Math Textbooks Found Lacking, Rejected by Panel

Saying that mathematics textbooks generally fail to teach students the complex problem-solving skills and practical understanding of numbers they need, a state curriculum commission has urged 14 major publishers to rewrite or substantially revise the math books they submitted for use in kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms next year.

The commission has recommended that the state Board of Education, which gives final approval to textbooks in seven-year cycles, give the publishers one year to submit new manuscripts that more closely follow specific state guidelines on how mathematics should be taught.

California education officials say the move is part of a broad state drive for better textbooks that attracted considerable attention last year when new science books came up for adoption. The state board then rejected an entire series of seventh- and eighth-grade science books on grounds that the books failed to deal adequately with such controversial topics as evolution and human reproduction.

Lacking in Skills

The math books in question, according to a panel of math education experts assembled by the curriculum commission to review the texts, were rejected because they fail to develop skills that California students are sorely lacking.

Specifically, the math educators said the books fail to encourage a deep understanding of numbers, measurement, geometry, statistics and probability, and to develop students’ ability to apply logical thinking or estimation to problem solving. The books, they said, overemphasize memorization and pencil-and-paper computation, instead of helping students develop the ability to choose the best strategy to solve a problem--including turning to a calculator or computer when appropriate.

Largely because of these weaknesses in current math books, California students “do not understand even the most fundamental number concepts,” the experts’ committee said in its report this week.

Decimals and Fractions

As an example of the students’ math deficiency, the committee report said, only 33% of California’s sixth-grade students last year could correctly answer that 143.5 is the same as 143 1/2. Forty-three percent of the sixth-graders said the answer was 143 1/5. California students perform below the national average on standardized math tests.

“Youngsters need to know more than just computational skills,” said Francie Alexander, director of the curriculum commission. “We want them to have a sense about what numbers mean, how to apply math to everyday situations. They don’t have that sense now . . . and they’re not getting it in the current textbooks.”

State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said he supports the panel’s action and expects the state board to adopt the same stringent measures in judging the books when it considers them in November or December.

“We want good books,” Honig said, “and we’re willing to gamble a little to get them.”

Large Share of Market

Textbook industry representatives who attended the commission meeting noted that because California is the nation’s largest buyer of textbooks, its demands for a new approach are likely to influence the way math is taught in the rest of the country. Nationwide, school districts spend $1.3 billion a year on textbooks, and California accounts for 11% of that market.

Although the publishers were disappointed by the panel’s action, company representatives predicted that most publishers would alter their books in order to be able to sell them in California.