Math Standards in Education
What really struck me about standards based teaching in chapter one is highlighted by this quote. “In not one of 81 videotapes U.S. lessons was any high level mathematics content observed. U.S. lessons consisted exclusively of low level content. Our government officials are most likely outraged by this, but standards based teaching dictates teachers to do exactly this. The number one priority for standards based instruction is to ensure that the lower level students meet proficiency. For this to occur, teachers need to direct their instruction exclusively to these students. The high level math students can meet the standards with no math instruction. As a classroom teacher I do exactly this. I help the struggling math students understand the concepts at hand. I do this well and feel good about it. I briefly walk past the high level students, glance at their work and give them thumbs up. I dont feel good about this at all. I wish I could be teaching these students some linear equations, but I am not two people and I cant be in two places at once. The lower students need the whole hour and a half to achieve proficiency.
As a teacher I feel that I am doing my job at teaching to the standards. It is the governments fault that the Einsteins of tomorrow are getting “left behind”. As a parent of a gifted 1st grade math student I am outraged. My son understands fractions, place value, multiplication, division, and 4 digit addition and subtraction. I ask him everyday what he is doing in math and I get the same answer, learning to count to 25. Ultimately it is a question involving ethics and morality. What is the right thing to do? Perhaps it is to teach the lower level kids. It is obvious that the Asian math teachers ignore the low level students and teach to their high level students. They are not miracle workers either. I dont have any answers, I am just commenting on the reality of the situation