I just got off the phone with a reporter from a local newspaper. He's preparing an article about No Child Left Behind and the fact that the schools in our district did not make AYP in the area of mathematics.
He asked me this question: "Is the bar too high for math?"
Emphatically no, I replied.
Why do I believe that? As I have watched my own kids come up through elementary school, I observed the heavy, heavy emphasis (dare I say bias?) placed on literacy. The school work kids were bringing home was reading and writing. Homework? Reading and writing. Enrichment? Reading and writing.
I have a degree in English, so believe me, I value literacy. I just can't help but wonder, though, what would happen if we placed the same emphasis on math as we do on literacy, what would happen to our math scores?
I drove by a lot of schools this summer. Wanna know the most common reader board message? "Have a safe summer. READ!"
What if we were broadcasting messages about math?
What if we made it easy to practice math on a daily basis?
I truly believe math achievement is a function of time. We need to spend more time practicing math!
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