Panel: America's Math Education System is "broken"

[flashl]

Panel Finds Faults in America's Math System

A presidential panel today said America's math education system is "broken" and called on schools to focus lessons to ensure children from preschool to middle school master key skills.

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel was convened by President Bush in April 2006 to address concerns that many of today's students lack the math know-how needed to become tomorrow's engineers and scientists. The 24-member panel of mathematicians and education experts announced recommendations to improve instruction and make better textbooks and even called on researchers to find ways to combat "mathematics anxiety."

Larry R. Faulkner, panel chairman and former president of the University of Texas at Austin, said the country needs to make changes to stay competitive in an increasingly global economy. He noted that many U.S. companies draw skilled workers from overseas, a pool he said is drying out as opportunities in other countries improve.

"The question is, are we going to be able to get the talent?" Faulkner said in a briefing before the report's release. "And it's not just a question of economic competitiveness. In the end, it's a question of whether, as a nation, we have enough technical prowess to assure our own security."

Washington Post

[sinkingfeeling]

1. It ain't just math. The entire education system is broken.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. That is right, and there are moments when I feel that it has been sabotaged by those who wish to

keep the people ignorant and manipulatable....and of course, unemployable, so they have to join the military.

[mike_c]

3. I think we've been going about this in the wrong way entirely....

The focus in math education is largely upon acquiring "skills" and learning techniques. Problem solving and that sort of thing to build and demonstrate mastery. That's all well and good if students already think quantitatively, but otherwise it's like learning formal language syntax and parsing techniques for a language you do not speak. No wonder that's an intimidating process!

Mathematics is a way of thinking and a way of perceiving the world in terms of relationships, both logical and quantitative. The "skills" and techniques education focuses on are built upon that foundation-- lacking the foundation, the skills are abstract and difficult.

Most of us can understand this intuitively by analogy with language. Even poor writers or speakers can usually recognize the difference between poorly expressed and well written language even if they lack the skills to produce such text themselves. That natural facility with language is directly analogous to the natural facility with quantitative relationships that good math students need. With that instinctive understanding, math skills have something to be built upon-- they begin to make intuitive sense.

That's where math education is failing, IMO-- and one of the main reasons is that fostering that quantitative perspective doesn't begin early enough for most kids. Parents teach their children language-- and by that I mean basic language facility-- from as early an age as possible, but most don't have any understanding of how to teach them mathematics-- and again, I mean basic quantitative perspectives, temporal and spatial relationships, etc.