As a teacher, I can comment somewhat about this. I tend to use a traditional/new approach mix myself. I don't think that Alpine District is too smart to keep JUST this approach. It will cost them dearly if they do. We have a teacher at my school who lives in that district and plans on taking her kid elsewhere too if they still have the same program then.

Nonetheless, it still demonstrates that many times in education today, you're darned if you do and darned if you don't. Some people are just looking for anything to find negative nowadays or to blame on the teachers. I have seen people say that the schools using more traditional approaches don't change enough while others say that some haven't changed enough.

I recently heard a radio ad where some engineers urged stronger math standards. That's great, but I have YET to see some engineer in the classroom willing to help out on that. I think there should be some connections between businesses and that these guys need to get out to the classrooms and tell what kind of math is needed. Better yet, they could tutor or even teach/assist with some concepts. If people want the kids to be better in the future, then they need to get in there and do something about it. I love making private industry/public school connections and hope to do that a lot in my own classroom.

I have spent much time with Koreans. Many times, I found they knew all the formulas and everything else, but found math hard to "apply." A student I knew could do double digit multiplication in second grade, but had no idea how to represent it. This is what some of this "other" math is trying to achieve. However, I don't believe we should abandon the fundamentals.

Was the person serious? Math standards like California's??? Oh boy, we're in trouble.

The key is instead of having "math wars," let's work together to find a solution. It's the approach that works in my class.

PS--this is a series of ramblings, not meant to be a professional essay.

My parents would have still made sure we got the learning we needed regardless because they expected us to. They knew that education began with them and they ensured that we all received a great education regardless of the circumstances. They certainly prepared us well (note that this is not just years ago, but includes the present and recent past too) for what we would face in life. Each parent has the same choice as well.

David Wright has limited his petition to professors in math, science, engineering, and technology. Those in favor of removing Investigations Math from the Alpine School District and having a return to a more traditional math method, are invited to sign Oak Norton's petition found at http://www.oaknorton.com/.

It'll be interesting to see what the ratios are.