Superbug in the Classroom
A mathematical epidemic.
By Michelle Malkin
Do you know what math curriculum your child is being taught? Are youworried that your third-grader hasn't learned simple multiplication yet?Have you been befuddled by educational jargon such as "spiraling," which isused to explain why your kid keeps bringing home the same insipid busyworkof cutting, gluing and drawing? And are you alarmed by teachers whoemphasize "self-confidence" over proficiency while their students fallfurther and further behind? Join the club.
Across the country, from New York City to Seattle, parents are wising up tomath fads like Everyday Math. Sounds harmless enough, right? It's cleverlymarketed as a "University of Chicago" program. Impressive! Right? But thenyou start to sense something's not adding up when your kid starts secondgrade and comes home with the same kindergarten-level addition andsubtraction problems - for the second year in a row.
And then your child keeps telling you that the teacher isn't reallyteaching anything, just handing out useless worksheets - some of which makeno sense to parents with business degrees, medical degrees, and Ph.D.sspecializing in econometric analysis. And then you notice that it's theUniversity of Chicago education department, not the mathematics department,that is behind this nonsense.
And then you Google Everyday Math and discover that countless moms and dadsjust like you - and a few brave teachers with their heads screwed onstraight - have had similarly horrifying experiences. Like the Illinois momwho found these "math" problems in the fifth-grade Everyday Math textbook:
A. If math were a color, it would be -, because -.
B. If it were a food, it would be -, because -.
C. If it were weather, it would be -, because -.
And then you realize your child has become a victim of "Fuzzy Math," the"New New Math," the dumbed-down, politically correct, euphemism-fillededu-folly corrupting both public and private schools nationwide.
And then you feel like the subject of Edvard Munch's The Scream as you takeon the seemingly futile task of waking up other parents and fighting theedu-cracy to restore a rigorous curriculum in your child's classroom. NewYork City teacher Matthew Clavel described his frustration with EverydayMath in a 2003 article for City Journal:
The curriculum's failure was undeniable: Not one of my students knew his orher times tables, and few had mastered even the most basic operations;knowledge of multiplication and division was abysmal....what would you do,if you discovered that none of your fourth-graders could correctly tell youthe answer to four times eight?
But don't give up and don't give in. While New York City remains wedded toEveryday Math (which became the mandated standard in 2003), the state ofTexas just voted before Thanksgiving to drop the University of Chicagotextbooks for third graders. School-board members lambasted the mathprogram for failing to prepare students for college. It's an importantsalvo in the math wars because Texas is one of the biggest markets forschool textbooks. As Texas goes, so goes the nation.
Meanwhile, grassroots groups such as Mathematically Correct(mathematicallycorrect.com) and Where's The Math? (wheresthemath.com) arealerting parents to how their children are being used as educational guineapigs. And teachers and math professionals who haven't drunk the p.c.Kool-Aid are exposing the ruse. Nick Diaz, a Maryland educator, wrote aletter to his local paper:
As a former math teacher in Frederick County Public Schools, I have astrong interest in the recent discussion of the problems with the mathcurriculum in our state and county. . . . The proponents of fuzzy mathclaim that the new approach provides a 'deep conceptual understanding.'Those words, however, hide the truth. Students today are not expected tomaster basic addition, subtraction and multiplication. These fundamentalskills are necessary for a truly deep understanding of math, but fuzzy-mathadvocates are masters at using vocabulary that sounds good to parents, butmeans something different to educators.
Members of the West Puget Sound Chapter of the Washington Society ofProfessional Engineers also stepped forward in their community:
For 35 years, we have been subjected to a failed experiment, 'new math.'Mathematics depends on individual problem-solving ability to arrive at thecorrect answer. Math does not lend itself to 'fuzzy' answers. The solutionis to recognize the failure of the Constructivist Curriculum as it relatesto mathematics and science, eliminate it and return to the hard core basicsusing texts like the Singapore Math.
If Fuzzy Math were a color, it would be neon green like those Mr. Yuklabels warning children not to ingest poisonous substances. Do not swallow!
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3 comments:
Mr. King,
Let me preface this by saying that on most issues, I am a supporter of your votes and views...however, on the subject of Everyday Math, you could not of been more wrong. My son, previously enjoyed math, was challenged, and succeeded beyond grade level. We now have nightly tear and frustration filled sessions of "but Mom, that's not how were supposed to do it!" or "That's not how YOU taught me!" Traditional methods have flown out the window, along with common sense. We now have homework filled with concepts, so far uncovered by the book, such as division, for which, apparently, we are NOT to use the traditional pencil and paper, long division approach. When I question the teacher, I hear such comments as, "if he comes up with the right answer, I don't care how he got there.." but no method is being throughly taught by anyone but my husband and I. I have also been told "not to worry, if he doesn't catch it this time, he get it next time around." Mr. King, my son is used to "getting it" and this program has taken him from being self assured in his abilities, and an having an excitement for math, to a child who hides his math homework, rather than endure another round of "Everyday Math" We need to have other options.
This program needs to be removed ASAP, and will only further the divide that already exists between the parents and the educational community in Livonia. We moved to Livonia because we believed in the educational system here, however, now, it may be the very thing that drives us from this city.
Dear Mr. King,
I have just read the article in the Detroit News on Dec 19th, 2007 regarding a Whistle Blower lawsuit being filed against the Superintendant and the Director of Finance for LPS for improperly firing somebody who was raising concerns over the handling of the Finances in LPS. Don't the Board Members know what is going on in the District? Aren't you in charge of oversseing the Finances for our childrens education? Wouldn't you Board Members be doing something to avoid having lawsuits filed against the District? How much money is this going to cost us? Is this money coming out of our children's educational funds?
We have lost so many millions of dollars already because of the actions of LPS and the BOE due to the Legacy Initiative. When are you guys going to take control and be the true stewards of the School District we elected you to be? I know I cannot necessarily blame you, as you have only come on board recently, and you have been bringing up issues and lack of controls within the Ditrict, but what about these other Board Members...what are they doing?
This is only making LPS look worse and worse. It has become an undesireable District to stay within, and to even contemplate locating within. If this keeps up we might as well shut down the public schools and become a District of Charters and Special Educational Services because there will be no General Education students left.
A Concerned Parent
Michelle said it best -I live in Livonia and have one school age daughter who went to Coolidge and suffered its horrible Everyday Math and ridiculous principal. We removed her and put her in another school which for her is much better. It is NOT a LPS. I have two more children coming up to school age and also face where my daughter will go to Middle and High school. We are MOVING OUT OF THIS CRUDDY DISTRICT IF WE HAVE TO! My family is not alone. I don't know where our children became an experiment but this is ridiculous. I have an IQ of over 155 on my worst test and I will tell you that the way LPS teaches our children is INSULTING.
Even the MCAT program is a joke because it now teaches Everyday Math. You might as well tell a child to hold the math book to their head and learn my osmosis for all the good it does.
Also, at least at Coolidge, there was NO discipline. Walking through the halls on any given day, each room was FILLED with noise. How is any child to learn in complete chaos? And we wonder why so many school age children has sensory issues...
Some of the greatest minds in history came from the basic skill mastery programs we now disregard. Today, as a result of these new fad programs, friends of mine who teach early college and high school math find these young adults unable to do simple math and relying on calculators (which Everyday Math encourages and even requires!)
Children love things that are predictable - it provides them comfort and wires their neurological pathways to think clearly because of the stress it does not create. Everyday Math is the opposite of what our children need to grow up confident and able to THINK. I believe this program is more poisonous to our kids than most people could imagine.
I don't believe that all the outcry will do much good and I am currently looking to move out of this town which is going downhill very quickly. Very sad. Maybe all of us concerned parents need to organize and picket your facility.
Since this article was written I know of more than 10 families who have left LPS because of these problems and I am sure more will follow. You are creating a generation of undisciplined morons.
- An Upset Parent, for ALL the children!
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