Presidential panel calls for focus on core math skills
A presidential panel has declared math education in the United States "broken" and called on schools to focus on ensuring that children master fundamental skills that provide the underpinnings for success in higher math and, ultimately, in high-tech jobs. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel convened in April 2006 to address concerns that many students lack the know-how to become engineers and scientists. The 24-member panel of mathematicians, education experts and psychologists said yesterday that students need a deeper understanding of basic skills, including fluency with whole numbers and fractions. It urged more training and support for teachers and called on researchers to find ways to combat "mathematics anxiety." Larry R. Faulkner, chairman of the panel 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 that he said is drying as opportunities abroad improve. President Bush charged the panel with examining ways to ensure that students have a strong grasp of the building blocks needed for algebra, a gateway to higher math. Students who complete Algebra II are more likely to attend and graduate from college. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the report's release was a "seminal moment" in math education and urged teachers, school boards, colleges, interest groups and parents to use it as a guidepost to refine instruction. "I want every stakeholder in the equation of education to look at all of this and act on it," Spellings said. "I think there are very actionable steps right now. Teachers, starting today, can pay more attention to fractions."
The panel concluded that the math curricula and textbooks in elementary and middle schools typically cover too many topics without enough depth. It noted that countries in which children do best at math, including Singapore and Japan, emphasize core topics. The panel identified benchmark skills that students need for a strong math foundation. The panel also weighed in on the long-running battle between traditionalists, who favor a focus on memorization and drilling, and those who prefer stressing concepts and letting students make connections on their own. Students need to know math facts and have automatic recall, Faulkner said, but they also need "some element of discovery." "I think this panel has gradually evolved to the view that most members believe that most effective teachers draw from both philosophies at different times," he said. Roy Romer, former governor of Colorado and chairman of Strong American Schools, said the report illustrates a need for states to voluntarily agree on standards that are "uniform for all of America and benchmarked against the rest of the world." The nonpartisan group seeks to make education a priority in the 2008 presidential election.
Source: Washington Post, 3/14/08, By Maria Glod
[Editor’s Note: The report is below. Among its other findings potentially of future legal significance: (1) educational leaders should encourage rigorously evaluated initiatives for attracting and appropriately preparing prospective teachers, and for evaluating and retaining effective teachers; (2) NAEP and state assessments should be improved in quality and should carry increased emphasis on the most critical knowledge and skills leading to Algebra; (3) all school districts should ensure that all prepared students have access to an authentic algebra course—and should prepare more students than at present to enroll in such a course by Grade 8; (4) teacher education programs and licensure tests for early childhood, elementary, and middle school teachers, including all special education teachers, should fully address mathematical topics; (5) direct assessments of teachers’ actual mathematical knowledge provide the strongest indication of a relation between teachers’ content knowledge and their students’ achievement; and (6) schools and teacher education programs should develop or draw on a variety of carefully evaluated methods to attract and prepare teacher candidates who are mathematically knowledgeable and to equip them with the skills to help students learn mathematics.]
National Mathematics Advisory Panel Final Report