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Looking to Singapore for success
The paragraphs on Singapore are fine, though naturally the theme is conceptual understanding "combined with" procedural knowledge. According to the folks at eSchool, the Singapore books are the first in world history to attempt such a feat.
Then, inevitably, we get to TERC.
Eric McDowell, who oversees Bellevue's math curriculum, says parents misunderstand Investigations. McDowell says schools supplement the program with more traditional drilling in the basics, and students end up flourishing. "It's not an either-or situation," he says.
In the Alpine School District in Utah, parent Oak Norton, an accountant, has gathered petitions from 1,000 families to protest the use of Investigations. His complaints began more than two years ago, when he discovered at a parent conference that his oldest child, then in third grade, wasn't being taught the multiplication tables.
Barry Graff, a top Alpine administrator, says the system has added more traditional computation exercises and plans to give each school a choice between Investigations or a more conventional approach. Graff, who says Alpine test scores tend to be at or above state averages, expects critics to keep up the attacks.
"Other than the war in Iraq, I don't think there's anything more controversial to bring up than math," he says. "The debate will drive us eventually to be in the right place."
Right.
It's just like Iraq.
Parents don't understand and we're a pack of crazed, warmongering Huns.
Actually, crazed warmongering Huns is probably fine.
Who wants to tangle with Huns?
Not me.
Here are some more Huns.
Just in case I haven't made my point.
eSchool News on Singapore Math
more huns
Huns and more Huns!
15 comments:
Math barbarians at the gate....
"Other than the war in Iraq, I don't think there's anything more controversial to bring up than math,"
I don't even know what to say to that.
I would love for each of these people to sit one on one with Dr. Wilfried Schmid who has been quoted as stating "Virtually any curricula would be better than Investigations".
Dr Schmid is a Harvard mathematician and a member of President George W Bush's Mational Mathematics Advisory Panel.
I also wonder why would any school want materials that are not as close to perfect as can be? Too much supplementing translates to a waste of money.
And as for test scores ... when the bar is set so low, its easy to jump over ...
Ken Mayer, a spokesman for TERC, says many parents have a misconception that Investigations doesn't value computation. He says many school systems, such as Boston's, have seen gains in test scores using the program. "Fluency with number facts is critical," he says.
TERC and EM are both trying to convince us that since they include "some" computation problems they have been mischaracterized by parents and the press. The problems with TERC and EM won't be solved by adding in a little more practice. It simply makes the programs less bad than they used to be.
Math barbarians at the gate....
I love it!
I don't even know what to say to that.
I know.
speechless
I thought conceptual understanding was something tried back in the 60's in the US. Singapore is hardly the first.
So far, the New Math algebra textbook that I've been looking at has many computational problems as well as word problems that are the same caliber as the algebra in Singapore's NEM series.
If Singapore were ever used in the US I suspect that we wouldn't adopt it as is. Everyone would demand a change or two. Each publisher would come up with a variation. The changes would add up and it would end up as incoherent garbage. The only interesting part of that experiment would be how the failure gets explained away.
The changes would add up and it would end up as incoherent garbage.
Gosh, I hate even to think about it.
"If Singapore were ever used in the US I suspect that we wouldn't adopt it as is. Everyone would demand a change or two. Each publisher would come up with a variation. The changes would add up and it would end up as incoherent garbage. The only interesting part of that experiment would be how the failure gets explained away."
If that's true, and maybe it is, then we're wasting our breath to demand a different curriculum, aren't we?
What we really want is a change in ideology. Fat chance.
It's clear to me now, because my school has finally made it so, that the purpose of TERC is to be "accessible to all."
Mathematics is no longer a scholarly discipline.
"Other than the war in Iraq, I don't think there's anything more controversial to bring up than math,"
Because we all know that there are more people demonstrating over math reform than over Roe vs. Wade.
-Mark Roulo
Linda!
You're here!
Because we all know that there are more people demonstrating over math reform than over Roe vs. Wade.
yeah....I'm taking the chartered bus to D.C. this weekend. Going to the big Math March on the Mall.
Catherine, you crack me up.
I bet there is something at the sign generator website that could be simulate a giant math demonstration.
Math Protest vs. Riot Police:
http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/5442/757184075153441/660/z/491835/gse_multipart45391.jpg
yeah....I'm taking the chartered bus to D.C. this weekend. Going to the big Math March on the Mall.,
Wow! I wonder if Eduwonk will now think curriculum issues are interesting enough to write about, or stop yawning long enough to listen.
yeah....I'm taking the chartered bus to D.C. this weekend. Going to the big Math March on the Mall.
What effigy can we burn to express our feelings?
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