It appears that there is a disagreement about how to teach mathematics effectively in at least a half dozen communities around the US. You may already know about rumblings in the states of Washington, as represented by the folks at “Where’s the Math?”, and Missouri, where it’s Columbia Parents for Math that Works. But, what do you know about Ridgewood (NJ, US), Beaverton (OR, US), New York (NY, US), Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and Newbury Park (CA, US), and Chicago (and elsewhere in IL, US)? If you know of other groups such as these, please drop a note about them in the comments.
Many people in most of these communities are expressing distress about the fuzzy, new, discovery math to which their children are being subjected. They are passionate and articulate critics of the maleducation that passes as schooling in arithmetic and mathematics. They have researched the topic, identified the problem, and proposed solutions.
Some of the groups take specific aim at math teaching materials, especially Everyday Math, TERC math curriculum, and others. For more about the problems with these and other curricula, see the Web sites developed by the parents in these communities, as well as resources such as KitchenTable Math and Instructivist. If you’re engaging with maleducators and policy makers about teaching arithmetic and mathematics effectively in your neighborhood, be sure to check the Web site of the Mathematics Association of America, especially, the special section on Preparing Mathematicians to Educate Teachers (PMET). Find out what’s important (look under resources) and snag other free PDFs on fractions, place value, ratios, and etc.
Links to Where’s the Math, Mathematically Correct, NYCHOLD (New York, NY), Vormath (Ridgewood, NJ), OPTIMA (Beaverton, OR), Save Our Children from Mediocre Math (Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and Newbury Park, CA), the Illinois Loop, Columbia Parents for Math that Works (Columbia, MO, US).
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