The New York State Education Department is pushing woke new math guidelines, including a recommendation that teachers stop giving timed quizzes — because it stresses students out.

The new guidelines also argue that repeated practice of math facts is not useful, and that “explicit instruction” doesn’t work as well as letting students figure out their own ways to do math.

Critics bash the state’s latest math guidance, developed by University of Michigan researchers who promote equity and social justice, warning the changes will backfire spectacularly.

“Teachers are very hungry for information on how to teach math better, and if they are listening to this advice coming from the state Education Department, inevitably their kids will do worse, not better,” Benjamin Solomon, a professor at the State University of New York at Albany told The Post.

Solomon, a psychologist and math-curriculum expert, fired off a letter last week to state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa — signed by nearly 200 math academics, researchers, parents and others — demanding a “retraction” of the newly released guidance, calling many of the suggestions “critically flawed.”

The New York State Education Department is pushing new math guidelines that include recommending that teachers stop testing students on their problem-solving speed because it stresses them out. Prostock-studio – stock.adobe.com

Benjamin Solomon, a SUNY-Albany professor, sent a letter last week to State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa signed by nearly 200 math academics and others demanding a “retraction” of the controversial math guidance. Chalk & Talk with Anna Stokke/ Youtube

Among the more controversial new guidelines in the state’s “Numeracy Briefs” for teaching pre-K-12 math is a claim that “timed” math testing – which supporters say improves skills and gets students ready for real-world deadlines – shouldn’t be used by teachers because it causes anxiety and could discourage students from tackling math.

Solomon, however, said there’s no definitive research showing timed-testing causes “math anxiety,” adding that it’s “been shown to be pretty important for kids to get really good at math. They need to know their math facts cold.”

There’s no definitive research showing timed-testing causes “math anxiety,” Solomon said. NuPenDekDee – stock.adobe.com

The briefs, issued in May, also claim that repeated practice of math facts and standard algorithms – such as simple addition and subtraction – are not as helpful as letting students figure out their own ways to do math.

The idea “sounds good,” Solomon said, but doesn’t work because kids still need to know standard formulas before moving on to complex equations.

“Solving algebraic proportions cannot be learned if children have not mastered all the skills that are prerequisite,” he wrote Rosa.

“The methods in the NY briefs diminish the critical importance of mastering and performing fluently or automatically all the foundational skills that build advanced math performance during primary and secondary education in math.”

“Teachers are very hungry for information on how to teach math better, and if they are listening to this advice coming from the New York State Education Department, inevitably their kids will do worse, not better,” Solomon, a psychologist and math expert, told The Post. Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com

The letter also raises concerns about the math briefs recommending that teachers drop “explicit instruction” in favor of “exploratory learning” in which youngsters typically use blocks or other objects to learn math.

“There is a 50-year consensus that explicit instruction works better,” Solomon said.

“The brief very bizarrely is condescending of explicit instruction. [The authors] dismissed it and said it’s not that important, but if teachers start following that advice literally, we’re screwed,” he said.  “That’s really bad advice.”

Danyela Souza Egorov, a fellow at the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute and vice-president of Manhattan’s District 2 Community Education Council, agreed that the math briefs should be withdrawn.

“They are unscientific and promoting terrible ideas to our teachers at a time of record low-performance among New York students,” she said.

Danyela Souza Egorov, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said the math briefs should be taken down. Manhattan Institute

The state “should have a better process to select curriculum providers and ensure that what is being distributed to school districts and teachers follows the science of learning,” Egorov added.

“Every parent knows it takes repeated practice for kids to memorize the times tables, for example. How can our New York State Department of Education discourage this?” 

The state’s new guidance was produced out-of-state by Deborah Loewenberg Ball, a professor of education at the University of Michigan, along with TeachingWorks, an initiative that trains teachers “to advance equity and social justice.”

A state Education Department spokesperson did not return messages.