Until then, math education consisted of few attempts at helping students reach a deeper understanding. One impetus for reform was that, while the country had become a leader in technological and industrial innovation in the early 20th century, and while more students were taking algebra and geometry than before, many of its schools had yet to be as sophisticated or academically rigorous as those in Europe.The Association, like math educators now (not corporations or billionaires as the conspiracy theorists mistakenly believe), didn’t propose anything radical. They thought algebraic concepts could be taught beginning in the sixth grade, emphasized practical applications over memorization, and felt that a good grounding in math was valuable to all students regardless of what career paths they pursued. Instead, their efforts were derailed by William Kilpatrick, a professor at Teachers College of Columbia University, who relied on iffy social science and what appeared to be kneejerk personal feelings rather than solid academic research. Whitney writes later that:
Kilpatrick believed that anything beyond arithmetic was useless to most of the population. He even worried that the instruction of complex math was harmful to everyday living.Kilpatrick led a National Education Association committee that wrote a report, The Problem of Mathematics in Secondary Education, based on the work of psychologist Edward Thorndike and set forth American math education in the wrong direction that it’s finally trying to get off.
Relying on Thorndike’s findings, the report’s authors warned high schools against offering advanced math to students who didn’t demonstrate great interest or obvious talent in the subject or who didn’t intend to go into engineering or hard science (these students being invariably female).
Caroline Bermudez is chief storyteller at the Charter School Growth Fund and former senior writer at Education Post. Bermudez has been a journalist for almost 10 years. She was staff editor at The Chronicle of Philanthropy, covering the nonprofit world, with a particular focus on foundations and high net-worth giving. She has interviewed prominent business, political and philanthropic leaders including Colin Powell, Ronald Perelman, Carl Icahn, Patty Stonesifer and Eli Broad. She also assisted with The Chronicle's Philanthropy 50, its annual ranking of America's most generous donors. A proud graduate of Chicago Public Schools, she has a B.A. in history from Swarthmore College.
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