. (Giggling from the kids) Who can tell me the answer?

All: 91.

Rafe: Very good. Let's place that 91 by the letter C. Would someone like to tell me what will go by the letter A?

Isel: 35.

Rafe: Fantastic! Why 35, Isel?

Isel: That's for the kid who subtracts instead of adds.

Rafe: Exactly. Who has a wrong answer for B?

Kevin: 81. That's for the kids who forgets to carry the 1.

Rafe: Right again. Do I have a very sharp detective who can come up with an answer for D?

Paul: How about 811? That's for the kid who adds everything but doesn't carry anything.

That there folks, is the way it's done.

*Excerpts from Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire discussed in America's Best Classroom Teacher, Jay Matthews, Washington Post.

Education Competitiveness Act

2007-08-22T10:24:00.001-05:00

How about this for an incentive to hit the math books? Major in one of the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) and receive a full college scholarship. This is one of the provisions proposed by Senator Max Baucus of Montana as part of the Education Competiveness Act. This scholarship would apply to ANY university and Senator Baucus even proposes to cover tuition and other expenses like books, student fees and school supplies too. Sounds like a sweet deal.

So, what's the catch? Upon completion of a STEM degree program, graduates must work or teach for four years in a related field. Small price to pay for a full ride, don't you think?

This program creates the incentive to be prepared to enter a STEM degree program and successfully complete it. It could attract some very bright minds into the teaching ranks that may otherwise have taken a different path. I have to admit, if it works, it could possibly turn the tide by taking the math/science education issue to the forefront. And why not? Parents do all kinds of crazy things to prepare their children for athletic scholarships. Maybe this will create the incentive to do a better job of preparing our children for careers in the STEM disciplines. In fact, being a math nerd just might become as cool as being a jock.

Will we develop the talent capable of benefiting from such scholarships? If the situation with public school math education remains on it's current course, many otherwise capable students will miss out on a great opportunity to effect meaningful change. They are going to have to be ready for more than remedial math when they get to college and the time to ask questions is now. Examine textbooks (if your child even has one), ask questions about scope and sequence, expectations, and research the math curriculum in place at your child's school. Take a hard, objective look at what's happening in the classroom and honestly assess whether it's working for your child and will get them to where they want to be.

‘‘I think the challenge is fierce, and I think we have a real obligation to go the extra mile and redo things a bit differently, so we leave this place in better shape than we found it,’’ Baucus said.

Politicians are starting to stand up and take notice. That's a good thing because this just may be THE educational issue of our generation. There is no doubt we need to develop scientists, engineers, and strong mathematical and technological minds if our nation is to find its way through the global maze. But will our children be prepared to take the baton and run with it?

Baucus proposing free college tuition
By The Associated Press

Cross posted at Kitchen Table Math.

The Human Calculator

2007-08-21T07:44:00.001-05:00

Find out more about Scott Flansburg, The Human Calculator, here.

A Teacher's Educational Agenda

2007-08-15T08:30:00.000-05:00

"Many people in the public schools want certain things done for economic or political reasons. Frequently, teachers attending staff development meetings are taught not by master teachers but by publishing-company employees. Why do fifth-grade teachers need hours of instruction before they can use a fifth-grade math book? Book publishers don't go to bed at night worrying that Johnny can't read; they worry about sales and profits. If our teachers can't teach, they're unlikely to be reformed by textbook publishers.

My school currently has two literacy coaches-- former teachers-- who constantly beg me to use their materials with my children. When these coaches try to convince me about their approaches, they rarely rely on arguments about improving reading. At the end of the last school year, my fifth-graders scored in the ninety-first percentile in national tests while the rest of the school scored in the forties. The coaches know this, so why do they want me to change my methods? They want to satisfy their boss, who wants to please his boss, who wants to impress her boss-- administrators all. It's insulting (and boring) to listen to them drone on about how to use their books.

The same song-and-dance routine accompanies the promotion of the latest new-and-improved math textbook. Seriously, how many ways can you teach a child his multiplication tables? Arithmetic hasn't changed. If a math text is so complicated that the average fifth-grade teacher can't understand it without hours of instruction, then there's something wrong with the book, the teacher, or both. These companies interfere with creative and effective teachers. If we want Johnny to calculate better, we need to hire better teachers, not buy newer textbooks."

--Rafe Esquith, An actual classroom teacher

excerpted from There Are No Shortcuts

You may also want to visit The Hobart Shakespeareans and watch this.

The Laws of Learning

2007-08-14T21:35:00.000-05:00

"The four laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, and repetition. The goal is to create a correct habit that can be produced instinctively under great pressure. To make sure this goal was achieved, I created eight laws of learning: namely, explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition and repetition."

-- John Wooden

Making math "cool" again

2007-08-11T11:26:00.000-05:00

I've been following Danica McKellar recently as I find having a positive role model for girls so very refreshing. I'm pleased to see her getting great PR and was particularly happy to see that she was chosen as ABC News Person of the Week.

I purchased Danica's recently launched book for my daughter and so far she is enjoying it very much. She already loves math and considers herself quite able but I think making math "cool" or "hip" or whatever kids are using these days to indicate something in vogue, is fantastic. The format of the book turns a significant and crucial subject into fun and light reading. I have to give it Danica, that cannot have been an easy thing to do.

I hope Danica accomplishes what she's set out to do for young girls but I'd also like to see her make it cool for boys too. She equates the benefits of working on your math skills to the benefits of a good workout routine for your body. It's hard work and it makes you break a sweat but the end result is worth the struggle to get there. That's just good advice for everybody, isn't it?

How Discouraging...

2007-08-11T10:27:00.000-05:00

There has been much press of late about the watering down of upper level mathematics courses in US high schools and the ill-effects of reform math that permeate K-12 education. Most recently we learned that the US will likely sit out the advanced TIMSS. The bar is being lowered right before our eyes.

We are not alone, however. I suppose misery loves company.

It seems that in the UK and Australia, students are being discouraged from taking upper level math to boost academic averages. Instead, students pad their last couple years with subjects they can do well in with less effort.

As the number of year 12 students enrolled in advanced and intermediate maths continues to slide, the chairman of the national committee for mathematical sciences, Hyam Rubinstein, said because maths was viewed as a difficult subject in schools, only the best and brightest were encouraged to pursue it at an advanced level.

"If a school wants to maximise their performance, they may feel that 'if we encourage weaker students not to take maths, our results will look better'," he said.

Upon entering university studies, these students require remedial math, of course. This also makes a career in science, technology, engineering or math quite unlikely. If you listen very carefully you can almost hear the doors of opportunity closing.

Compare this to China where math is a required course through age 18 and the end result is predictable. Unless we pick that bar up soon and turn things around, countries like China, Singapore and India will continue to develop the talent that every country requires to assure economic growth.

Discouraging students from taking challenging math courses that require effort, discipline and sweat equity not only results in remediation and lost opportunities, but it sends the wrong message. Forget the road less traveled, take the shortcut instead.

Discouraging indeed.

Will America Compete?

2007-08-04T11:21:00.000-05:00

August 3, 2007
Competition Bill Passed to President's Desk
By Roy Mark, InternetNews.com

Congress has approved legislation dedicated to improving America's ability to compete in a global economy. The America Competes Act would potentially dedicate more than $40 billion to federal research, development funding and math and science education.

I wonder what kind of math and science education they plan on funding? Please tell me it's not more of the same....

The U.S. House approved the measure on a 367-57 vote Thursday afternoon while the Senate endorsed the legislation on a Thursday night voice vote. The bill now heads to President Bush's desk for his signature.

On average, U.S. colleges and universities now annually turn out approximately 1 million graduates, but only 70,000 of those degrees are in engineering. By contrast, China and India churn out 6.4 million college graduates a year, with almost 1 million of those in engineering.

China and India aren't big fans of reform math and I don't believe it's a coincidence either.

To attract more students and teachers to those studies, the bill would create programs, grants and scholarships, including expanding statewide specialty schools in math and science. Several other programs in the bill focus on improving the skills of science, technology, engineering and math teachers.

Rigorous math and science schools- YES
Improving the skills of science, technology, engineering and math teachers- YES

"In passing this bill, we are asserting global economic leadership, creating new business ventures and jobs and giving future generations the opportunity to achieve the American dream," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in her opening remarks in support of the legislation.

My take:
This bill presents an opportunity if executed well. We need an objective analysis of where we are today and a hard look at the way we've been trying to turn this situation around for at least the last two decades. It's not working... don't go there, please. There is no doubt that our children must be prepared to take the helm in science, technology and engineering. Nevertheless, the direction our K-12 schools have taken so far isn't getting us there.
But if this bill merely represents more wasted NSF money invested in questionable curricula (such as TERC, Everyday Math, CMP, etc.) then we'll just have to keep finding the bulk of our engineers and scientists is someone else's backyard.
Read the entire article here.

On Elevating the Mind

2007-08-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

"Whoever passes by what is over his head condemns his head to its present low altitude; for nothing can elevate a mind except what is over its head; and that elevation is not accomplished by capillary attraction, but only by the hard work of climbing up the ropes, with sore hands and aching muscles."

- Dr. Mortimer J. Adler,

excerpts from Invitation to the Pain of Learning , 1941

You go girl!

2007-07-28T16:25:00.000-05:00

Guess what? Girls can do real math.....

That's what I call a role model!

"I want to show them that being smart is cool. Being good at math is cool. And not only that, it can help them get what they want out of life." --Danica McKellar

Read more about Danica McKellar in Newsweek's article A Math Makeover By Peg Tyre

and also in the archives of MMM here.

Is the Advanced TIMSS a threat?

2007-07-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

U.S. Poised to Sit Out Advanced TIMSS Test
Physics, advanced math gauged in global study.

By Debra Viadero

The U.S. Department of Education has decided for the first time to sit out an international study designed to show how advanced high school students around the world measure up in math and science.

Mark S. Schneider, the commissioner of the department’s National Center for Education Statistics, which normally takes the lead in managing the U.S. portion of international studies of student performance in those subjects, said budget and staffing constraints prevent his agency from taking part in the upcoming study, which is known as the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study-Advanced 2008.

The study, in which nine countries have so far agreed to participate, will test students taking physics and upper-level math classes, such as calculus, at the end of their secondary school years. It comes as national leaders in the United States are promoting improved math and science education as critical to protecting the nation’s economic edge.

[snip]

“We need to look outward in order to better understand our own system,” said Patsy Wang-Iverson, the vice president for special projects at the Gabriella and Paul Rosenbaum Foundation in Stockton, N.J., and the instigator of a campaign to recruit other agencies or organizations to take the statistics agency’s place. “Given all the reports that have come out about the need for the U.S. to remain competitive, I feel this is important.”

Support for Ms.Wang-Iverson’s efforts so far has come from several national groups, including the Washington-based Mathematical Association of America, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, based in Reston, Va., and the American Mathematical Society, in Providence, R.I.
“Not participating in this worldwide assessment will deprive us of data that cannot be gathered through any other means,” Francis “Skip” Fennell, the president of the NCTM, wrote in an April letter to federal lawmakers asking for future funding in support of such projects.

[snip]

Ms. Wang-Iverson said the U.S. study could also show whether American students who take increasingly popular “conceptual physics” classes, which rely less on advanced math, are getting the foundation they need to score high on the international physics test.

Complete Education Week article here.

Secret to better college performance in the sciences

2007-07-26T19:20:00.000-05:00

College Science Success Linked To Math And Same-subject Preparation

Science Daily — Researchers at Harvard University and the University of Virginia have found that high school coursework in one of the sciences generally does not predict better college performance in other scientific disciplines. But there's one notable exception: Students with the most rigorous high school preparation in mathematics perform significantly better in college courses in biology, chemistry, and physics.

The trick is, of course, making sure students are prepared for rigorous high school mathematics. Setting the stage for success in high school mathematics is crucial to success in high school and subsequently, in college. Setting the stage begins in elementary school.

Sadler and Tai surveyed 8,474 students enrolled in introductory science courses at 63 randomly selected four-year colleges and universities across the U.S. The students reported on their high school coursework (0, 1, or 2 years) in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics; this data was then correlated with their ultimate performance in their introductory college science courses. Sadler and Tai subjected this raw data to robust modeling to correct for socioeconomic factors that may advantage some students, including race, parental education level, and mean educational level of students' home communities, as defined by ZIP code.

Not surprisingly, the controlled data indicated that high school preparation in any of the scientific disciplines -- biology, chemistry, or physics -- boosted college
performance in the same subject. Also, students with the most coursework in high school mathematics performed strikingly better in their introductory biology and chemistry courses in college; introductory college-level physics performance also benefited. Conversely, little correlation was seen between the amount of high school coursework in biology, chemistry, or physics and college performance in any of the other disciplines in this trio.
From Want to Be Good at Science? Math Is Key
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer
Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, welcomed the paper as a source of new data for making decisions on science teaching.
"The correlation with math makes sense," he said.
But Wheeler, who was not part of the research group, cautioned that a correlation isn't necessarily the same as cause and effect.

Read the Harvard Press Release here.

Slacker's Paradise

2007-07-23T23:37:00.000-05:00

Aside from whole-class work, pairs and small group work, it appears that students of the Connected Mathematics Program are occasionally afforded the opportunity to do individual work. That is, of course, when the questions are less demanding.

"For an occasional question it is suggested that students work entirely on their own. Such questions may be less demanding than questions for which group work is suggested, or they may provide an opportunity for teachers to assess each student's understanding or skill at an important stage in the development of key mathematical ideas in the unit."

Keeping in mind that we're talking about middle school children, the student guidelines suggest the following when it comes to working in groups or pairs:

If you are confused, ask your group to explain. If no one in the group can answer the question, and it is an important question, raise your hand for the teacher.

Is it me or can you imagine numerous scenarios where this could go terribly wrong? Terribly wrong to the tune of 24-30 students at a time. What if they think they are correct but no one in the group actually is? What if they are embarrassed to admit they don't understand? What if they don't consider it important and it really is?

If someone in your group uses a word or an idea you do not understand, ask for an explanation. You are responsible for learning all you can from your group. You are also responsible for contributing to the work of your group. Your attempts to explain to others will help you to understand even better.

Charming. "You are responsible for learning all you can from your group." What if the group has nothing to teach the student? What if the group is goofing off, unfocused or just doesn't care? What if they honestly don't understand... does it really matter as long as one student in the group/pair actually does? Where's the incentive for every member to pull their weight? Again, just imagine the many things that can go wrong here too.

If memory serves me grades 6-8 are quite a challenge for teachers no matter what the subject. By this age kids really figure out how to push your buttons (and the envelope). You can bet they'll quickly figure out just how to manipulate this situation which rolls out the red carpet for shortcuts, tuning out, and wasted educational opportunities.

It's a slacker's paradise.

On measuring up

2007-07-23T18:22:00.000-05:00

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." -- Steve Jobs

Thought of the day...

2007-07-20T16:47:00.000-05:00

I'm tired of schools being so concerned about reaching proficiency that they dismiss the need to reach potential. There is quite a difference between the two and it makes all the difference in the world to my children (and yours).

Does this sound eerily familiar?

2007-07-19T12:25:00.000-05:00

Pointless Pre-Test

2007-07-16T17:01:00.000-05:00

I am quite curious. So is my seven year old. He's always game for something challenging so I decided to have him take the Everyday Math pre-tests on the University of Chicago website. He's going into second grade so we started there.

I am assuming, of course, that a pre-test covers topics that will be taught during the year so that a post-test can be given at the end of the year to measure learning and growth. I hope I'm wrong. I really do. The results were depressing.

He took the second grade pre-test and scored 100% in short order and with no fuss. He asked for the next one, so I obliged. Third grade pre-test completed with another score of 100%. I haven't given him the fourth grade test yet (though he asked) because I'm wondering what good will really come of it.

It's frustrating, actually. It means he's going to have to sit through an entire year of Everyday Math that covers topics that he already understands. I am saddened by this waste of learning opportunity and the lack of recourse to bring about change. Our district has chosen Everyday Math and despite all the talk about differentiation and meeting the needs of every learner, my son is doomed to boredom in mathematics during school hours from September through June.

He's finishing up Singapore Math 2B soon, and will likely finish Singapore 3A/3B before the end of the school year. But this huge disparity between what he is learning in math class and what he is learning at home is only certain to grow wider. Lots of children like him won't be challenged in math this year because the school doesn't consider it a priority to make the effort to challenge them and teach to their potential. What a collosal waste of talent.

The result of my pre-test experiment was what I had expected it to be. Absolutely pointless.

Serving at the sufferance of the public

2007-07-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

THE VITAL ROLE OF LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS

Local school boards, because they are the decision-making body closest to the classroom, play a central role in setting a new course. It is they who have the ultimate responsibility to bring high quality teaching in mathematics and science to our schools. It is their job (within some state imposed guidelines) to set local instructional priorities and policy, to determine budgets, and to set salary scales. Perhaps most important of all, it is school boards that are accountable—to citizens, parents, and taxpayers alike—for the education our children receive. Whether elected or appointed, school board members serve at the sufferance of the public. But to be accountable, school boards must be held accountable. They must be called on to interpret their actions and justify their decisions. And in America, making them responsive is the people’s job.

Parents, let's all do our jobs so that the school boards do theirs.

Quoted from:

Before It's Too Late
A Report to the Nation from The National Commission
on Mathematics and Science Teachingfor the 21st Century, p. 36

In Techno-Savvy Japan, No Calculators in Class

2007-07-08T23:12:00.000-05:00

Math teacher absorbs Japanese culture
Deb Tvrdik participates in Fulbright-sponsored program
By MICHAEL NEARY, Messenger staff writer

As Deb Tvrdik observed students in Japan during a trip late last month, she noticed students who — especially at a young age — seemed to take charge of their learning.

[snip]

Tvrdik — who filed her successful application for the trip in December — saw students at Fukashi High School, in Matsumoto, along with students at nearby elementary and junior high schools. As she observed teaching at various levels, she said she noticed more similarities than she’d expected.

[snip]

But some differences within the classroom, which generally harbored about 40 students, emerged for Tvrdik. She noticed, for instance, that classrooms were generally devoid of technology — a conscious decision on the part of the staff, she said.

‘‘You didn’t see any calculators in the classrooms,’’ she said.

Tvrdik said teachers explained that they needed time to cover the material, and that students could learn to use technological devices at home. She said teachers also wanted young students to sharpen their computation skills without the benefit of calculators.

Everyday Math and Report Cards

2007-07-08T18:43:00.000-05:00

"As part of the implementation process, many Everyday Mathematics Schools have revised their report cards to bring them into better alignment with the curriculum. "

This is from the Everyday Mathematics webpage. Just think about this for a moment. Why should a school change their entire report card to align with the math curriculum? The website even posts samples of schools that did. Here are a couple:

New York sample report card- 3rd grade
Michigan sample report card - 3rd grade

"Schools have revised their report cards to bring them into better alignment with the curriculum." I highly suspect that my school is one of them. This past year they introduced a new grading system for grades 1-4. In fact, they had to publish a handbook to explain it all to parents.

The following is a description of grading criteria at our elementary school:

(S) Secure- Student consistently shows strong understanding of the concept and skill. (90-100%)*
(D) Developing- Student shows satisfactory understanding of the concept and skill. (70-89%)*
(B) Beginning- Student shows minimal understanding of the concept and skill. (69% or less)*
(N) Not Demonstrating- Student is not currently demonstrating this skill. (?)*
(N/A) Not Assessed- Skill is not being assessed during given marking period.

*The percentages are not included on report cards. I have included them here for some perspective. When parents wanted to know what this grading system meant in real terms, the answer was to come up with these ranges in which the lowest anyone receives is a "B".

Generally, a "minimum" is meant to indicate the very bottom limit to what can be considered acceptable. Webster's defines it as follows:

minimum adj : the least possible; "needed to enforce minimal standards"; "her grades were minimal"

In the case "her grades were minimal", it would appear that unless you score an "N" for "Not Demonstrating", you are meeting the minimum standards. As far as I am aware, the lowest grade assigned this year to any student was a "B" for "Beginning" which by definition still meets the "minimum" standard even though it's below 50%. The only point of having such a range there could possibly be is for everyone to meet the minimum standard. This is school reform at its very finest, folks.

I don't know, but that kind of a range has quite a bit of wiggle room, doesn't it? What's even more worrisome than such a loosey goosey assessment model is that the Everyday Mathematics publisher actually encourages schools to change their report card to fit their curriculum. They want loosey-goosey report cards where everyone meets the minimum standard, they suggest that schools should change the report cards, and schools do!

I had no idea publishers had this much influence in our schools.... did you?

Interview with a Maryland math guru

2007-07-06T18:51:00.000-05:00

Excerpts from

Interview with University of Maryland Mathematics Professor Jerome Dancis
January 2, 2006

Why is it important for students who do not plan to pursue math or technology in college to learn real algebra?

According to civil rights activist Dr. Robert Moses, math literacy (and algebra literacy) is a civil rights issue. In his book “Radical Equations” Dr. Moses states that “the most urgent social issue affecting poor people and people of color is economic access. In today’s world, economic access and full citizenship depend crucially on math and science literacy.” xi Verbal literacy, says Moses, is no longer enough. Algebra “now is the gatekeeper for citizenship; and people who don’t have it are like the people who couldn’t read and write in the Industrial Age.” xii

For many students, learning Algebra is crucial to obtaining their first or second choices for a career or college major. The lack of an appropriate math background is especially problematic because math builds on itself. Students arriving in college, not fluent in Arithmetic and Algebra, often do poorly in remedial math in college and then drop out.

Finally, real algebra in high school is important because it helps develop abstract thinking and problem solving skills. My son-in-law is a linguist and he tells me that algebra helped him understand things in linguistics. There is a certain amount of abstract thinking and problem solving involved in algebra and problem solving is useful for anything. There is very little problem solving in other high school subjects such as History and English.

Shouldn’t professors from Colleges of Mathematics also have a say in how math is taught in public schools?

Only if the top priority is a good math curriculum. It’s not only that we know math but we also know what students need to know when they enter college.

College mathematics, science and social studies professors have little if any voice in determining state education policies. For example, in 2001 the Maryland Mathematics Commission released a report that included recommendations for changing math education in Maryland. xxi The only professor of mathematics on the Maryland Mathematics Commission (with a Math Ph.D.) was regularly outvoted as a minority of one.

The Commission report disparages the traditional high school mathematics curriculum, which is mostly real algebra. The report advocates Reform Math courses in data analysis, statistics, probability, and discrete mathematics. However, without this disparaged traditional background, only superficial courses in data analysis, statistics, probability, and discrete mathematics, as well as high school physics are possible.

ix http://www.asd.calstate.edu/performance/remediation.shtml
x California State Board of Education. Standards and Frameworks. http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/
xi Dionne, Jr., E.J. (6 March 2001). Into the Math Mix. The Washington Post, pg. A.23. As leader of the Mississippi Voter Rights Project, Dr. Moses was one of the ten most important civil rights activists in the1960s. Moses has a Harvard Ph.D. in the philosophy of mathematics. For the past decade he has been organizing the Algebra Project.
xii Dionne, Jr., E.J. (6 March 2001). Into the Math Mix. The Washington Post, pg. A.23.

xxi Maryland State Department of Education. (2001).Keys to Math Success: A Report from the Maryland Mathematics Commission. http://www.msde.state.md.us/Special_ReportsandData/keys.pdf

Dr. Dancis is currently an an official of the state of California, appointed by the California State Board of Education to be a Content Review Panel (CRP) member. He is charged with ensuring that four mathematics textbook series, submitted for adoption for the Grades 4-7 Intervention Program are accurate and aligned to the especially good California mathematics standards.

You can access the entire interview here.

For a more complete listing of Professor Jerome Dancis' articles and positions on the teaching of mathematics, a visit to his homepage would certainly be worth your time.

How is your state faring when it comes to teacher quality?

2007-07-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

Excerpts from

State Teacher Quality Yearbook
Progress on Teacher Quality

State Policy Yearbook 2007
National Council on Teacher Quality

"The State Teacher Policy Yearbook is the first project of its kind to provide a 360-degree detailed analysis of any and every policy that states have that impact the quality of teachers, specifically their recruitment, preparation, licensing, evaluation and compensation. In all, the Yearbook project is an encyclopedia of individual state reports, totaling more than 5,600 pages of analysis and recommendations in 51 separate reports."

Executive Summary: Key Findings
#8 State policies are not geared toward increasing the quality and quantity of math and science teachers.

While states have put in place many boutique initiatives to address these shortages, structural adjustments would provide greater yield.
By not focusing on the equitable distribution of teachers, states shortchange the neediest children of qualified math and science teachers. Only 12 states have made even some progress to achieve this goal.

Alternate route programs provide excellent means by which to recruit and prepare mid-career professionals with backgrounds in science and math. 32 states do not allow someone to demonstrate subject-matter knowledge by means of a test in lieu of their requirement of a major in the subject.

The harder it is for teachers to move between states, the harder it is for a qualified math and science teacher to find a new job. Yet 23 states attach lots of strings before issuing an equivalent license to a teacher moving from out of state. Even worse, a qualified math and science teacher trying to find a new job but who was prepared in an alternate route may be greeted with an unwelcome sign in 38 states.

Perhaps most key is the reality that there is such a shortage of math and science teachers because they can earn so much more money in other professions with these skills. 28 states support differential pay initiatives for teachers in shortage areas.

You can access How the States are Faring for detailed information about your own state.

Music to my ears...

2007-07-05T12:58:00.000-05:00

5 July 2007
by Nakonia (Niki) Hayes

Using music, you’ll understand where we are in American mathematics education.

Suppose those learning to play musical instruments had to learn to play them by ear. There would be no focus on the symbols of music, sounds of specific notes, practicing of scales, learning classical pieces, or even learning some standard tunes (“Chop Sticks”) from which creative “extensions” could be made.

The small percentage of students who could play an instrument by ear could not help others as they try to craft their own natural talents into productions, because the intuitive players couldn’t translate their innate abilities into internationally-known music symbols.

So the adopted method for all other students would be called “discovery learning.” Students would “manipulate” their instruments with teachers “facilitating” the students’ efforts to discover how to form a particular tune, which, of course, they had created themselves.

There would be no continuous practice—no “drill and kill” of repetition. All tunes would be considered acceptable because they were the original, personal creation of each student. Comparisons to respected or classical renditions might be possible, but that would be extremely time consuming, and it would not be considered “relevant” in today’s modern classroom.

Students who needed to learn by the old-fashioned methods, such as studying music symbols, their related sounds, and repetitive practice would need extra tutoring. Supplemental materials might be allowed that taught some “basic skills,” but the bigger picture to learning music, or the conceptual approach, must be maintained. All of this supplementary material would cost extra money for the schools—and extra time for the students and teachers.

Schools of education that train teachers would insist this “discovery” method of learning music is progressive and provides social justice for girls and students of color in the music profession. They would base much of their beliefs on a few education researchers in the 1970s who had concluded that inductive and intuitive methods--those that focus on process rather than product--were needed by these two “subgroups.”

They assert while traditional music lessons that teach procedures and memorization without understanding may lead to a facility with technique, note reading and instrument mastery, those lessons do not lead to improvisation or playing music with feeling.

Further, with a glowing love for the use of technology in music – such as computer sampling, electronic instruments, and digital recording technology that can improve the sound, including the adjustment of pitch problems so that all singers sound like they're on pitch no matter how flat (or sharp) they sing—education schools say music students no longer need to learn the basics of good vocal production, music composition, or even tuning their instruments.

Finally, music education tells teachers that white males and Asian students were the only ones who had benefited from the traditional methods of learning music for the past several thousand years. The progress made in music by the “ancients” and their methods are to be considered of no significance or relevance in the child-directed, “discovery” teaching classroom.

Many elementary school teachers liked the discovery method because it did not require their learning the music symbols and the many complicated relationships that could result from those symbols. High school music teachers hated the discovery method because they had difficulty finding enough qualified students to form a school band, symphony, or choir.

Many parents of elementary students accepted the discovery learning because the students seemed to “enjoy” it and they always had good grades in the subject. After all, the grading was based on subjective judgments about the student’s process of creating his or her own musical piece, and it was not a comparison to another’s work.

The consequence, however, is a growing lack of new musicians. This is impacting, among many music-related scenarios, high school bands, symphonies, and musical productions in theatres. Foreign students who had studied traditional music lessons are becoming the heart of America’s shrinking music scene.

How long before the public refuses to tolerate this destruction of music education and ultimately music’s contribution to society and the world? Will it take five years, 10 years, or 20 years?

Will college music teachers stand by quietly as their incoming students’ proficiencies continually disintegrate? Will professional music companies and businesses ignore the shrinking pool of talent? Will business leaders believe the progressive philosophy that insists we must focus on “creativity thinking” and not worry about the significance of foundational work in the music discipline?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now substitute “mathematics” for “music” and you have a picture of what has been happening in American mathematics education for the past 40 years.

“Whole math,” based on conceptual, intuitive, process-based thinking has replaced traditional mathematics education. (Yes, it is the parallel universe to the “whole language” fiasco that produced two generations of poor readers and writers in American education.)

Algorithms, symbolic manipulation, and basic skills are no longer mastered in elementary mathematics—and therefore in high school classes—because those represent the traditional, classical education formerly reserved only for white males, according to the leaders of “reform mathematics.” The traditional program represents “drill and kill,” they say. Traditionalists say the program offers “drill and skill,” as well as mastery of concepts.

This reform pedagogy was codified in 1989 by a private group called The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) when they published their Curriculum Standards for K-12 mathematics education. The National Science Foundation bought into their ideas, probably due to their emphasis on egalitarianism. From 1991 through 1999, the NSF pumped $83 million into universities and publishers that would create math curricula that supported the reformists’ social engineering agenda.

In 1999, more than 200 professional mathematicians sent a letter to Richard Riley, Education Secretary, asking him to withdraw support for the reform math products, due to their poor quality of mathematics instruction. He ignored them. Even more multi-millions have been funneled into the programs from both government and private sources through today.

Educators have latched onto these cash cows as money is offered to “pilot” reform programs and students have become research subjects. Math wars have erupted among parent groups and districts in pockets across the country as parents (and a few teachers) try to change the direction of mathematics education in their schools. Parents are learning, however, that schools really don’t want parent involvement if it means they are going to question curriculum choices. And test scores continue to show the disintegration of mathematics’ skills among American students.

When educators and businesses wonder why this is happening, they should think about students learning to play music by ear. That’s the real picture of mathematics education today. It’s been going on, officially, for almost two decades.

When will the people who can make a real difference—parents, colleges, and businesses who must look to foreign workers to bring in mathematical skills—conduct a reality check on the “whole math” philosophy?

When will they stop being schmoozed by an education establishment that’s protecting its turf and special interest groups? When will they demand a truthful answer to the question, “Whose interest is being served here?”

In essence, when will our children have advocates who understand proven mathematical logic and reasoning with regards to performance and product? Or will we continue to follow the false concept that equity and excellence can be achieved by everyone learning to play by ear?

*reprinted with the permission of the author, Niki Hayes.

Not ready for college level math

2007-07-05T08:47:00.000-05:00

July 5, 2007

High school math failing to make the college grade
Valley professors say skipped basics are forcing remedial work.

By Genevieve Marshall of The Morning Call

Students are heading to college less prepared for math than they were a decade or two ago, forcing colleges and universities to rewrite textbooks and add more review work and remedial courses.
Math professors in the Lehigh Valley laid the blame on integrated math programs that don't emphasize basic skills, high-stakes testing and the push to give students higher-level math courses at increasingly younger ages.

''Many bright students are hurried through algebra and trigonometry courses on their way toward statistics and calculus,'' said Marie Wilde, chairwoman of the mathematical and information sciences program at Cedar Crest College in Allentown.
''They arrive at college without the critical skills they should have spent much more time developing, rather than jumping prematurely into what has traditionally been considered college-level work.''
Experts say the problem can be found at all levels of higher education -- from students going to community college for associate degrees to those studying to be engineers.
Northampton Community College, finding that students were struggling with pre-algebra courses, added a low-level basic mathematics course and arithmetic course to its offerings for the fall 2007 semester.
"We had to,'' said Mardi McGuire-Closson, dean of students. ''Students who struggle in math are more likely to drop out. Math pushes their panic button.''
Oftentimes, students face the repercussions of a weak foundation in math when they sign up for a college math course.

I sound like a broken record, I know. The location changes but the story remains the same, doesn't it? This could be a student in PA or one in CT, or anywhere else in this great nation. Whether it's your town or mine, children need a strong foundation in mathematics or like a house built with a deck of cards, their ability to excel in mathematics will be subject to even the mildest breeze.

It's so clear to me that the "emperor is naked" that it's difficult to understand how someone else might be admiring his "new clothes". But they do.

How long will it take before we are reasonable enough to admit that as exciting as reform math may sound, as flashy as the books may look, as noble as the inspiration may have been, it's not working. Can we please do something better now?

You can read the whole article in The Morning Call here.

When reform math rubber hits the road...

2007-07-03T20:55:00.000-05:00

What happens when a school board member asks a group of middle school students "What is 9x8?" and only six out of 25 are able to answer the question? That school board member starts asking more questions...

School board member Pat Fletcher of Maryland was concerned enough to bring the issue before the school board as well as a seasoned University of Maryland math professor, Jerome Dancis. They were all "shocked to hear a math coordinator at the meeting say that county students should have a ‘‘sense” of what 9x8 is."

This is when the reform math rubber meets the road of reality. Having a good "sense of numbers" may sound "21st Century" to some, but if it means that only 24% of a given middle school class can answer a basic math fact question, you might say you have a big problem.

According to Professor Jerome Dancis ‘‘A math coordinator said that not all students can memorize the multiplication tables, implying that since some cannot, none should be required to do it.” He didn't mince words in his report when it comes to Maryland's algebra exam either, criticizing it for allowing students to use calculators. His argument that such a policy sets students up for failure when they get to college is not a new one, but it is a significant one.

‘‘Again, this is a very good strategy if the goal is just to have students pass the [state’s algebra test],” Dancis wrote.

‘‘This is a counterproductive strategy if a goal is to have students avoid remedial [math courses] when they enter college.”Using calculators on algebra exams, he said, ‘‘allows students’ arithmetic skills to get rusty” and ‘‘covers up students’ lack of fluency in arithmetic.”

Dancis released a memo to the state board last month making clear his concerns for the struggle with math that students would encounter upon entering college. The data Dancis used in support of his hypothesis is damning. When looking at the county's most advanced students of math, 44% of these advanced students that should have been prepared for postesecondary mathematics, took remedial math classes when they enrolled in a Maryland college or university in 2004. As for the statistics of advanced African-American math students needing remedial college math that year, they are even more bleak. Of these advanced students, 53% required remedial college math.

‘‘The county has a problem,” Dancis said in an interview with The Gazette. ‘‘A massive number of their better graduates need to take remedial math in college.”

So if your standards make some vague reference to "number sense", you might want to take a closer look. Particularly if you think it's important for your middle school student to know how to answer the question "What is 9x8?" or any other basic math fact that just might come in handy some day. Afterall, what will they do when they get to college and are expected to calculate without a calculator? Assuming, of course, that they get to bypass remedial math first.

Source:
Math guru critical of county’s math curriculum
Board of Eduction member also concerned about math lessons
by Dennis Carter Staff Writer
July 4, 2007

High hopes for CT's Commissioner of ED

2007-07-02T12:58:00.000-05:00

Owning Up to Failure

July 1, 2007
New York Times
Opinions

"Dr. McQuillan, who came to Connecticut from Massachusetts, is blunt about the need to improve reading scores, especially among minority students. “The reading wars between phonics and whole language are over, and what works is not a matter of opinion,” he said, indicating that a phonics-based approach is the most effective.

“There’s a lot of data about what makes sense and good policy for reading, and it is stunning how often it is ignored.” He hopes to require training in reading education for those elementary school teachers who need it, and to raise course requirements for education majors who wish to teach in the primary grades.

All this will be a challenge in a state that is notoriously slow to change."

I've got high hopes for Dr. McQuillan, Connecticut's new commissioner of education. I love that he sees through the hype and wants to do what works. Let's hope he tackles math next. And soon.

One day in the not so distant future I hope to read a quote from Mark McQuillan that says something to the effect of "The math wars between traditional and constructivist math are over, and what works is not a matter of opinion. There's a lot of data about what makes sense and good policy for mathematics, and it is stunning how often it is ignored." Wouldn't that be nice?

I can only hope.

A Progressive Parent's Pondering

2007-07-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

Parenting is not a dichotomy of traditional versus progressive. I believe few things in life are. But if I would have to choose where I lie on that spectrum as a parent, I would say it would be closer to progressive.

Just because I set high expectations for my children, stress the importance of the basics, and want them to develop a work ethic does not make me old school. I’d like to think of those qualities as timeless, classic and above all, crucial to sending self-sufficient, responsible, compassionate people out into the world. I consider that my job and I work diligently at it everyday. Many parents do.

Nevertheless, it would be hypocritical for me to say that education shouldn’t evolve. My education was not like my parent’s and my children’s is unlike my own. There are too many variables to account for this to list here, but I would like to think that it comes down to each generation sincerely wanting something better for their own children. That’s what I want, anyway. That’s what I consider progress.

If I were old school in the strict interpretation dictated by the dichotomy of progressive versus traditional, I don’t think I’d understand the value of a blog, google, or youtube. I wouldn’t depend on TiVo, billpay or Amazon.com for services and products I find I enjoy having only a keystroke away. I would not be here wishing I could upgrade my computer to something better, faster, and more plugged-in. While I'm wishing, an iPhone would be nice too. How could I not want technology to enhance my children’s lives as well?

Technology enriches learning in our home at every turn. My oldest child completes her Singapore Math assignment and Kumon worksheets with a pencil (the yellow kind you have to sharpen), and then further enriches the learning experience with some computer math games or even better, a visit to HeyMath. Some of it she considers “work” and may even grumble about (worksheets) and some of it is “fun” (computers) but because life is neither exclusively one nor the other, it’s important that she experience both. Life is not a dichotomy. Life is balance and I believe it’s important that children learn that lesson early on.

Foundations are good. Learning to type accurately allows you to write more fluidly, blog more quickly and empty your mind of all the wonderful ideas that dance around in your head. But is learning to type fun? Not really. There are computer programs that attempt to make it so and they work up to a point, but in the end you have to practice over and over to be really masterful at typing. I know…. you don’t have to be a good typist to be a good writer and conversely, you don’t have to be a good writer to be a good typist. There is always voice recognition software, people who transcribe your taped ideas into typed words, and other such advancements we could use instead. However, for most of us, typing the words and learning to edit our writing allows us to express ourselves quickly, accurately, and with relative ease via a medium that has become part and parcel of our culture. Another “foundation” that opens the door to bigger ideas.

Just last week I was reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick to my children, and upon finishing it we promptly watched a clip of A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès to enrich what we had experienced in that wonderful book. I love that we can learn together like that, first with printed words and images on paper and then time traveling via technology. Had we not watched the movie would the book still be interesting? Absolutely. But adding the film to the mix enriched the story on so many levels. We went on to watch Un homme de têtes and marvel over the magic of Méliès. Technology can certainly open the door to so many new ideas, approaches and understanding when you know when and how to use it.

Being progressive does not mean we have the luxury to forgo building strong foundations, or that technology can somehow replace this need. I do believe that assuring that my children have a strong foundation will allow them to access technology in an empowering manner while at the same time develop the perspective to assess the technology for whatever value it may have at each turn. For them to become completely dependent on technology so that they cannot function without it would be limiting indeed. Instead, I wish for my children to learn to manipulate the tools of progress in order for them to forge their own limitless destiny.

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
--B. F. Skinner