The very word “math” may jolt you back in time to high school. To algebra, geometry, trig, and—for the gifted—calculus. A blizzard of esoterica: factored polynomials, side-angle-side, irrational numbers, the chain rule. Worksheets honing our ability to execute few-step procedures quickly and accurately, by hand. A math curriculum laid out for the United States by the Committee of Ten in 1893, when rote math was essential for many respected professions: architects, surveyors, civil engineers, munitions experts, astronomers.
These changes beg for a wholesale overhaul of the math we teach in school. But we’ve chosen poorly, placing ever-higher stakes on ever-less-relevant rote math. We’ve made rote-math scores the defining measure of education quality, a regimen that ranks, sorts, and punishes students.
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