A presidential panel is hoping to create a truce in the math wars, reports the Wall Street Journal. Lots of luck, guys.
The National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed by President Bush in 2006, is expected to urge the nation’s teachers to promote “quick and effortless” recall of arithmetic facts in early grades, mastery of fractions in middle school, and rigorous algebra courses in high school or even earlier. Targeting such key elements of math would mark a sharp departure from the diverse priorities that now govern teaching of the subject in U.S. public schools.
The panel advises on content students should learn but not on how to teach.
The group said it could find no “high-quality” research backing either traditional or reform math instruction. The draft report calls a rigid adherence to either method “misguided” and says understanding, which is the priority of reform teachers, and computation skills, emphasized by traditionalists, are “mutually supported.”
The report “doesn’t take a position on calculator use in early grades,” reports the Journal. It cites studies that show calculator use doesn’t hurt calculation skills or help with problem-solving or understanding concepts.
Failure to master fractions, including decimals and percents, “is pervasive and is a major obstacle to further progress in mathematics, including algebra,” the draft report says.
The draft report recommends more fractions questions on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and on state exams.
Kitchen Table Math is dubious, but Education Gadfly praises the alleged laser-like focus on teaching the essentials. Core Knowledge Blog applauds a back to basics approach.
True, it’s not calculator use that hurts calculation skills but the absence of mental math while ONLY using a calculator to solve problems. Nothing in elementary math is so complex, though, to really benefit from calculator use given a student who is comfortable with the basic four functions.
Until arithmetic facts are emphasized in ed schools or state ed depts regularly test them few changes will occur.
Lack of mastery of fractions is certainly the greatest barrier our students face, number two has got to be poor reading skills, a third is lack of content knowledge in geometry.