Old Math, Good Math

Last year, Gov. Gray Davis established a pilot program of special reading academies to help children in kindergarten through fourth grade who might otherwise fail to read well. The academies emphasize traditional, phonics-based teaching methods that some school districts had been neglecting in their infatuation with more experimental teaching techniques.

Now, Davis is hoping to foster a similar revival of basic learning in math with his proposal to establish algebra academies, summer schools that would help prepare seventh- and eighth-graders for high school algebra.

It’s a welcome proposal, for U.S. Department of Education statistics show that success in secondary school algebra is the single greatest predictor of success in college--not just for engineering and science majors but for majors in all fields.

Like many potential political solutions to entrenched educational problems, the algebra academies are only a start in addressing underlying educational failures. Math experts agree that students will be able to learn algebra in secondary school only if they master basic math skills like multiplication tables in elementary school.

Many children throughout California, however, are denied such mastery because their school districts adhere to an experimental teaching method called integrated math. A method that disdains the notion of adults hierarchically imparting knowledge to kids, integrated math does not require students to memorize multiplication tables, compute fractions or learn other basic skills essential to algebraic success. It’s often rightly derided as “fuzzy math” because of its murky goals, which include, according to one popular integrated math program, “linking past experience to new concepts, sharing ideas [and] developing concept readiness through hands-on explorations.”

Davis’ algebra academies will succeed only if districts like Los Angeles Unified reduce their reliance on integrated math. Reform must also take hold in the California State University system, where some schools of education eschew traditional math concepts like memorizing multiplication tables and allow prospective teachers to use calculators on their final exam in basic arithmetic.

A half-century ago, when manufacturing industries dominated the economy, the United States could get away with teaching algebra and geometry to only its best students. Today’s information-driven society and economy have created much broader needs for math and science skills, but U.S. schools lag behind. From 1986 to 1996, for example, the number of college degrees awarded to U.S. citizens in burgeoning, math-dependent fields like computer science and electrical engineering dropped by 40%. The lack of trained workers led Congress last year to nearly double the number of “guest worker” visas given to foreign nationals with high-tech skills.

The road to math capability in adulthood is chosen early in life. The governor’s algebra academies are an important step, but the schools need to put a good grounding in math basics back into elementary classrooms as well.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Math Rankings

Scores for high school seniors on international math test:

Netherlands: 560

Switzerland: 540

France: 523

Canada: 519

International average: 500

Germany: 495

Russian Federation: 471

United States: 461

South Africa: 356

Source: Third International Mathematics and Science Study, 1998