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Why are our kids in K-12 so poor at math compared to other countries in the world?
The answer is not pretty, based on what I've seen going on in my district in Louisville, KY. Many of the factual details and links both on the Louisville and the national problems are presented in my recent diaries.
Here I will present two slide shows. One is a statement of what is so wrong about my school district's selection process including the following slide:
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More than mere rational discourse will be required in many districts around the country.
The second slideshow may provide some useful new ammunition for fighting for improved K-12 math education in your school. I have annotated in blue excerpts from the the advisory panel report to the U.S. Department of Education. In many ways the report slams Reform Math.
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While this diary starts out with some of the same material as my last diary my recent diaries you will note that now several strong conclusions and recommendations are being presented. Most of the comments received in the previous diaries focus on which is better, reform math or traditional math, or whether school teachers are adequately trained to teach math. These are great discussions, but rational argument may hold little sway with those who run your school district.
The point of my discussion is really to illustrate that your school district administrators, consultants and textbook publishers may not have the least interest in your opinion. The Molly Ivins quotes given below about politics being unavoidable is especially true in dealing with a number of districts.
First an anecdote illustrating the problem. I recently presented these Slide Show 1 at the local Sigma Xi Chapter. One person in the room was shaking his head in strong agreement throughout my talk. Afterwards I found out that this person is a long-time science teacher in JCPS. After attending the first textbook selection meeting, the teacher was "uninvited" after complaining that the books being considered "dumbed down" the curriculum.--Politics as usual--sigh!
Another reason textbook selection is a big deal, is that my district has 100,000 students, but more importantly to the problems at hand, a $1B annual budget.
There really is gold in them thar hills!
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SLIDE SHOW 1
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SLIDE SHOW 2
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