Will reform make math suck less?

Among those of us who actually get numbers in varying degrees, math is not an arcane mystery as much as an intriguing puzzle, a monument to order, and a fun challenge. We'd like others to respect and recognize the beauty in it every bit as much as a Brahms concerto or a Van Gogh painting. The problem is that the public swoons over the latter two examples while purveyors of the former are affectionately known as "geeks". So it comes as no surprise that the latest ideas to improve math instruction have been met with much nervous anticipation from mathematicians as well as "Train-A-leaves-Baltimore" confused students and their "I-was-never-good-at-it-either" parents.

Such movements as Reform Mathematics and Every Day Math attempt to ease the pain of misunderstanding and raise the math scores among the country's school kids. Both ideas stress making mathematics relevant or simpler so that students can develop connections between their interests and numerical discipline. And, if these ploys work and don't make things worse and even more confusing for students and parents, neither are a bad idea. After all, the USA constantly lags behind several other industrialized nations in pre-adolescent and adolescent mathematical achievement. Singapore and Japan immediately come to mind as countries that rank consistently higher than the States but even Estonia seems to have more game. Estonia?

Now, I doubt seriously that the reform movement has caught hold in Singapore or Japan. Why? It's hardly needed. Far from simply having an innate aptitude for number sense, students and parents in other countries understand that being successful at mathematics takes many hours of hard work and intense concentration. So what's wrong with our population?

The answer is not as much about Danica as it is about Shaq and Brittney. About which ones have you heard the most? While there is nothing at all wrong and almost everything right with athletic prowess or show business talent, our cultural emphasis on these skills far outweigh our culture of mathematical success. It's not as if a kid is more likely to make his eventual living playing professional sports or singing than utilizing his math skill in business, the sciences, or auto mechanics. But in examining parenting styles, you'd think all kids were headed for the NBA or Hollywood. So while educators talk and execute great strategies and perform a multitude of methods including techniques and intricacies that rival Cirque du Soleil to bring about math achievement, the efforts will always pale along side the competing American cultures of sports and entertainment.

Many of today's parents promote the hours after school and before supper to be spent practicing athletics or playing because kids need down time. That's all fine and important but then they allow mere nanoseconds after supper to be spent working math problems so their kids can hurry up and finish in time to watch the two-hour American Idol finale or in March, the madness. The very next morning, those same parents complain to the principal about too much homework horning in on family time.

To fight this cultural roadblock and get more notice for the cause, Danica's next project is to develop a two handed dunk shot and be admitted to celebrity rehab.