Japanese Company Tutors U.S. in Math : Education: Kumon franchised centers are spreading across the country as Americans see the need to help their children learn everything from simple arithmetic to calculus.
Consider the trends: American math skills have dipped relative to the Japanese during a period in which the United States has also lost ground as an economic power.
Educators and industrialists say there is not a simple one-to-one correlation between the math skills of a work force and economic competitiveness. After all, Japan’s economic miracle and America’s industrial decline are the result of many factors. However, observers say math--an intellectual tool crucial to technological development--counts for much.
Faced with an educational challenge important to individuals and the nation, more parents and an increasing number of American schools are turning to a Japanese import: Kumon Educational Institute, a math-teaching method presented through a growing network of franchise learning centers in the United States.
Kumon, designed to increase speed and accuracy in calculation, was created 36 years ago in Japan by a math teacher who wanted to help his own son. Kumon has evolved into a profitable multinational enterprise promoting supplementary instruction technique for all grade levels, from kindergarten and first-grade arithmetic through calculus. Today, about 1.5 million students study the Kumon way at about 41,000 after-school learning centers in Japan. In all, Kumon franchises are in 16 other countries.
The Tokyo-based Kumon Institute began to market franchises in the United States by opening its first commercial learning center in Torrance in 1983. Kumon fares only as well as its franchises--the principle source of revenue--and franchisees have been strong producers lately. Franchises nationwide are expected to generate about $6 million in 1990, compared to an estimated $4 million in 1989.
The franchise network has experienced exponential growth, but the totals have only become significant in the past two years. There are now about 380 centers in the United States, compared to 160 in 1988. By comparison, Sylvan Learning Corp.--the nation’s leading provider of supplemental educational instruction--has about 470 centers. Sylvan offers supplemental instruction in reading, math, study skills and examination preparation.
In all, almost 16,000 students in the United States are learning the Kumon way at after-school centers, compared to only 5,631 in 1988. In addition, the Kumon method is used in about 200 U.S. schools, reaching about 20,000 students.
The method emphasizes individualized self-study. A diagnostic test determines where a student begins. Each student then progresses at an individual pace. A student is given a series of graduated work sheets containing math problems and must score 100% on each within a prescribed time period before moving on to the next set. Students typically attend instruction sessions twice a week for 20 to 40 minutes and are also assigned homework.
The Kumon practice of requiring more homework can be an effective approach, said Edward Effros, a mathematics professor at UCLA.
“I suspect Japan is more productive because they’re better-educated,” Effros said. “Kumon is not so much a back-to-basics approach. It’s really back-to-homework. Kumon is really just a form of homework.”
Effros and other mathematicians say efforts to boost the math skills of American students are needed. A 1987 report by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded that 45% of Japanese students have higher math scores than America’s top 5% math achievers. Effros said Kumon may be growing because it is the only national learning center operation that focuses entirely on math instruction.
“I’m amazed that no American group is doing this,” Effros said. “Why did we have to wait for the Japanese to set such a program up?”
The Kumon technique requires students to repeatedly calculate answers to similar problems and stresses problem-solving more than the traditional American method, which focuses more on mathematical concepts and theories as part of an effort to help students learn to apply math skills.
The technique is particularly popular in Western states, said Tsugio Fujiwara, the Torrance-based general manager who oversees 161 centers in the 17-state Western region.
“We believe our method works better,” Fujiwara said. “We emphasize a solid foundation of basics. If a student doesn’t know how to calculate, it’s inefficient to teach them what a fraction is--the concept of a fraction.”
Fujiwara contends that the Kumon method more effectively teaches students to calculate with speed and accuracy. He cited a recent Fairbanks, Alaska, school system study that showed that Kumon enrollees in one elementary school attained higher math computation scores.
“We don’t offer mainstream (American) education,” said Fujiwara, “but because it works, more and more people are showing interest.”
Fujiwara said the Western region will generate revenue of $3 million in 1990, compared to $2.1 million in 1989. Most revenue is generated by franchise centers, which charge a $30 registration fee and $60 per month per student. Kumon receives $22 of each $60 monthly fee from franchisees. Franchisees also pay a $150 start-up fee to Kumon.
In contrast with the franchise learning centers, Kumon charges public and private schools a fee of only $5 per student per month and provides teachers with training and material. The school programs are designed to promote the Kumon approach and tend to lose money, Fujiwara said.
The average class size in a Western region franchise center is 60. The typical gross revenue for a franchisee is about $43,200 per year and $27,360 after payment of royalties to Kumon. Fujiwara’s largest franchisee has 400 students, generating about $288,000 in gross revenue and about $182,000 annually after royalties.
Teaching certification is not required because Kumon provides instruction materials and training. The franchisees must obtain and maintain their own schoolroom facilities. Most franchisees rent their space.
Kumon has been buoyed by a growing demand for supplemental educational instruction in both reading and math programs, said M. C. Taylor, an analyst at Progressive Asset Management, an Oakland-based investment firm.
“It stems from the perception that there has been a deterioration of the public school system,” Taylor said. “There is a rising concern about education. Parents want to do more to help the children prepare for a world that will be more technical. They realize that greater math skills will be needed to get decent jobs.”
Indeed, other learning center operations have also grown in recent years. Sylvan, for example, had 150 centers in 1985 and now has about 470.
Concern about academic achievement is not new. An alarm was sounded in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, a blue-ribbon panel that addressed educational problems in a 36-page report called “A Nation At Risk.” The commission urged higher academic standards, bigger teacher salaries, a longer school year and a lot more homework.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is responding to those calls. The council last year adopted a set curriculum recommendations, urging school districts to have more students take more math. Currently, mostly college-bound students--particularly those interested in engineering and other fields involving extensive use of math--take advanced math such as calculus and trigonometry in U.S. high schools. In contrast, virtually all Japanese students must take high-level math.
If school districts around the country adopt the many measures proposed by the national math council, American math skills will rise and there will be less need for supplemental programs such as Kumon, said Jerry Becker, a mathematics professor involved in curriculum programs at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Still, many parents favoring the back-to-basics approach will continue to support Kumon, said Becker, who has studied the Kumon approach.
“There is a tendency on part of the population to concentrate on computational skills,” Becker said. “Kumon is very good at meeting its objectives, which is to improve computational skills. However, the mathematical reform movement is beginning to stress the need to teach mathematical concepts, and that’s something Kumon does not do very well.”
Kumon also faces other challenges. To continue to grow, the company must maintain its teaching standards by finding qualified and motivated franchisee candidates, said Steve Huffhines, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach, an investment firm in Birmingham, Ala..
“Consistent quality in service in franchise operations is a difficult objective to maintain,” he said.
Fujiwara said the franchisee selection process is rigorous. Kumon screens out candidates who show too much interest in the money-making potential of the business.
“The most important quality we look for is enthusiasm for education,” Fujiwara said. “If a franchise provides good instruction, it will attract more students and more business.”
