In “Too little math in math?,” the Seattle Times looks at the Washington state math revolt. While the governor is announcing plan to adopt “international standards for math and science education so students can compete globally,” parents have organized to demand better math textbooks.
. . . parents say the schools aren’t giving students a strong foundation in basic arithmetic. One example they cite is an October OSPI review of student mistakes on the 2006 WASL that indicated confusion about the meaning of “remainder” in division; how to represent fractions in decimal form; the differences among perimeter, area and volume; and when to use diameter or radius in a formula.
Parents in the protest group, Where’s the Math?, are buying Singapore math books for their children.