SEATTLE, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Education officials in several U.S. states, including Washington, Utah and Florida, are reexamining the math standards imposed on students.
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire has ordered her state's Board of Education to create new math standards to keep the state competitive internationally, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Gregoire has asked that the standards be developed by the end of next year, to be followed by a choice of three standard curriculums to replace the dozens of different programs currently in use in schools in the state.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which advocated exploring new methods of math education in 1989, issued a report in September calling for a return to focus on basic math skills and end the "mile wide, inch deep" state standards that force teachers to cram multiple math topics into a single grade.
The reversal marks an end to the council's advocacy of reform math programs, which are often referred to by critics as "fuzzy math."
"There's increasing understanding that the math situation in the United States is a complete disaster," said R. James Milgram, a math professor at Stanford University.
