Is the way we teach math the reason why US students are falling behind? The answer is yes according to a report released earlier this year by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. As described recently in the Washington Post:
It says the typical state math curriculum runs a mile wide and an inch deep, resulting in students being introduced to too many concepts but mastering too few, and urges educators to slim down those lessons.
Some scholars say the American approach to math instruction has allowed students to fall behind those in Singapore, Japan and a dozen other nations. In most states, they say, the math curriculum has swelled into a thick catalogue of skills that students are supposed to master to attain "proficiency" under the federal No Child Left Behind mandate.
The point of the new Curriculum Focal Points is simply: go deep in a few basic concepts:
An approach that focuses on a small number of significant mathematical “targets” for each grade level offers a way of thinking about what is important in school mathematics that is different from commonly accepted notions of goals, standards, objectives, or learning expectations. These more conventional structures tend to result in lists of very specific items grouped under general headings. By contrast, Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics offers more than headings for long lists, providing instead descriptions of the most significant mathematical concepts and skills at each grade level. Organizing a curriculum around these described focal points, with a clear emphasis on the processes that Principles and Standards addresses in the Process Standards—communication, reasoning, representation, connections, and, particularly, problem solving—can provide students with a connected, coherent, ever expanding body of mathematical knowledge and ways of thinking. Such a comprehensive mathematics experience can prepare students for whatever career or professional path they may choose as well as equip them to solve many problems that they will face in the future.
The report has apparently sparked a reevaluation of the math curriculum in a number of states and a debate within the education community. According to Education Week:
Critics have complained that those standards did not place enough emphasis on essential math skills and basic arithmetic, and instead pushed a “fuzzy math” model. NCTM officials dispute those claims, saying the standards call for both the cultivation of basic math skills and more conceptual understanding of the subject.
The real question of implementation is whether the No Child Left Behind test standards are modified. I hope the Education Department looks carefully at these new standards. It seems to me that this is a reasonable way to improve math teaching.
Now maybe we can also open up the curriculum to examination of all the other subjects - especially those that have been dropped as part of our overly narrow focus on math and science?
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