Schools are urged to prepare more students to take algebra by the eighth grade.Many people think math success depends largely on natural talent or ability; the experts say it depends on effort. Studies have shown that children improve in math when they believe that their efforts to learn make them "smarter."
The report also calls for strengthening the math preparation of elementary and middle school teachers. And it urges publishers to shorten math textbooks, which are often up to a thousand pages long. The panel said math books are much smaller in many nations where students do better in math than American children.
Publishers say American textbooks have to meet the goals of different states for what should be taught in each grade.The report also calls for more research on the effects of using calculators. Many algebra teachers expressed concern about their use in the lower grades. And the report says gifted students who can move through the material much faster than others should be permitted to do so.
The math panel says the educational system needs major changes. If not, it warns that the United States will lose the mathematical leadership it possessed during most of the twentieth century.
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