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'S'pore math' catching on in US
Grades up in American schools using S"pore teaching method
By Lee Choo Kiong
AN increasing number of school principals and teachers in the United States are starting to spread the news: Teach maths the Singapore way to score higher grades.
And the schools which have been doing this are happy, as a recent study by Stanford University's Hoover Institution shows that students taught with textbooks imported from Singapore do perform better in maths, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Some children who once found the subject frustrating say they now like it, the AWSJ added.
The report, by Cris Prystay, quoted a nine-year-old fifth grade pupil, Sarah Carter, as saying: I don't know where Singapore is, but I like the way they do math.
The AWSJ said that about 200 schools throughout the US have adopted the Singapore method with positive results.
The search for more effective ways to teach maths began in Massachusetts five years ago when educationists noticed that maths skills of American kids deteriorated sharply as they went from fourth to sixth grade, the paper reported.
It said: Alarmed, the Massachusetts education commissioner suggested an unconventional fix: importing the math curriculum used in Singapore.
Singapore students have long excelled in international maths tests.
Said the AWSJ report: Critics assert that math teaching has been
dumbed down in the US over the past two decades. They say too much emphasis is placed on making the subject accessible and fun and not enough on vital, if repetitive, drills such as multiplication tables.
Another big criticism: US math curricula tend to cover plenty of subject areas but not in sufficient depth.
Singapore and other South-east Asian countries take a different tack.
The report added that, while rote learning plays a part, kids in Singapore also learn to use visual tools to understand abstract concepts.
Singapore math texts, for example, ask kids to draw bars and other diagrams to visualise problems a technique called 'bar modelling'.
When this strategy is applied consistently over a number of years, children tend to be better able to break down complex problems and do rapid calculations in their heads.
The report pointed out that with the proficiency of maths and science among American kids falling behind that of their Asian peers, such a shift could push still more white collar jobs offshore as the next generation graduates.
Singapore's curriculum was developed over the past few decades by maths experts hired by the Ministry of Education, who continually interviewed maths teachers to find out what works and where the kids need help.
Said the AWSJ report: The (Singapore) elementary textbooks cover only one-third of the topics typically found in US textbooks, but the material is taught far more thoroughly.
Said the report: The study, which is continuing, found that the Singapore math students had 'significantly' better computation skills.
But the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in the US said the success of Singapore's maths programme has its roots in the country's highly disciplined culture, where the entire community, particularly parents, expect kids to buckle down and work hard. In Singapore, Mrs Leow Kim Lim, a mathematics teacher at Yangzheng Primary School in Serangoon, told Streats that visual tools are especially useful for children who have difficulty in understanding mathematics concepts.
Models help them to paint a clearer picture of the problem, which makes more sense to them, she said.
Extracted from http://www.streats.com.sg
Streats - 14 December 2004
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http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/maelynn50/trackback/850292/1356751
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 KH500 2005.01.12 07:30
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humm..everybody "study" hard~~ in singapore.
but don't forget to "play" hard as well !!!
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  2005.01.12 14:40
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You are right! I really pity students in Singapore... must send all the Singaporean parents for brain-washing session...ㅋㅋㅋ... then there's a chance of seeing the kids "play" hard too. Frankly, the educational system in Singapore is as stressful as in Korea.
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 Mitten 2005.01.20 13:38 [222.97.228.112]
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Singapore maths sounds cool!
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 2005.01.21 00:29
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Welcome Mitten! Frankly some parts of the Singapore Maths are pretty cool... others are a huge headache for the students here.
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 girlygirl3585 2009.06.22 03:16
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I don't like singapore math. I have the book and it is so hard!
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