Daniel J. Brahier
Department of Educational Curriculum & Instruction
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403

DECEMBER 1997

MUSINGS ON BACKLASH TO REFORM

In our discussions over the past several months, we have focused on the impact of reform by looking at instructional issues such as the use of technology, while considering the overall mission of RCDPM and what our organization's name says about our role in the reform. In the past month, one doesn't have to look far to find criticisms of the Standards and the assessment strategies that many of us advocate. Articles from the New York Times to Newsweek and television programs from the evening news to the "Today Show" have openly raised questions about the direction in which mathematics education has been moving for the past several years, often referring to the Standards as the "new" New Math. A quote in the newspaper had a long-time mathematics teacher saying that there is no point in students determining their own value for pi; after all, it's time-consuming and something that was already discovered, so why re-invent history? If nothing else, this recent backlash to the reform has put us on the defensive and, perhaps, made us rethink why we believe that change is necessary.

When RCDPM was "born," the U.S. was near the end of the New Math era and headed toward the back-to-basics movement that was characteristics of the 70's. The 19 80's saw the Agenda for Action and the attempt to place problem solving at the core of mathematics instruction. So, the long-time members of our organization have witnessed a variety of mathematics education reforms, none of which had the public acceptance to last more than a few years. Upon looking at the patterns of reform, we can't help but to wonder if history is simply repeating itself, only to see the constructivist model fall to the wayside.

This whole scenario of challenges to reform brings to light a number of questions with regard to the mission of RCDPM. For example, do we have concrete research evidence to support that curriculum, teaching, and assessment that aligns with the vision of the Standards promotes effective learning for all students? Have your assessment strategies changed over the past several years? If so, do you see these strategies as making a significant impact on your teaching so that mathematics learning is maximized for every student? What do you think that RCDPM, or NCTM for that matter, should be doing to counter the recent attacks on reform or, better still, to proactively address the issues?

As we prepare for our 25th annual conference in Maryland in February, we would like to hear your thoughts about the direction and stumbling blocks to reform. Please write or e-mail your responses to Daniel Brahier.