Structured math is the new old math: Teach the basics, test mastery, move on

"Structured maths" is the key to New Zealand's Make It Count initiative, which aims to boost low math scores, writes Holly Korbey in TES.

“It’s really no different to structured literacy,” said Education Minister Erica Stanford. “It’s explicit teaching, in a structured manner, mastering the basics before you move on, and then making sure we’re assessing along the way to make sure that they’re on track.”

U.S. reformers call it the “science of math" to link it to the "science of reading," also known as "structured literacy," writes Korbey.

Research backs structured lessons, Notre Dame researcher Patrick Kirkland tells her. However, just as the "science of reading" is more than just phonics, the "science of math" is more than just "back to the basics," he says. “When it comes to a structured approach to teaching early numeracy -- things like counting and cardinality- - we have a decent amount on that from cognitive science . . . But how do we introduce fractions?" There are many approaches that can work.

England, which is moving up in math and reading in international rankings, started using structured lessons in 2014, writes Korbey. Instead of "open-ended, discovery-based maths lessons," teachers are supposed to use "a Singapore-style approach, covering fewer topics at greater depth."

It's been a challenge.

In the U.S., only a "handful of states have passed legislation for improved screening and support for struggling maths learners," she writes. They haven't told schools how to teach math. However, a grassroots movement is advocating "structured" math ideas. The Science of Math Facebook group has grown to almost 35,000 members.

America's experiment with math teaching had a reasonable goal -- help students understand why math works not just how -- writes Dave Soulia in the Vermont Daily Chronicle. But the system has "produced anxiety, resentment and confusion."

Common Core math aimed to promote “number sense” — the idea that students should deeply understand numbers instead of memorizing procedure . . . it buried simple arithmetic under layers of over-explanation and jargon."

Convinced that learners "construct" meaning, he writes, educators "blurred the line between understanding math and feeling good about math." Students learned to talk about problems without being able to reliably solve them.

"Math isn’t a cultural construct or a political tool," Soulia concludes. "It's a language for describing reality — one that doesn’t care about ideology, self-esteem, or bureaucratic fashion. And when a nation loses fluency in that language, it loses something fundamental: its ability to build, to reason, and to trust in the stability of truth itself."

Math isn't adding up for many students, Bloomberg's editorial board argues. A zest for fads and an aversion to testing have created a "math doom loop" for Gen Alpha students, writes columnist Jessica Karl.