Mary McConnell has an intriguing column in this Sunday’s Deseret News:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700100694/Tiger-mothers-and-Lake-Wobegon-kids-is-it-time-to-Shanghai-our-math-students.html
The first half is interesting, about the Chinese “Tiger Mother,” but that is not why I recommend this article. It’s the second half discussing Singapore math, and ending with “we invite math teachers, as well as parents and students, to weigh in on these questions” (she is setting up a blog, “Educating Ourselves”)
Her conclusion: “We invite your observations on two of the most pressing issues of our time: the role of test scores in evaluating and compensating teachers, what is sometimes called value added assessment, and the future of online instruction.”
If you contribute, please cc your comments to me.
January 16, 2011
Math and Other Issues
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Paula Hill 4 School Board 
Paula,
There was more than one school in ASD with parents who voted against both Singapore and Saxon Math because of both the parent involvement AND the amount of homework they required each night.
What you are talking about is changing an entire culture here. You’ll have some parents that will be on board from the start and others that will just pretend it doesn’t exist.
Especially in my area, I know many parents who put much more weight on sports than they do on Math.
Comment by Tammy and Parker — January 16, 2011 @ 6:09 pm
Great feed-back. I hope you send that to Mary McConnell. There is a lot to discuss with the math issue, and your insights add to the dialogue. I was not so much touting Singapore math as I was pleased that leaders are calling for a forum. There are competing theories–I have a friend who lived in Singapore, and he feels their methods would have serious problems in our culture. I have another friend who home-schooled using the program who swears by it. Lots to explore.
Comment by paulahill4u — January 17, 2011 @ 5:31 am