HATE MATH? IT’S NOT YOU, AND NEW TEACHING METHODS MAY HELP

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Hate math? Relax; it may not be about you.

Fear of math represents not personal failure or a missing gene but wrongheaded “one-size-fits-all” ways of teaching. That, at least, is the theory behind a quiet revolution in math education incubated in the Bay Area that is exciting teachers even more than an elegant proof of the Pythagorean theorem.

A vanguard of math instructors is embracing ideas developed by two Stanford professors to reform math instruction. Their approach includes more visual and creative exercises, discussions of ideas and procedures rather than a focus on memorization and speed, and individually tailored lessons.

Mention to people that you teach math, David Foster of the Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative said, and “to a person they launch into a horror story about high school math. The only mystery is if they blame the algebra teacher or the geometry teacher.”

Foster, whose Morgan Hill-based organization offers training and resources for teachers, advocates a more positive approach to get kids to love learning.

“Learning to do math is no different from learning to play the piano or learning to play a sport—a lot of it is about hard work and practice.”

That idea is rooted in the work of psychology professor Carol Dweck and education professor Jo Boaler, whose approaches to teaching math are resonating in education circles— and spreading virally. Dweck has found failure helps students to learn, grow and get better, and urges that math education focus on helping students persevere even if they do not succeed at first.

Boaler’s free online course last summer attracted 85,000 people. Her approach involves less rote memorization; instead, lessons focus on different ways to solve problems, individualized approaches, small-group discussion and real-life applications of math. Also feeding the teaching revolution is an explosion of online math lessons replacing lectures and one-size-fits-all textbooks.

“We’re in a crisis in math,” said Boaler. “These poor kids are given the idea that math is about performance, and then they get the idea that they can’t do it.”

Teachers say that math trauma has led to math failure. Just 36 percent of U.S. eighth-graders score proficient or above on national tests.

Online tools don’t work for everyone. Ana Wallace, a senior at Summit Rainier in San Jose, finds Khan’s video lessons confusing. “You can’t ask Khan questions,” she said.

But much of what makes math more accessible comes down to just good teaching: not leaving anyone perplexed, keeping track of each student and taking ownership of teaching.

What about those with dyscalculia, a math-learning disability?

“It’s hard to know who’s born with a math disability, or who becomes disabled because of the way they’ve been treated in math,” Boaler said. “I know we can transform it. We can have kids loving math.”