Comments on: COLUMN: How can we improve math education in America? Help us count the ways

By: Tina White

Tina White — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 16:59:13 +0000

I have always struggled with math and still do. I wish I were better. Just for fun I will pick up a pre-algebra book and play with it. I can pretty much do equations. What I CAN’T do is figure out how to apply those equations to something useful. As a teenager I believed math was useless outside of balancing a checkbook and I see my granddaughter saying the same thing. She’ll never use math? I say she needs it to increase/decrease recipes, what if she wants to carpet her room, I’m building a raised garden bed, how many blocks will I need? How much soil to fill that raised bed? Learning how to solve the equations is only part of math. The second part should be how to apply it. That’s only from a person who is still trying to apply it such as trying to explain to a teenager why speeding will get him to work only a few seconds earlier and might get him a ticket or possibly in a car crash. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’ll get there.

By: Eric Nadelstern

Eric Nadelstern — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 16:15:19 +0000

The current high school curriculum of algebra, geometry and trigonometry was first developed at an all boys private school in Philadelphia at the glclise of the 19th Century. The goal was to prepare those young men to become civil engineers. The fact that more than century later, the curriculum remains almost intact regardless of what students plan to study in college is testament to the fact that the faculty in our schools continue to model for students that adults can’t learn from experience.

We teach mathematics as if it was a foreign language that no one speaks and can’t be used for anything. The three years of high school math consists of thousands of different operations that are taught in the absence of meaningful application. To make matters worse, too many colleges have made high school math performance the gatekeeper for admissions.

Every student needs basic computational skills. Beyond that, we need to revamp the entire secondary school math curriculum to decide which concepts every educated member of our society needs to be exposed to and how those concepts are applied in everyday life or to enhance students’ ability to better understand the world around them. Anything beyond this can either be elective or taught in college.

By: Vikash Kumar

Vikash Kumar — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 10:50:58 +0000

Thank you, The Hechinger Report, for this compelling column on improving math education in America. It highlights the urgency of the issue and inspires us to take action. Well-articulated and informative!

By: francisco rosales

francisco rosales — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 11:43:52 +0000

Time used well is a concept like …the sky is blue. i meant T-I-M-E. Simple used TIME even, wrongly produces mathematical minds. I have seen hundreds of inmigrants speaking English breaking every rule of grammar and comprehension yet because of time do eventually get their ideas across. I spent many years without the understanding the meaning of the word fasting yet I could still go to MacDonald in the morning to order breakfast and I would get breakfast. I would break my night fast and did not understand the deep meaning of such concept. I could pay for it, I could tweak it. I could buy another for my wife, I could even plan my commute by my f(breakfast) = …
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I am not against conceptual understanding. I just have seen many Mathematicians and Educators creating more profit out this concept than mathematical proficiency. Yet profit is good. I love the stock market.
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Conceptual Understanding is the order that an average mind produces when given TIME.
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I see Math education in the U.S. (I am from Venezuela) as a AA classroom full of people learning how to stay sober from a person who has never has that problem.
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Curriculum creators can not solve this little dilemma because they don’t even acknowledge the extent of its range. To me that is the problem and the insanity of trying the same approach with repeated ierations of the same.
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By: Richard Seitz

Richard Seitz — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 21:47:36 +0000

Francisco,
I share the idea that TIME is an important component, if it is well used time. If that time includes understanding concepts, becoming fluent at different procedures, learning different strategies to solve problems (mental math, algorithms, programs, modelling, etc. ), being able to explain your reasoning, and belief in your ability to tackle mathematics then I agree. Mathematical Proficiency has been usually defined as having “five components or strands:

conceptual understanding—comprehension of mathematical concepts, operations, and relations

procedural fluency—skill in carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently, and appropriately

strategic competence—ability to formulate, represent, and solve mathematical problems

adaptive reasoning—capacity for logical thought, reflection, explanation, and justification

productive disposition—habitual inclination to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a belief in diligence and one’s own efficacy.”

It came from a 2001 book referenced below.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2001. Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/9822.

https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/9822/chapter/6#116

ps. I have taught school, workshops, and institutes all over for 40+ years and I don’t see many easy solutions to teaching mathematics. It would be fun to discuss these ideas with you some more.

By: francisco rosales

francisco rosales — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 19:23:44 +0000

Concentrate in building true Mathematical proficiency …There it is . In black and white the most used meaningless statement by very proficient and respected Mathematicians. Building true Mathematical proficiency has become an empty meaningless statement. There aint no mystery here….I have taught every level of high school Math there is from Algebra 1 to Calculus A.P. I have taught Students from very afluent educated families in California to ex convicts from prison. I have taught people from all over the world. The magic bullet that I have seen in 25+ years of teaching is a simple one: T-I-M-E. …Just like the stock market ..it is not timing the market …It is Time In the market. Time doing Math …wrongly creates proficiency.

By: Richard Seitz

Richard Seitz — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 16:51:19 +0000

If we concentrated on building true mathematical proficiency in our students, we would see improved student performance. At 7-12 that would mean picking our fewer big ideas (less of an overextended Common Core). We could open our students’ mathematical minds to mental math, innovative explorations, and time for real problem solving. We don’t need all students to learn the same mathematics. We need a citizenry with students who have different knowledges and viewpoints to bring to the table.

By: Anthony Fitz

Anthony Fitz — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 13:21:00 +0000

Agreed