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A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

theatlantic.com

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Re: A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

#91

Post by prostoalex »

ryanhuff wrote: post #59
lintiness wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

teachers in bad / poor areas in the states aren't paid less than teachers in the "good" areas. cps for instance, chicago public school teachers are among the best paid and worst performing in the country.

I didn't know the teachers were the ones earning the grades. See the posts above that cite what happens to re-gentrified areas, where the social-economic make-up of a school changes but the teacher make-up does not.

You're implying teacher quality and school financing are irrelevant, and yet every conversation about public schooling in the US brings those arguments up.

Re: A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

#92

Post by dominotw »

dineshp2 wrote: post #63
douche wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To make a reasonable comparison to the United States, you'd have to lump a European country in with a third-world developing country to get the same level of racial and cultural heterogeneity. People always try to compare the US to Finland, when Finland has less population than New York City and the demographics of New Hampshire. Tech companies hire abroad because it's cheap, not because there is a real skill deficit…

I don't how you would take into account all possible factors to make a perfect comparison, but objectively looking at the research and data available on this topic, it's clear to me that the USA is lagging in STEM fields. Some tech companies do hire from abroad because it's cheaper, but there is a real skill deficit in STEM fields and there are just not enough skilled people available to recruit. This has been openly…

> but objectively looking at the research and data available on this topic, it's clear to me that the USA is lagging in STEM fields.

I did some googling around this but all the research uses test scores to come to that conclusion.

I would like to see some other methodology.

Re: A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

#93

Post by wallflower »

poshenloh wrote: post #73
Ntrails wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sad thing is that the cool stuff isn't even always complex. It's little things, like going through how the quadratic formula is derived instead of just telling someone to learn it by rote. Explaining differentiation with a bit of the logic behind it instead of just teaching rules. But at the same time - I know I'd have/did enjoy that stuff but maybe 60% of my classes would have played up if a whole lesson was spe…

I think that one main issue is that many people unfortunately equate math with routine calculations or rote memorization. I think it's valuable to communicate that actually math is the art of creative thinking. To do this, it helps to share some "gems", or examples with powerful "Aha" factors. Along these lines, I have a very fresh one: last week, I just had a very shocking (mathematical) realization while thinking a…

Very nice video. I like how you actually made it out to a football stadium to start the video. One suggestion if you want to make this more 'shareable': start with the 2d graphics and then transition to video shot using a drone. This will let you get overhead video illustrating the defender/attacker scenarios. If your stand-in extras can't run fast, just have them run in slow-mo and then speed it up in post. Please keep up the good work!

Re: A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

#94

Post by wallflower »

hdctambien wrote: post #86
jimbokun wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"What would a group of people that cater primarily to the best-served students in the system have to say about how to help the worst-served? What would they know about the obstacles faced by poor children and parents; overworked, undertrained and unsupported teachers; and underfunded schools?" Hopefully they wouldn't get caught up in all that and just teach some math to whoever's interested, regardless of income leve…

> teach some math to whoever's interested But in public school you have to teach math to everyone . Any they aren't all interested.

One of my teacher friends taught 6th grade math. In his classes, he had to account for 4th through 8th grade math skill levels. Those with 8th grade being Khan Academy-style motivated learners.

Re: A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

#95

Post by wallflower »

douche wrote: post #60
wastedhours wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly - that's why things like https://www.teachforamerica.org/ have to exist. It's a socio-economic issue that's holding back talent in developed countries across the world, where parental income directly impacts on academic success. Considering the imbalance is so pronounced in-country, it's a real shame...

I applaud Teach for America for the effort, but I'm not sure that's really that successful. I graduated with more than a handful of people that went into TFA, and around 90% of them burned out hard after a couple years. Most of them had no teacher training, and, really, no cultural context for understanding the cultures they got dropped into. Inner city ghettos, Cajun Bayous, and Appalachian hollers are a different w…

The deeper problem with TFA is that by hiring TFA teachers they are literally ensuring 100% turnover in 2-3 years since TFA teachers do not usually stay past their 2-3 year assignment in their placement areas. There are a few who do stay, however, as a pure numbers game, it is not enough. Also, you can Google (or Bing) away for stories of how TFA teachers are given inadequate training and special-needs students (or worse, disruptive students) are put into their classrooms.

Up the Down Staircase is a lightly fictionalized novel about teaching in the 1960s in a public school system. Bureaucracy, parents (or lack thereof), funding, burnout. Almost 60 years later, many of the same fundamental problems still exist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_the_Down_Staircase

Re: A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

#96

Post by wallflower »

dominotw wrote: post #92
dineshp2 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't how you would take into account all possible factors to make a perfect comparison, but objectively looking at the research and data available on this topic, it's clear to me that the USA is lagging in STEM fields. Some tech companies do hire from abroad because it's cheaper, but there is a real skill deficit in STEM fields and there are just not enough skilled people available to recruit. This has been openly…

> but objectively looking at the research and data available on this topic, it's clear to me that the USA is lagging in STEM fields. I did some googling around this but all the research uses test scores to come to that conclusion. I would like to see some other methodology.

While imperfect, test scores provide some context for comparison.

The being said, back in 2013, this article was widely shared. It demonstrates that you can teach STEM ways of thinking (e.g. CS), starting from early elementary grades. It does not have to be a AP-level course.

https://neil.fraser.name/news/2013/03/16/

Re: A Group of American Teens Are Excelling at Advanced Math

#97

Post by RogtamBar »

anonymid wrote: post #65

I was frustrated by this article because I find it taking for granted the idea that math is only accessible to a small group of people - 'talented, gifted, with an affinity for, confluence of specific abilities'. I find similar language around programs like the Russian School, Brilliant and quite obviously the 'gifted' programs. Yet in this article they quote the following statistics: - High achievement in math: US 9…

>These statistics communicate to me that half of all students are capable of high achievement in mathematics. From my experience tutoring and visiting classrooms of various grade levels and demographics, most students are capable of the rich problem solving described in the article.

Are Americans the same as South Koreans?

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