Those closely watching the Obamas and what they are going to do next, have surely noticed that they have elected to send their girls to Sidwell Friends School in DC.The issue of whether a President who touts the value of a public school system should send his kids to a private school has taken center stage.I'm not particularly interested in that issue so much as I am the fact that Sidwell uses Investigations in Number, Data and Space, one of the NSF-sponsored atrocities that passes as a math course and grossly underprepares students for math.There has been some press on Investigations in the Washington Post, namely the protest of Prince William County, VA parents against the use of Investigations in that school district.  (See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021802244.html )

Fearing that the negative publicity towards Investigations in the Washington Post might cause parents to question Sidwell's use of Investigations, the school posted a notice on its website to allay any fears parents may have about the program.  (See https://www.sidwell.edu/news/detail.asp?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=8567&ModuleID=427)  In this piece, Meredith Melvin Adelfio (Lower School Math Coordinator) and Jenni Swanson Voorhees (Director, Lower School Technology) try to put the matter to rest by first assuring parents that "The Post article focused on parent dissatisfaction, rather than the reason for this curriculum's design." 

While one might think that parents would be taken aback that parent dissatisfaction is given such short shrift, bear in mind that many of the parents who send their kids to Sidwell will put their trust in Sidwell's administrators.As such, alarming numbers of parents swallow hook, line and sinker the philosophy that traditional math has failed large numbers of students in the past.  Many parents who so willingly put their trust in such people, allow themselves to be convinced that procedural fluency and conceptual understanding cannot possibly work in tandem. 

Progressivist educational philosophies run wild in the hands of educationist disciples who see Investigations as the holy grail.  In such an anti-intellectual climate, adding numbers vertically instead of horizontally is relegated to an era routinely and inaccurately characterized as one in which "rote memorization" dominates education.Never mind that the standard procedures help explain why and how the alternative procedures work.

For the curious-minded, here is a 3^rd grade activity/lesson from Investigations:

Students are typically asked to find at least three different ways to do addition and subtraction problems.In a piece called "Strategies for Solving Subtraction Problems"(see http://investigations.terc.edu/library/curric-gl/sample_g3_smh_p32-35.pdf ) the problem 924 – 672 is presented along with how one student solved it:

"Gil solved the problem by starting at 924 and subtracting back to 672."

"924 – ___= 672

924 – 24 = 900

900 – 200 = 700

700 – 28 = 672

"Gil:The answer is the total of all the jumps from 924 back to 672.24 + 200 + 28 = 252"

Ignore for the moment that it takes more effort to do it this way than simply subtracting 672 from 924, and that Gil still had to solve 700-28 in the process.And how did he know that 700 – 28 would get him down to 672?Seems like they left out a step: did he subtract 672 from 700 perhaps?After you've pondered the above, consider the following problem that Singapore's math program asks third grade students to solve:

"String A is 85 cm long.String B is twice as long.String C is 30 cm shorter than string B. How long is string C?Give your answer in meters and centimeters."

Mr. Obama has chosen to surround himself with advisors such as Linda Darling-Hammond and Jeanne Century and others who are advocates of the top down, inquiry-based and student-centered learning philosophy that permeates much of education these days.If you were to tell such people that students in Singapore and other countries are being given solid foundations and mastery in math that will lead to success in higher level math courses, you will likely be met with knowing smirks and rolling of the eyes.  The "group think" to which Darling-Hammond and others like her subscribe is that there is a distinction to be made between doing "mere exercises" and "solving problems".  And while Singapore and Asian students generally blow the lid off the scores in the international (TIMSS) math exam, adherents of progressivism view the international exams as testing only the application of techniques and procedures that have been learned and memorized.  A true "authentic exam" would show different results altogether, they claim.

And so Mr. Obama's advisors are looking to a brave new world in which students learn concepts and how to solve problems and do "authentic math".In this world, they will be assessed by authentic exams which ask for two or three ways to add or subtract two numbers, for example.  And if, by chance, these students don't go into an engineering or scientific or math-based career, it is not because they are unqualified—it is because theychoose not to.They will no doubt have the deep understanding of math that comes with such conceptual learning.  After all, they got all A's at Sidwell and everyone there says it's OK.

If Mr. Obama's girls don't happen to learn math very well, his advisors will assure him it's just fine.  I can't help but wonder, however, if Michelle Obama's mother who will be living with the Obamas will notice anything strange.Something tells me she won't likethat the kids don't know how to add, subtract, multiply or divide.If she's like many parents in this country who are similarly disturbed by such results, she'll supplement their education by teaching them the—shh—traditional way and no one will be any the wiser.In fact, Sidwell and other schools will attribute such success to their fine curriculum.In the meantime, however, those children not privy to help from parents, grandmas, tutors, or education centers will continue to remain on the low side of the achievement gap—that stubborn problem that simply won't go away.For those unfortunate few in the privileged class who do not get such help—because their parents don't see anything wrong, perhaps?—their lower scores will help narrow the gap, but don't worry.They will still manage to have their place in the sun.Which brings us back to those who are not so privileged.Those people will continue to be relegated to the day-laborer/non-math capable career paths.All for the want of a solid mathematics foundation.