Math Fads

Joanne Jacobs weighs in on the repercussions of the Seattle court decision regarding “Discovery” math. She references an Education News article by Barry Garelick and the excerpt below echoes my experience…

It is obvious to parents that the discovery programs are largely ineffective. They have suffered through Investigations in Number, Data and Space with its homework assignments asking students to show three ways to add 343 + 267 and draw pictures to illustrate what is going on. They have suffered through the ill-sequenced spiraling of Everyday Math, with fractions one day, geometry the next and the alternative (and inefficient) algorithms for multiplication and division. They have seen the ill-posed and open-ended problems for which their children have not been given prior instruction and who are asked to develop “strategies” for their solution. They have asked their kids to see the textbook to be told there is no textbook; only worksheets, and no worked examples.

Many of these parents are scientists, mathematicians, engineers and teachers, who understand the necessity of a solid foundation that is in a logical sequence which then builds upon itself. Many of these parents are forced to teach their children what they are not being taught in school, hire tutors, or enroll their children in learning centers like Sylvan, Huntington, or Kumon.


Wow, if I could organize my thoughts as well as Barry I would have written exactly what he wrote. Sure glad he’s around to do it for me!

This entry was posted in stoopid math, you can't make this stuff up. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Math Fads

  1. Thanks for the compliment. Hope all is well in Boulder.

  2. ChrisA says:

    Thanks for stopping by Barry. Boulder continues to be an interesting place. It's a good year for snow and medical marijuana dispensaries (over 50 in the county alone!). 🙂

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