'Math wars' over national standards may erupt again in California
source: http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_14780292?source=rss
-
-
- Trauzer
- added this
"Hold on to your graphing calculators: The passionate, contentious debate over how California students should learn math is ready to erupt again.
While math formulas and properties may be delightfully precise, how best to teach them to children is not. As the United States prepares for the first time to adopt nationwide K-12 "common core" standards, mathematicians and educators are split.
Some hail the proposals as a groundbreaking advancement because students will develop a more solid footing in math before rushing to the next level; others fear the plan would propel California backward. Each side warns that America's future as a global science and technology powerhouse is at stake.
Fast-tracked by the Obama administration, standards for what students should learn in English and math have been drafted by a national committee representing 48 states and the District of Columbia. The public has until Friday to submit comments. California can choose not to adopt the federal standards but would miss out on competing for hundreds of millions in federal stimulus dollars.
While the proposed English curriculum hasn't provoked an outcry, the math debate echoes California's "math wars" that raged in the 1990s and led to repeals of reforms that favored problem-solving, applications and group work over traditional teaching.
Under the new proposed standards, primary students would spend more time going in depth on concepts before learning new skills, said Gretchen Muller, president of the northern section of the California Math Council. For instance, students here would learn multiplication in fourth grade rather than third.
Rather than following in step with other states, critics say, California should be looking to keep up with India, Singapore and Europe. Compared with their peers in Europe and Asia, U.S. students are two to 2½ years behind in math; California students are 1½ years behind, said James Milgram, professor emeritus of math at Stanford University who will help determine the new national standards."
Read more at the article (link below):
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_14780292?source=rss
While math formulas and properties may be delightfully precise, how best to teach them to children is not. As the United States prepares for the first time to adopt nationwide K-12 "common core" standards, mathematicians and educators are split.
Some hail the proposals as a groundbreaking advancement because students will develop a more solid footing in math before rushing to the next level; others fear the plan would propel California backward. Each side warns that America's future as a global science and technology powerhouse is at stake.
Fast-tracked by the Obama administration, standards for what students should learn in English and math have been drafted by a national committee representing 48 states and the District of Columbia. The public has until Friday to submit comments. California can choose not to adopt the federal standards but would miss out on competing for hundreds of millions in federal stimulus dollars.
While the proposed English curriculum hasn't provoked an outcry, the math debate echoes California's "math wars" that raged in the 1990s and led to repeals of reforms that favored problem-solving, applications and group work over traditional teaching.
Under the new proposed standards, primary students would spend more time going in depth on concepts before learning new skills, said Gretchen Muller, president of the northern section of the California Math Council. For instance, students here would learn multiplication in fourth grade rather than third.
Rather than following in step with other states, critics say, California should be looking to keep up with India, Singapore and Europe. Compared with their peers in Europe and Asia, U.S. students are two to 2½ years behind in math; California students are 1½ years behind, said James Milgram, professor emeritus of math at Stanford University who will help determine the new national standards."
Read more at the article (link below):
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_14780292?source=rss
-
- groups:
- Community
-
- tags:
- Education, California, Math, Mathematics, 1 more
