We need to focus on the best students rather than always on the worst students.
We should let our best students go as fast as they can, but we don't. Instead, our best students are dumped into "inclusive" elementary school classrooms in the name of fairness. Charles Murray (Real Education) writes, "Performing poorly in the classroom is not a big deal socially. Performing conspicuously well is often a social liability. ... When it comes to athletic and musical ability no one considers withholding training that could realize those gifts. It is just as senseless, and as ethically warped, to withhold training that can realize academic ability. ... America's future depends on how we educate the academically gifted."
How well? For decades, we have done a crummy job in that our best students are grossly underfunded and left behind on their own. The purpose of math education is to make students competent in arithmetic and algebra; however, our best math and science students need acceleration early on. It means hiring algebra teachers for grades 1 to 5 and science teachers who can create and implement legitimate chemistry and physics courses in elementary school. Astute 1st-grade students can study functions and equation solving (math) and also learn the difference between an observation and an inference and study atomic theory (science). We don't have good textbooks for advanced elementary students, not in math or in science.
Note: "The insistence that we can dramatically improve the academic performance of low-ability students has an almost religious tenacity," writes Murray. While there are always exceptions, it hasn't worked well in real education. There are limits.
Advanced middle school and high school students need to take the initiative because very few schools can meet the actual accelerative needs of advanced math and science students. They need to study on their own. Self-motivated students can watch "open courseware" from MIT in chemistry, physics, math, and other topics. More expensive options include private tutors and courses such as those offered by The Art of Problem Solving. Our best math and science students in elementary school don't need enrichment programs; they need acceleration and to be with other excellent students who are also inspired.
Children are not the same. "Ability varies," says Charles Murray. So, let's stop pretending that all kids are the same and can learn the same math. Children need different math curricula based on their cognitive abilities and achievement--not the same curriculum as in Common Core and state standards. In sharp contrast to our current policies, the late Nobel-prize winning Physicist Richard Feynman points out, "In education, you increase differences. If someone's good at something, you try to develop his ability, which results in differences, or inequalities." Education increases inequality!
You don't fix achievement gaps by lowering those at the top or by equalizing outcomes.
Our best students should soar, but many do not. Furthermore, we do not live in Lake Wobegon where all kids are above average. There will always be gaps and levels. We are not all equally creative. Indeed, academic ability widely varies as do other abilities such as musical ability. Some kids will be better at math than others. The outcomes of instruction will not be the same. You cannot equalize or legislate outcomes. However, what we can do is to upgrade curriculum and instruction to world-class levels for the majority of students, focus on getting more students ready for Algebra by middle school, and accelerate high-achieving math students starting in early elementary school. We can accomplish those things by teaching K-5 kids the fundamentals of standard arithmetic rather than reform math. Kids are passing without knowing grade-level content. The deficiencies compound up the grades. Also, focusing instruction to improve test scores is an inadequate curriculum and not the same as learning critical content in math. American K-8 students are weak in math and science, but so are many of their teachers. Also, many students have difficulty comprehending complex text (reading). The burden of academic deficiencies carries over to the high school. The problems begin in the 1st grade, not middle school or high school. Students should master the fundamentals of standard arithmetic first. They don't. A typical elementary school classroom is much like the old one-room schoolhouse. (Comment: You cannot solve a math problem without knowing in long-term memory the prerequisite math.) LT
©2017 LT/ThinkAlgebra
