New Federal Report on Teaching Math: Comments by Sheila Tobias

(Note: Sheila Tobias is an expert in the area of math education. Her comments are regarding a report from the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. The report recommends a balance of teacher-directed instruction (teaching of skills, drills) and child-centered instruction (exploration, conceptual understanding). It emphasizes that each grade should teach fewer math concepts in greater depth, making sure that students master basic math facts and have a clear understanding of fractions, which is considered key to learning algebra. The Panel hopes the report will persuade Congress to approve $100 million for Math Now. David Safier)

I would have imagined a Bush-generated report led by Camilla Benbow (who is associated with the “male math gene” claim of the 1980s) would have called for a Back to Basics effort – Indeed, in the Math Wars of the past 20 years, it’s been the “concepts” vs “basics” that has split the community of parents and politicians – (not math instructors). But this report seems to call for some of “both.”

One welcome point: The issue of “talent vs. hard work” is salient and long overdue. Too long have American children been given the impression, that individually they are either “good in math” or not. If they’re “good in math,” they don’t have to work at it. If they’re “no good in math,” there’s no point working hard. It won’t make a difference. Meanwhile, studies of Asian children’s (and their teachers’) attitude toward school mathematics reveals their conviction that it is not talent at all but only hard work that leads to success in math. (Yang and Stephenson: The Math Gap)

But, and this is a big But, compared to the rest of the world, the Report’s expectations of attainment of specific skills seems dumbed down. Most children around the world have mastered basic multiplication in third grade (not two years later as recommended by the Report) and mastery of fractions, decimals, and percents (to be achieved by the end of sixth grade here in the U.S.) depends on what is meant by “mastery.” By the end of sixth grade, teachers in other countries are readying their pupils for factoring in algebra by teaching them numerical factoring of large and complex fractions and decimals.

Biggest surprise of all: no word about calculators or other means of electronic computation. Long Division, no longer much done by hand, used to take up about 40 weeks of third and fourth grade arithmetic. Math Cad takes the onus (not the conceptual work) out of calculus. And what about elementary statistics and probability? so that young learners can begin to be criticial thinkers of what they’re taught and told?

Let’s have some public scrutiny of “Math NOW” curriculum, for which $100 million is being targeted.

(Sheila Tobias is the author of Overcoming Math Anxiety (1978 and 1994); Succeed with Math (1987), They’re not dumb, they’re different (1990) and Breaking the Science Barrier (with Carl T. Tomizuka, 1992). She is currently associated with a new master’s-of-professional practice called PSM, designed to equip math and science graduate students for work in the private and public sectors. See www.sheilatobias.com, www.mathanxiety.net and www.sciencemasters.com)