What the United States Can Learn From Singapore's World-Class Mathematics System (and what Singapore can learn from the United States): An Exploratory Study)
prepared for U.S. Department of Education


Before you begin reading, take out your extra-wide-tip Marks A Lot and cross out the words and what Singapore can learn from the United States.

Judging from the report itself, Singapore can learn nothing from the United States. At least, Singapore can learn nothing from the United States about putting together a world-class mathematics curriculum.

Singapore could probably learn quite a lot from the United States about, say, the futility of good intentions.

But that's another story.

After you've crossed out and what Singapore can learn from the United States, keep your marker handy, because you'll need it to excise each and every reference to 21st century skills inside the body of text.

There are seven mentions of 21st century skills altogether, on pages ix, xi, 13, 18, 39, 55, and 161, and, finally, in the one and only footnote cited in support of the concept that:

• there is such a thing as 21st century skills nobody possessed or even knew about back in the Dark Ages of the 20th century, when people had to go outdoors to use the toilet and do long division by hand

• it is possible to know what these 21st century skills are now, in the year 2005

• 21st century skills are notably absent in Singapore's curriculum and notably present in Everyday Mathematics

This footnote appears on page 172. Get rid of it.

Or don't.

Instead, go to the Mystery NGO cited in the p. 172 footnote, called -- and here's a surprise -- Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

The Partnership, it appears, is 'The leading advocacy organization infusing 21st century skills into education.'

First question: so this means there are others?

Other advocacy organizations working to infuse 21st century skills into education?

Really?

And, second question: what do these people actually do?

See if you can operationalize the mission.

When a person is busy infusing 21st century skills into education, where is he or she sitting or standing, to whom is he speaking, and what actions is he performing?

Is he following the Master Plan?

Another question.

What does a place of education look like after it's been infused?

If I were to walk into a school that's been successfully infused with 21st century skills, would I be able to tell?

Is there any way for me to know whether my own school has been infused?

If you find out, let me know.

One other thing.

You've probably seen this quote around somewhere:

It's time to recognize that, for many students, real mathematical power, on the one hand, and facility with multidigit, pencil-and-paper computational algorithms, on the other, are mutually exclusive. In fact, it's time to acknowledge that continuing to teach these skills to our students is not only unnecessary, but counterproductive and downright dangerous.

Recently I discovered that these words are the first paragraph of a 1994 article in EDUCATION WEEK written by one Steven Leinwand, who was then "a mathematics consultant with the Connecticut Department of Education."

Lo and behold, this is the very same Steven Leinwand who is listed as the 2nd of four authors on the Singapore Math report.

This is why I say get the Marks A Lot.

I say we let Singapore worry about Singapore.

I'm worried about us.

back to MathRefs
or to TwentyFirstCenturySkills

-- CatherineJohnson - 01 Jun 2005

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