The New York State Education Department is pushing woke new math guidelines, including a recommendation that teachers stop giving timed quizzes \u2014 because it stresses students out.<\/p>\n
The new guidelines also argue that repeated practice of math facts is not useful, and that \u201cexplicit instruction\u201d doesn\u2019t work as well as letting students figure out their own ways to do math.<\/p>\n
Critics bash the state\u2019s latest math guidance, developed by University of Michigan researchers who promote equity and social justice, warning the changes will backfire spectacularly.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers 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<\/a>, not better,\u201d Benjamin Solomon, a professor at the State University of New York at Albany<\/a> told The Post.<\/p>\n Solomon, a psychologist and math-curriculum expert, fired off a letter last week to state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa <\/a>\u2014 signed by nearly 200 math academics, researchers, parents and others \u2014 demanding a \u201cretraction\u201d of the newly released guidance, calling many of the suggestions \u201ccritically flawed.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n 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 \u201cretraction\u201d of the controversial math guidance. Chalk & Talk with Anna Stokke\/ Youtube<\/p>\n Among the more controversial new guidelines in the state\u2019s \u201cNumeracy Briefs\u201d<\/a> for teaching pre-K-12 math is a claim that \u201ctimed\u201d math testing \u2013 which supporters say improves skills and gets students ready for real-world deadlines \u2013 shouldn\u2019t be used by teachers because it causes anxiety and could discourage students from tackling math.<\/p>\n Solomon, however, said there\u2019s no definitive research showing timed-testing causes \u201cmath anxiety,\u201d adding that it\u2019s \u201cbeen shown to be pretty important for kids to get really good at math. They need to know their math facts cold.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no definitive research showing timed-testing causes \u201cmath anxiety,\u201d Solomon said. NuPenDekDee \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The briefs, issued in May, also claim that repeated practice of math facts and standard algorithms \u2013 such as simple addition and subtraction \u2013 are not as helpful as letting students figure out their own ways to do math.<\/p>\n The idea \u201csounds good,\u201d Solomon said, but doesn\u2019t work because kids still need to know standard formulas before moving on to complex equations.<\/p>\n