US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
1–10 of 103 posts
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#2I think the thing that distresses me the most is that any attempt that has been made to alleviate the situation (like the common core) has been stamped "big government" by people who seem to _not_ understand the urgency of this situation.
I'm out of ideas. What do we do?
EDIT: added a not. Wow did that change what I meant to say.
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#3I think the thing that distresses me the most is that any attempt that has been made to alleviate the situation (like the common core) has been stamped "big government" by people who seem to _not_ understand the urgency of this situation. I'm out of ideas. What do we do? EDIT: added a not. Wow did that change what I meant to say.
Have you read through common core? That crap is confusing.
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#4In the US, the quality of your math education is determined by where you live on the community level, usually by property value. Within 10 miles, you can have both a school that performs on par with Sweden and another that performs on par with Turkey.
What does this mean? Things are way worse for the poor here than this study even acknowledges. If you're poor in America, your best chance at a good education is by raffle.
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#5I'd be curious to see what others think about this question:
There are so many articles that preach the wonders of international math education in Asian countries, and just as many that attempt to mortify with the Asian system of rote memorization that kills any creativity or true problem-solving. Which effect do we think is greater?
Because if the latter, then perhaps focusing just on math is as myopic as focusing within a country.
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#6I think the thing that distresses me the most is that any attempt that has been made to alleviate the situation (like the common core) has been stamped "big government" by people who seem to _not_ understand the urgency of this situation. I'm out of ideas. What do we do? EDIT: added a not. Wow did that change what I meant to say.
Objective standards that come down from on high probably create perverse incentives and do more harm than good.
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#7I think the thing that distresses me the most is that any attempt that has been made to alleviate the situation (like the common core) has been stamped "big government" by people who seem to _not_ understand the urgency of this situation. I'm out of ideas. What do we do? EDIT: added a not. Wow did that change what I meant to say.
I think its our job to teach our own kids, if the govt cant do anything because of all the naysayers and doubters then its left to upon the parents.
My parents challenged me in Math at a young age and I was always a step ahead in school.
Also as a nation we need to stop putting everyone on the same playing field. Students will always be left behind lets start focusing on programs that will help the smart and the challenged, not one program for all.
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#8I think the thing that distresses me the most is that any attempt that has been made to alleviate the situation (like the common core) has been stamped "big government" by people who seem to _not_ understand the urgency of this situation. I'm out of ideas. What do we do? EDIT: added a not. Wow did that change what I meant to say.
One size fits all is surely the answer.
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#9I think the thing that distresses me the most is that any attempt that has been made to alleviate the situation (like the common core) has been stamped "big government" by people who seem to _not_ understand the urgency of this situation. I'm out of ideas. What do we do? EDIT: added a not. Wow did that change what I meant to say.
I think its our job to teach our own kids, if the govt cant do anything because of all the naysayers and doubters then its left to upon the parents. My parents challenged me in Math at a young age and I was always a step ahead in school. Also as a nation we need to stop putting everyone on the same playing field. Students will always be left behind lets start focusing on programs that will help the smart and the chal…
> not one program for all.
It wasn't "one program for all" in any of the public schools I attended in the US. Admittedly, we send everyone to high school (well, offer it, some students fail out early, some are failed by their teachers, others by their family). But once in high school, all 4 states (VA, NC, GA, NV) I'm familiar with (admittedly dated, 90s) had different tracks and graduation requirements. At least two tracks, usually 3 (college prep, honors, vocational; the first two could be considered the same track with honors as a specialization given the overlap in courses).
Re: US 'in denial' over poor maths standards
#10I think the thing that distresses me the most is that any attempt that has been made to alleviate the situation (like the common core) has been stamped "big government" by people who seem to _not_ understand the urgency of this situation. I'm out of ideas. What do we do? EDIT: added a not. Wow did that change what I meant to say.
It'll really require a culture shift, starting with the parents. I don't know much about school systems in other parts of the country, but going to school in Maryland there wasn't a lack of mathematical support and teaching. The kids who excelled and wanted to push themselves got all the support they needed. And usually it was kids with intelligent parents that pushed the importance of education and mathematics on them that did well. I'd bet the top performers in American schools are basically on par with top performers in other countries. The will and determination to push kids into that top performer bracket isn't there, even amongst the well-off.
You can force stricter math curriculum onto students, but all it will accomplish is more students failing and their parents complaining that they are pushing the kids too hard. And a lot of those parents have good paying jobs that don't require them to even remember algebra... so they probably don't have any respect for the subject. That type of mentality is endemic in America. Naturally it's going to get passed on to the kids.