Danger of "New New Math" Programs
Testimony of David Klein, Professor of Mathematics, California State
University, Northridge
Time and Date of scheduled Testimony: 2:00 p.m. April 4, 2000
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related
Activities
"Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today.
"Last October, the U.S. Department of Education released a report to the
nation's 16,000 school districts. The report designated 10 mathematics
programs for K-12 as "exemplary" or "promising." The following month, I
sent an open letter co-authored with mathematicians Richard Askey, R.
James Milgram, and Hung-Hsi Wu with more than 200 other co-signers to
Education Secretary Richard Riley urging him to withdraw the Department
of Education's recommendations (http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com).
"Among the endorsers are many of the nation's most accomplished scientists
and mathematicians. Department heads at many universities, including
Caltech, Stanford, Harvard, and Yale, along with two former presidents of
the Mathematical Association of America also added their names in support.
Seven Nobel laureates and winners of the Fields Medal, the highest award
in mathematics, also endorsed. In addition, several prominent state and
national education leaders co-signed our open letter.
"The ten so-called "exemplary" and "promising" math programs recommended by the Department of Education for our children include some of the worst
math books available. The programs I have examined radically de-emphasize
basic skills in arithmetic and algebra. Uncontrolled calculator use is
rampant. One can draw a parallel between the philosophy that underlies the
failed "whole language learning" approach to reading, and the Department
of Education's agenda for mathematics.
"The effects of this philosophy in Los Angeles have been devastating.
According to a recent Los Angeles Times article(3/17/2000):
"Sixty percent of the eighth-graders in L.A. Unified, it is estimated, do
not yet know their multiplication tables."
"Proponents of these watered-down programs believe that they are
appropriate for minority students and women. For example, Jack Price, one
of the Expert Panel members for the Department of Education, said on a
radio show in 1996 (http://mathematicallycorrect.com/roger.htm) that
minority groups and women do not learn math the same way as white males.
He stated:
"... women have a tendency to learn better in a collaborative effort when
they are doing inductive reasoning."
"This was in contrast to the way white males learn math. According to Jack
Price, "males ... learn better deductively in a competitive environment."
"This misguided view of women and minorities is consistent with the
Department of Education's math books. They rely heavily on superficial
repetitive patterns to draw conclusions rather than logical deduction,
which is the core of mathematics.
"It is true that the National Council of Teachers of Mathemtics, or NCTM,
has endorsed the Department of Education's list of math books, and the
National Science Foundation has spent millions of dollars to develop and
promote several of them.
"But these organizations represent surprisingly narrow interests, and there
is a revolving door between them.
"Steven Leinwand, a co-chair of the Expert Panel, was also a member of the
Advisory Boards for two programs found to be "exemplary" by his panel. He
also serves on the Board of Directors of the NCTM. Expert Panel
member,Jack Price, who I just quoted, is a former president of the NCTM.
"Luther Williams, who as Assistant Director of the NSF approved the funding
of several of the recommended curricula, also served on the Expert Panel.
Glenda Lappan, the current president of the NCTM, is a co-author of the
so-called "exemplary" program, Connected Mathematics, which her
organization endorses.
"These facts suggest obvious conflicts of interest. According to the
official minutes of the Department of Education's Expert Panel, the panel
members were themselves aware of this conflict.
"I quote from the November 15 and 16, 1996 minutes of the second meeting of
the Expert Panel.
"Some members expressed their concern about serving as chair, because
their organizations develop products that may be reviewed by the panel,
and they were concerned about conflict of interest. The panel agreed that
if conflict of interest were an issue, it would not matter whether one
served as chair or simply as a member. The panel agreed that whoever is
panel chair ought to be able to act independently of his or her own
interests."
"I urge the distinguished members of the Appropriations Committee to
investigate the possibility of conflict of interest within the Expert
Panel.
"I also urge the distinguished members of this committee not to allocate
funds to promote mathematics programs premised on the misguided notion
that women and minority groups need a different and inferior kind of
mathematics. "
Source: E-mail from Professor Klein to Rhonda Thurman of C.A.R.E., a Hamilton County, Tennessee organization dedicated to improvement of their public schools.