U.S. Fails Math

CURRICULUM

It was most likely your favorite grade-school teacher who
attentively assisted you in solving arithmetic equations--but she
probably shouldn't have. New research suggests that American educators
don't let students learn to solve problems on their own--causing kids to
score lower in math than their Japanese counterparts.

In a 1997 study funded by the U.S. Department of Education, James
Stigler, Ph.D., of the University of California at Los Angeles, and James
Hiebert, Ph.D., from the University of Delaware, analyzed videotapes of
231 eighth-grade math classes in Germany, Japan and the United States
over one year.

As reported in their recent book The Teaching Gap (Free Press,
1999), the researchers found that American teachers spent 90% of class
time going over procedures, formulas and problem-solving techniques. In
Japan, however, students spent over 50% of class time discussing concepts
and inventing their own solutions to problems. Although the Japanese
students frequently had incorrect answers, Stigler and Hiebert believe
they achieved a better understanding of the material than American
students, who often quickly forget their memorized facts.

Three years ago, New Jersey-based public-school teacher Bill
Jackson adjusted his math curriculum to reflect this research. That year,
his eighth-grade students' standardized test scores increased by 20%;
this year, an above-average number entered honors algebra. Jackson says:
"To do math, kids must be given a chance to do math."

PHOTO (COLOR): "To do math, kids must be given a chance to do
math."