Pulled Quotes

I was flipping through Thursday’s edition of USA Today and came across a very interesting article about the new way in which textbooks and teachers are going to start approaching math lessons. The article, “A solution to how to teach math: Subtract” looks at a new approach of getting rid of larger math textbooks (700+ pages) and replacing them with “books as slim as 150 pages to help children solidly learn just a few key skills each year.” A professor from Michigan State University stated that the problem is that teachers in the United States (as opposed to the ones in China) are “trying to teach first-graders 20-something topics.”

The solution to the problem of US students’ lack of math skills is outlined in a table titled “What kids need to know - and when.” According to the table, third graders need to know how to add and subtract. Fourth graders will have mastered that skill, along with learning how to identify and use decimals and fractions. Fifth graders would need to know how to do the aforementioned skills, along with adding, subtracting, and comparing decimals and fractions, and starting to solve simple geometric problems dealing with perimeter and area. Middle schoolers would need to focus on integers, volume, surface area, and line slopes.

Looking at this article, I have to say that I was very disappointed with the lead. “Wondering why your child isn’t learning enough math in school? Her textbook may be too thick” seems too magazine-y for USA Today. The next paragraph definitely ignored the inverted pyramid style, saying that “…a blue-ribbon panel commissioned by President Bush has been working since 2006 to find out why the math skills of U.S. students pale next to those in so many other industrialized nations. The 20 respected scholars scoured more than 16,000 research studies, heard testimony in eight cities and argued among themselves — sometimes heatedly – for more than two years.

Holy details.

Anyway, I am left with a few questions.
1. When is this going to take place?
2. Is every state mandated to participate, or is this new method of math teaching optional?
3. How will the change in elementary and middle school teachings affect high school curriculum?
4. Will other subjects (science, for instance, which is closely connected to math) soon follow this model?
5. Taking an eco-friendly “green” standpoint, what is to be done with the old books? Will they be recycled, or can they be sold as supplements to the teachings?