EFFORTS TO TRY TO STOP THE NCTM STANDARDS MOVEMENT:
Learned scholars from all over America have tried for years (19 at least) to stop the government's dumbing down of mathematics in America's public and private schools.
It's hard to beat the Federal government!
August 26, 1997
President Clinton
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President:
We applaud your goal of introducing a national grade 8 mathematics exam as a way to stimulate improvement in mathematics education.
In developing such a national mathematics test, it is critical to get the details correct lest the goals be lost. We are seriously concerned that the development of the national mathematics test is flawed and in need of correction. Our concerns are in three areas: The underlying assumptions about what is important in mathematics; the composition of the committee which is writing the test; and the nature of the test itself.
It is clear that the authors of the exam are working under the assumption that there is, or will be, a national consensus that the 1989 Standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) are the appropriate guide for mathematics education in the United States. This is not true. Troublesome issues about the NCTM model are now being raised by committees of the Mathematical Association of America and of other mathematics professional associations. We and many others across the country feel strongly that use of the 1989 NCTM Standards as a guiding document is a serious error which will undermine the credibility and usefulness of the national test.
The committee which is drafting the exam specifications is biased. First, nearly all of its members are strong advocates of the NCTM Standards and of programs that repute to be aligned with the NCTM Standards. There is not a balance of different viewpoints regarding mathematics education. Second, members of the committee have significant conflicts of interest as they are actively involved in the writing or promotion of particular mathematics curricula. Even the slightest suspicion that the authors would bias the test toward material covered in their programs, or that their authorship of the test would be used to sell their programs or to help them get grants, undermines the credibility of the exam. Conflict of interest protections should be in place for those writing a document as important as the national math test.
The exam itself, at least as represented in the examination plan, is not at all adequate. To be truly informative, the exam should be comprehensive and cover those topics that are important to the future of America. At the top end, it must be sure to meet your call for Algebra for all 8th graders. Thus, the national exam must extend from basic numerical operations (without calculators) through all of the content of a rigorous first year algebra program. The exam fails at both extremes. There is no plan to test basic computational skills under the assumption that all students will know these things. Unfortunately, this is not true, as anyone who deals regularly with 8th graders can tell you. If we do not test basic skills we will hide from ourselves the extent and range of our weaknesses at the lowest levels. At the other end, in spite of calling 25% of the test "Algebra," the content addressed is not algebra at all - - it is not even pre-algebra. By ignoring the demanding content of algebra, the design will fail to measure success at the level of our international competition and will fail to promote greater achievement as intended.
The emerging plan is therefore totally inconsistent with the very reasons for having a national mathematics exam, and is contrary to the needs of our country. As you have committed yourself and the country to the goal of a valuable, meaningful and useful examination of mathematical competence, it falls to you to correct the errors that are occurring in the development of this exam.
Sincerely,
Institutional affiliations for identification only
MATHEMATICIANS
Henry Alder
Former President of the Mathematical Association of America
Former member of the California State Board of Education
Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Davis
current member of the California Mathematics Framework Committee
Frank B. Allen,
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics,
Elmhurst College
President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics `62-`64
George E. Andrews
Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics
Penn State University
Wayne Bishop, Ph. D.
Professor of Mathematics
California State University, Los Angeles
Gunnar Carlsson
Chairman, Department of Mathematics
Stanford University
Ralph Cohen
Professor of Mathematics
Stanford University
Anne Cook
Adjunct Professor of Mathematics
(and VERY concerned parent!)
Glen Oaks Community College
D. W. Crowe
Prof. Of Mathematics (emeritus)
Dept. of Mathematics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mirna Dzamonja
visiting Assistant Profesor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Gary M. Epstein
Professor of Mathematics,
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA
Dr. David J. Foulis
Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Ted Giebutowski
Professor of Mathematics
Plynouth State College
Plymout, NH
Leslie Hogben
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Iowa State University
I. Martin Isaacs
Professor of Mathematics
University of Wisconsin
Madison WI 53706
Dikran Karagueuzian
Van Vleck Assistant Professor of Mathematics
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Jim Kuelbs
Professor of Mathematics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Donald Kiel
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science,
California State University, Los Angeles
David Klein
Professor of Mathematics
California State University, Northridge
Norman Levitt
Professor of Mathematics
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ.
Marc H. Melman
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
R. James Milgram
Professor of Mathematics
Stanford University
Motohico Mulase
Professor of Mathematics
University of California, Davis
J. Marshall Osborn
Professor of Mathematics
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI
Donald S. Passman
Richard Brauer Professor of Mathematics
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Yong-Geun Oh
Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madsion
Amos Ron
Associate Professor
Mathematics and Computer Sciences,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
F. A. (Jack) Roach
Retired University Professor
Senior Applied Mathematician
Jerry Rosen
Professor of Mathematics
California State University, Northridge
Vadim Shapiro, Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering and Computer Sciences
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Stephen G. Simpson
Department of Mathematics
Pennsylvania State University
Bob Stein
Professor of Mathematics
California State University, San Bernardino
School Board Member,
Rim of the World USD
Prof. James D. Stein Jr.
Department of Mathematics
California State University, Long Beach
Sherman Stein
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics,
University of California, Davis
author of Strength in Numbers
Howard Swann
Prof., Math and Computer Science
San Jose State University
Abigail Thompson
Associate Professor of Mathematics
University of California, Davis
Andre Toom
University of Sao Paulo
Hung-Hsi Wu
Berkeley, CA
OTHER ACADEMICS
E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Professor of English
University of Virginia
and the Core Knowledge Foundation
Author of The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them
Doug Carnine
Professor
University of Oregon
Herbert (Herb) J. Walberg
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of Education
Chicago, IL
Jeff Haydu
University of California, San Diego
Marianne Jennings
Professor of Legal and Ethical Studies
College of Business,
Arizona State University
parent of four children
Dr. Martha Schwartz
University of Southern California
member of the California Mathematics Framework Committee
Co-founder of Mathematically Correct
J. E. Stone, Ed.D.
Professor
College of Education
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN 37614
David Mulroy
Associate Professor, Classics
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Mary Damer
instructor in Special Education department
Northern Illinois University,
DeKalb, Il
Michael McKeown
Associate Professor
Molecular Biology and Virology Laboratory
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
San Diego, CA
Co-founder Mathematically Correct
Harry Klemfuss, Ph.D.
Animal Subjects Program-0614
University of California, San Diego
Dr. Scott Thomson, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Nephrology
University of California, San Diego
Robert Parmer, MD
Department of Medicine
School of Medicine
University of California, San Diego
John Videen, M.D.
Assistant Adjuct Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Diego
Parent of a High School Freshman
Judy Hulse, PhD
David R. Sigurdson, Ph.D.
Professor of Earth Sciences
Calif. State University Dominguez Hills
Neil W. Tennant
Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor of Cognitive Science
The Ohio State University
(Gold Medallist in the 1966 National Mathematics Olympiad of the South
African Academy of Arts and Sciences; on National Honor Roll of the
1968 AMA Olympiad; logician and philosopher of mathematics by profession)
Fred C. Zacharias
Professor of Law
USD
Howard Cohen, M.D.
Director of Clinical Services
Assoc. Professor of Medicine
Assoc. Chief of the Division of Cardiology
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Jamie Clopton
Dept of Behavioral Sciences
Palomar College
Cofounder, Mathematically Correct
Sally Peterson
Asst. Faculty Associate
Computer Science Dept.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Leslie Evans Bush
Associate Faculty
Phoenix College
Phoenix, AZ
Robert Engler, M.D.
Professor of Medicine,
Univesity of California, San Diego
Parent of 2 teenagers.
TEACHERS AND OTHER EDUCATORS
Jaime Escalante
Calculus Teacher featured in Stand and Deliver
Johnson High School
Sacramento, CA
Richard Schwartz
Chemistry Teacher
Torrance High School
Torrance, CA
American Chemical Society Western Region Teacher of the Year, 1995
Lawrence S. Braden
Mathematics Teacher
St. Paul's School
Concord, NH
Presidential Awardee, Excellence in Teaching Mathematics, 1987
William F. Clair
Addams HIgh School
Chairperson of 7 continuation high schools
Mentor teacher
1989 teacher of the year (Madson Junior High School)
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angele, CA
Dan Hart
Math Teacher
San Fernando High School
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles, CA
Dennis Stanton
Mathematics Department Chairman
Soquel High School
Santa Cruz City Schools
Santa Cruz, CA
Harvey Solomon
Mathematics Teacher
Soquel High School
Santa Cruz City Schools
Santa Cruz, CA
James E. Husband
Mathematics supervisor
Oil City Area Schools
Oil City, PA 16301
Betty Raskoff Kazmin, JD
Veteran algebra teacher
Ohio
Kim Mackey,
Math Teacher,
Valdez, Alaska
Carol Gambill
Mathematics Teacher
Sewickley Academy
Sewickley, PA
Bill Kurdziel
Math Educator
Chico, CA
Erica Heikoff McKeown
Mathematics Teacher
Founder, EHM Mathematics
Parent
San Diego, CA
Jim Grittner
Mathematics Instructor
Canaan Memorial High School
Canaan, VT 05903
Barbara Pickel Inscho
M.S., Univ of TN in Math Ed
Tandy Technology Scholar, 1994
Past President, East TN Ed. Ass'n
William J. Braund
8310 N John St
Clifford In 47226
Donald Barrett
Detroit Public High School Mathematics Teacher
Gareth G. Bouwman
Math Teacher
Eatonville High School
Eatonville, WA 98328
Gary McMurrin
Valencia H.S.
Santa Clarita, CA
Jane Dornbusch
high school mathematics teacher
Mississippi
Kirt Bell
(Teacher of secondary math and composite sciences)
Gloria I. Prada
Algebra Teacher
Hayward Unified School District
Dr. William Neis
Mathematics teacher
San Diego, CA
Sandy Carrott
Teacher & parent
James R. Colbert
Math Department Chairman
8th Grade Mathematics Teacher
Lakeside, CA
Alan D. Humble
teacher
Susan P. Urwin
8th Grade Math teacher
Bonnie Blevins
Pre-School Teacher
Bill Stanard
teacher & parent
Vermont
Tom Smart
mathematics teacher
Sewickley Academy
Marcella Dawson
Teacher and Parent
Texas
W.S. Whited
Math Teacher
Brenda Kozak
Eyer Jr. High Mathcounts coach
Pennsylvania
Rodney Larash
Eyer Jr. High Mathcounts coach
Pennsylvania
Carol Simmons
Math Teacher, 8th grade
Alice Furry
Assistant Superintendent
Sacramento County Office of Education
Sacramento, CA
Bernadine Mullen
Fifth Grade Teacher
Sacramento, CA
Cuc Phan
Bilingual Teacher's Aide
Elk Grove Unified School District
Sacramento, CA
Vicki Bagatti
Tutor
Carmichael, CA
Robert Hagopian
Middle School Teacher
Santa Cruz, CA
Annette Hagopian
Teacher's Aide
Santa Cruz, CA
Pat Johnson
Retired Teacher
Volunteer, Rolling Readers
Sacramento, CA
Debra Igleburger
Middle School Teacher
Goethe Middle School
Sacramento, CA
Tulvio Durand
retired engineer and math teacher
San Diego, CA
Marsha Williams
Teacher, 6th Grade
Stockton Unified School District
SCHOOL BOARD/BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEMBERS
Abigail Thernstrom
Member, State Board of Education
Massachusetts
Bill Carlson, Trustee
Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District
Yucaipa, CA
Bill Bonville
Three Rivers School District Board of Directors
6030 Tunnel Loop Rd.
Grants Pass, OR 97526
Christine Cohen
Board of Trustees
Pressley Ridge Schools
Pittsburgh, PA
Scott Kaseburg
Renton School Board President
Renton, WA
Timothy Donahue
Board Member
Pleasant Valley School District
Camarillo, CA
Tom Griffin
Lawyer
School Board Member
Sacramento City Unified School District
Sacramento, CA
Dr. Steven A. Lapp
Chairman of the Technology Committee at Sewickley Academy
Trustee of Sewickley Academy
Parent of two children at Sewickley Academy and one at Georgetown University
President of Design Sciences, Inc. - a firm specializing in quantitative risk and reliability assessment
PARENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS
Bruce Crawford
Business Operations Manager
Fountain Valley, CA
Robert Y. Cheung, O.D.
Optometrist
Atascadero, CA
Klara K. Cheung
Office Administrator
Atascadero, CA
Larry Gipson
Design Engineer
Co-founder Mathematically Correct
Escondido, CA
(Mrs.) Leigh Hughes
Small Business Owner & Parent
San Diego, CA
James E. Hughes
Small Business Owner & Parent
San Diego, CA
Charles L. Beavers, AIA
Architect, Vice President
Interactive Resources
Peatluma, CA
Leslie Schwarze
Novato, CA
Charles Schwarze
Novato, CA
Ruth M. Hart
Software Engineer & Parent
Dianne R. Cassidy
Parent & Teacher
BS Art Education, University of Oregon
MAT Education, Lewis & Clark College
Co-Founder, Advocates for Curriculum
Excellence, Lake Oswego, OR
Gayle Cloud
Parent
President , Citizens United for Education
Riverside, CA
Charles J. Masenas
Engineer and Parent
Leah Vukmir
President, Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools (PRESS)
Milwaukee, WI
http://www.execpc.com/~presswis/wis
Mike Gambill
Corporate Director
Human Resources
ALCOA
Pittsburg, PA
James Hollis Clayton, Jr.
Retired Executive
Sara Lee
Knoxville TN
Marion Beckham Clayton
Retired Anesthetist
Knoxville TN
Marion C. Calloway
President
MCC Window Coverings Inc.
West Hills, CA
Phillip Calloway
Aerospace Management
Hughes Aircraft
West Hills, CA
Steve Goss (Mechanical Engineer)
Arizona Parents for Traditional Education
http://www.theriver.com/Public/tucson_parents_edu_forum/
Lauren Scheffers, M.Ed., M.B.A,
parent of "formerly gifted/now disabled" math student
Dr. Paul and Jodi Hoffman
National Directors
R.A.M.P.-Restore America's Moral Pride
VOC-Victimization of Children
Jeanne Donovan, Coordinator
Education Consumers Association of Fort Worth & Crowley
Kurt Wilson
Brea, CA
Democrat, parent, REALTOR
Jackie Hyman
Brea, CA
Republican, Novelist, media reporter
Steve Baldwin
Member
California State Assembly
Janice Wolf Boomstein
Parent of two
MS in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
BS in Computer Science, University of Michigan
Micheline Fountain Hutson
Colleen M. Hinman
Barbara Shafer, founder A.P.P.L.E.
(Active Participation Promotes Libertyville Education)
Fay Anne Wong
Rowland Heights, CA
Franklin Yang
Rowland Heights, CA
Ze'ev Wurman
Parent, Palo Alto, Calif.
Director of Software, DynaChip Corporation
Member, 1997 California Mathematics Framework Committee
Steering Committee, Honest Open Logical Debate (HOLD) on math reform
Robert L. Mandell D.M.D., M.M.Sc.
Diplomate American Board of Periodontology
member Concerned Parents of Reading, MA
Paulette Simpson
Juneau, Alaska
Barbara Tennison
Oregon
Cindy Duckett
President, Project Educate
Wichita, KS
Cheryl Nelson
Parent, Petaluma, CA
Helen Fallon
Parent
Venice California
Holly Tilson
Parent
Los Angeles, CA
William L. Mulert
Electrical Engineer & Parent
Co-Founder of Advocates for Curriculum Excellence
Robert S. Tennison
Oregon
Darcy Waris
Japanese Language Teacher
Parent, Department of Defense Dependent Schools
Okinawa, Japan
GySgt Mark S. Meadows
U.S. Marine Corps
Okinawa, Japan
Cynthia L. Meadows
Parent, Department of Defense Dependent Schools
Okinawa, Japan
Denise M. McArthur
Sign Language Interpreter
Parent, Department of Defense Dependent Schools
Okinawa, Japan
Major Robert C. McArthur
United States Marine Corps
Alumnus, U. S. Naval Academy
Alumnus, U.S. Naval Post Graduate School
Captain Augusto G. Cata
United States Marine Corps
Alumnus, U.S. Naval Academy
Carmen Cata
Parent, Department of Defense Dependent Schools
Okinawa, Japan
Madalyn McDaniel
parent
Atascadero Unified School District, CA
Jerry McDaniel
parent
Atascadero Unified School District, CA
Terri Sherwin
parent
Atascadero Unified School District, CA
Charles Prussak, Ph.D.
President
Molecular Medicine
Douglas E. Appelt
Senior Computer Scientist
SRI International
Micheline Hutson
Houston, Texas
Margaret McMillan
Brea, CA
Democrat, mother, office manger
Jerold Mathews
Ames, IA
Donna Duffau
Homeschooling Parent
Paul Duffau
Homeschooling Parent
Greg Spolar
Mathematics Standards Committee
Escondido Union School District
Michael D. Hays
Pastor and Parent
Paul Clopton
Member, 1997 California Mathematics Framework Committee
Member, San Diego Mathematics Standards Committee
Cofounder, Mathematically Correct
Richard C. Webb, Registered Professional Engineer
Webb Laboratories
Hartland, WI
Mitz Lee
President
Alliance for Quality Education
Jeff Lee
Vice President and
Executive Director
Alliance for Quality Education
Priscilla Cummings
Chris Patterson
San Antonio, Texas
Mary R. Davy
Carmichael, CA
Rose Gaston
Parent
Registered Nurse
Peggy Powell
Parent
Registered Nurse
Karen Crowther
President, Redwood Games, Inc.
MS Mechanical Engineering, University of California
Melanie Shenker
parent
Lexington, MA
Greg Blevins
Parent
Jim & Ruth Dearman
Parent
Steven H. Johnson
Parent
Robert Hayes
Parent, Computer Network Consultant
Blamer of Math for all of life's successes
John F.Polites
Senior Telecommunications Tech
TRW - Avionics San Diego
Jefferson M. DeMarco (Attorney at Law)
Parent
Riverside, CA
Abe Shenker
parent
Lexington, MA
Janis D. Smith
Education Chairman
Alta Vista PTA
Redondo Beach, CA
Richard S. Smith
Business & Finance Manager
TRW
Redondo Beach, CA
Dana Harris
Parent
Pittsburg, PA
Franco Harris
Parent
Pittsburg, PA
Lorrie Alves
La Canada Math Advisory Group
Candidate for the La Canada School Board
La Canada, CA
Fred Tempereau
parent
San Diego, CA
Therese Tempereau
parent
San Diego, CA
Ray Merewether
Parent
La Jolla CA
Elaine E. Flynn
Parent
Poway, CA
Donald G. Paige, MD
Parent
San Diego, CA
Nancy S. Paige, RN
Parent
San Diego, CA
Michael Arthur Gambill, Jr., Esq.
Former "Teach for America" Teacher
Marvi Hagopian
Parent
Sacramento, CA
Gregory L. Comegys
High School Math Evaluation Committee member
Ms. Alice S. Whalley
Parent
Vista, CA
Mat A. Toenniessen M.A.
Robert J. Sweeney, BS, MS
Martin School Council Parent Representative
Martin School
Seekonk, MA
Janet Feldman
Parent
Pennsylvania
Kenneth Feldman
Parent
Pennsylvania
Quentin Schmierer
Senior Design Engineer at IBM AS/400 Division
Rochester, MN
Jay Case
PTA President
Staff Services Management Auditor
Sacramento, CA
Colleen Corry
Parent
Eugene, Oregon
Janet Case
Parent
Sacramento, CA
David Dye
Parent
Washington, DC
Linda Boutin, Director
Parent Advocates for Children's Education
Davis, CA
Jonathan Hagopian
Molecular Biologist/Lab Technician
Santa Barbara, CA
Carol Simmons
Leon Hagopian
Real Estate Broker
Sacramento, CA
Mike Perez
Parent
Sacramento, CA
Sarah Walls
Co-founder, Scottsdale Parents for Academic Choice
STUDENTS
Matt Berner
9th grade student
former member of the Pennsylvania Mathcounts team
Mike Church
Student
Pennsylvania Mathcounts National Team 1995-6 and 1996-7
Katie Sherwin
student
California Polytechnic State University
Todd D. Spindler
Ph.D. candidate
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
University of Miami
Gary Gambill
B.S. in mathematics
Georgetown Graduate Student
Robert D. O. Kennedy
Dartmouth College '00
Pre-med and Biogenetics major
Brian Feldman
Pennsylvania Mathcounts National Team 1996-7
F. Dok Harris
Princeton '01
Thomas J. Wagner
student
Karoline Enzenberger
Alaska MathCounts National Team 95-96 and 96-97
Robert Hagopian, Student
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara, CA
Emily Hagopian, Student
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara, CA