Handle on the basics: U.S. students' math achievement is "at a mediocre level" compared with that of their peers worldwide, said a new report by a federal panel. It said math curriculums from preschool to eighth grade should be streamlined to focus on key skills -- whole numbers and fractions, addition and multiplication and some geometry -- to prepare students to learn algebra.
Why algebra? The report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed two years ago by President Bush, said Thursday: "Students who complete Algebra II are more than twice as likely to graduate from college, compared to students with less mathematical preparation."
Instruction debate: It said both teacher-directed instruction, in which students are told how to solve problems and are drilled on them, and child-centered instruction, which emphasizes conceptual understanding, have key roles. Districts that have made "all-encompassing decisions to go one way or the other," panel chairman Larry Faulkner said, should rethink that and intertwine different methods of instruction.
The bottom line: The curriculum should include fewer topics, and then spend time on each of them to ensure it is learned in depth.
NEW YORK TIMES
The recommended benchmarks:
WHOLE NUMBERS
By end of Grade 3: Be proficient with addition and subtraction
By end of Grade 5: Be proficient with multiplication and division
