Elizabeth Green’s “Why Do Americans Stink at Math?”

Some blog followers might be interested in a discussion-list post “Elizabeth Green’s ‘Why Do Americans Stink at Math?’ ” [Hake (2014)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: Elizabeth Green, in a NYT Magazine article titled “Why Do Americans Stink at Math?” at http://nyti.ms/1o02vui wrote: “With the Common Core . . . . . .[[ http://www.corestandards.org/, compatible with the reform math education methods]]. . . . teachers are once more being asked to unlearn an old approach and learn an entirely new one, essentially on their own. Training is still weak and infrequent, and principals - who are no more skilled at math than their teachers - remain unprepared to offer support. Textbooks, once again, have received only surface adjustments, despite the shiny Common Core labels that decorate their covers. . . . . Left to their own devices, teachers are once again trying to incorporate new ideas into old scripts, often botching them in the process. . . . . . . No wonder parents and some mathematicians denigrate the reforms as ‘fuzzy math.’ In the warped way untrained teachers interpret them, they are fuzzy.”

Green's article has prompted at least two threads on discussion lists. One initiated by Wayne Bishop on the OPEN! Math-Teach archives at http://bit.ly/eOTrs1. Bishop at http://bit.ly/1Agrtzv wrote: “Other than ‘Americans Stink at Math’, almost everything [Green] says is wrong. Decades-old (century?) math ed mythology.”

Another initiated by John Clement on the CLOSED! July PhysLrnR archives http://bit.ly/WQjkCL. Clement at http://bit.ly/1onL1Nr wrote: (paraphrasing): “Green's very good article is about how the Japanese reformed their math teaching and are now beating us. Their method resembles ‘Interactive Engagement’ methods in Physics Education Research.”
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To access the complete 57 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/1lERqiv.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University. LINKS TO: Academia http://bit.ly/a8ixxm; Articles http://bit.ly/a6M5y0; Blog http://bit.ly/9yGsXh; Facebook http://on.fb.me/XI7EKm; GooglePlus http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE; Google Scholar http://bit.ly/Wz2FP3; Linked In http://linkd.in/14uycpW; Research Gate http://bit.ly/1fJiSwB; Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs http://bit.ly/9nGd3M; Twitter http://bit.ly/juvd52.

REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 25 July 2014.]
Hake, R.R. “Elizabeth Green’s ‘Why Do Americans Stink at Math?’ ” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/1lERqiv. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.

The Contentious Common Core Controversy #2

Some blog followers might be interested in a recent post “The Contentious Common Core Controversy #2” [Hake (2013b)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: In response to my post “The Contentious Common Core Controversy” [Hake (2013a)] at http://bit.ly/Y7ocMv, an EDDRA2 subscriber alerted me privately to Thomas Newkirk's (2013) valuable essay “Speaking Back to the Common Core” at http://bit.ly/15vjIpa. Newkirk http://bit.ly/YtZetD raises the following concerns: (1) Conflict of Interest, (2) Misdiagnosis of the problem, (3) Developmental inappropriateness, (4) A sterile view of reading, (5) Underplaying role of narrative, (6) A reform that gives extraordinary power to standardized tests. (7) A bonanza for commercialism, (8) Standards directing instruction, (9) Drowning out other conversations.

Newkirk then adds “Now it may be that I am wrong. . . . . I have colleagues I respect who think so. It may be that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) does what others claim they will - encourage good pedagogical discussion, clarify goals, help students read deeply, give writing its proper place in the curriculum, expand the repertoire in English Language Arts to a focus on quality nonfiction. And that the initiative won’t dissolve into teaching to the new tests. Let’s hope so. But I'm left with the question: Who watches the watcher? Who assesses the assessor? That's our job. We’ve come too far, learned too much, invented too much to diminish our practice by one iota to accommodate the Common Core. When and if we see it impeding our best work, it is not too late to speak up.”
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To access the complete 10 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/Wtj62R.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Academia: http://bit.ly/a8ixxm
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
GooglePlus: http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE
Google Scholar http://bit.ly/Wz2FP3
Twitter: http://bit.ly/juvd52
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/XI7EKm

REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 05 March 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013a. “The Contentious Common Core Controversy,” online on the OPEN! AERA-H archives at http://bit.ly/Y7ocMv. Post of 3 Mar 2013 11:01:22 to AERA-H and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post were transmitted to several discussion lists and are also on my blog “Hake'sEdStuff” at http://bit.ly/Z7TV0W with a provision for comments.

Hake, R.R. 2013b. “The Contentious Common Core Controversy #2” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/Wtj62R. Post of 5 Mar 2013 11:32:15-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.

The Overriding Influence of Poverty on Children's Educational Achievement - Redux

Some blog followers might be interested in a recent post “The Overriding Influence of Poverty on Children’s Educational Achievement – Redux”
[Hake (2013)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: Among the 263 Comments (as of 4 March 2013 15:27-0800) on Diane Ravitch's (2013) blog entry “Why I Cannot Support the Common Core Standards” at http://bit.ly/XGpEpK was one by “Penny”" who wrote on 3 March 2013: “We know that poorer (lower socioeconomic) students tend to do poorer in school. How about looking at the true root cause.”

To look at the “true root cause” see, e.g., the poverty-related references from my complete post “The Contentious Common Core Controversy” [Hake 2013)] at http://bit.ly/Y7ocMv:

1. "Poverty and Potential: Out-of-School Factors and School Success"[Berliner (2009)] at http://bit.ly/fqiCUA;

2. "Eight problems with Common Core Standards" [Brady (2012)] at http://wapo.st/15Z4kTg;

3. "The Overriding Influence of Poverty on Children's Educational Achievement" [Hake (2011)] at http://bit.ly/tUU65W;

4. "For Obama's New Term, Start Here" [Kristof (2013)] at http://nyti.ms/WnEhU2;

5. "Failure of U.S. Public Secondary Schools in Mathematics" [Marder (2012)] at http://bit.ly/KPitWM (scroll down);

6. "Giving Our Children a Fighting Chance: Poverty, Literacy, and the Development of Information Capital" [Neuman & Celano (2012)] at http://bit.ly/ZVCsil
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To access the complete 11 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/XHnEzS.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Academia: http://bit.ly/a8ixxm
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
GooglePlus: http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE
Google Scholar http://bit.ly/Wz2FP3
Twitter: http://bit.ly/juvd52
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/XI7EKm

“So much orchestrated attention is being showered on the Common Core Standards, the main reason for poor student performance is being ignored - a level of childhood poverty the consequences of which no amount of schooling can effectively counter.”
- Marion Brady (2012) at http://wapo.st/15Z4kTg.

REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 04 March 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013. “The Overriding Influence of Poverty on Children's Educational Achievement – Redux,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/XHnEzS. Post of 4 Mar 2013 15:38:45-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.




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National Education Standards for the United States?

Some blog readers may be interested in a recent post “National Education Standards for the United States?” [Hake (2009)].  The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT:  The “Common Core State Standards Initiative” (CCSSI), aimed at developing National Education Standards (NES) for the U.S., has recently been widely reported in the media, the Academic Discussion List sphere (ADLsphere), and the Blogosphere. Thus far, the reaction to the CCSSI & NES has been mostly negative [e.g., Brady, Clement, Haim, Horton, Ohanian, Marshak, Meier, Taylor, and Urner; with a few positive exceptions [Derbes, Korsunsky, Weingarten]. Adding to the positive are Schmidt, Houang, & Shakrani (2009) who, in a report “International Lessons About National Standards”: (a) make  the case for NES in the U.S., based on an in-depth study of NES in 10 other countries: Russia, France, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Germany, South Korea, Singapore, and the Netherlands, which “are making significant improvement in mathematics and science achievement and operate along a spectrum of national and local educational control”; (b) distill from their international study one important lesson: "It's NOT true that national standards portend loss of local control," plus four recommendations for the U.S. national standards effort; and (c) conclude: “We know what the standards of top-achieving nations look like. They are focused, coherent, and rigorous. And they're that way because the systems themselves are focused and coherent. It's time to get on the national standards bandwagon. . . . . The process of establishing national standards will surely require time, patience, and a great deal of compromise. But we postpone the inevitable at our peril.”

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To access the complete 37 kB post, please click on http://tinyurl.com/mjrvla .

REFERENCES  

Hake, R.R. 2009. “National Education Standards for the United States?” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://tinyurl.com/mjrvla. Post of 9 Jun 2009 14:44:42-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold.