Congressional Record—Senate S5394
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S5394 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE June 9, 1997 course, that is the crux of the problem. test, they should just call them `impres- New-New Math is also vaguely allied with I was looking at all of the above. sions,' and if you got a different `impression,' an alleged new field of study called This textbook tries to be all things so what, can't we all be brothers?'' ethnomathematics. Most of us may think Pretty funny. But it's hard for satire to to all students in all subjects and the that math is an abstract and universal dis- stay ahead of actual events these days, par- cipline that has little to do with ethnicity. result is a mush of multiculturalism, ticularly in education. The ``New-New But a lot of ethnomathematicians, who are environmental and political correct- Math,'' as it is sometimes called, has a high- busy holding conferences and writing books, ness, and various disjointed discussions minded goal: Get beyond traditional math say that all peoples have a natural on a multitude of topics which cer- drills by helping students understand and culturebound mathematics. Western math, tainly is bound to confuse the students enjoy mathematical concepts. But in prac- in this view, isn't universal but an expres- trying to learn and the teachers trying tice, alas, the New-New Math is yet another sion of white male culture imposed on non- educational ``Deep Thought.'' whites. Much of this is the usual ranting to teach from such unfocused nonsense. Basic skills are pushed to the margin by It is not just nonsense, it is unfocused about ``Eurocentrism.'' Ethnomathematics, theory and the idea that students should not a book of collected essays, starts by remind- nonsense, which is even worse. be passive receivers of rules but self-discov- ing us that ``Geographically, Europe does not Mathematics is about rules, memo- erers, gently guided by teachers, who are co- exist, since it is only a peninsula on the vast rized procedures and methodical think- learners, not authority figures with lessons Eurasian continent. .'' Before long, there ing. We do memorize the multiplica- to impart. Correct answers aren't terribly is a reference to ``the so-called Pythagorean tion tables, don't we? Else how will one important. Detractors call it ``whole math,'' theorem.'' Much of the literature claims that know that nine 8s are 72 and that eight because students frequently end up guessing nonliterate peoples indicated their grasp of at answers, just as children exposed to the math in many ways, from quilt patterns to 9s are 72. This new-new mush-mush ``whole language'' fad in English classes end math will never produce quality engi- an ancient African bone cut with marks that up guessing at words they can't pronounce. may have been used for counting. neers or mathematicians who can com- ``Although the Wicked Whole-Language It's all rather stunning nonsense, but this pete for jobs in the global market Witch is dying, the Whole-Math Witch isn't is where multiculturalism is right now. Un- place. In Palo Alto, CA, public school even ill,'' said Wayne Bishop, professor of less you are headed for an engineering school math students plummeted from the mathematics at California State University- working with Yoruba calculators, or unless 86th percentile to the 56th in the first Los Angeles. you wish to balance your checkbook the an- Mathematically Correct, a San Diego- year of new-new math teaching. This cient Navajo way, it's probably safe to ig- based group which strongly opposes whole nore the whole thing. awful textbook obviously fails to do in math, recently posted a list of command- 812 pages what comparable Japanese ments on its Web site, including ``Honor the Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield the textbooks do so well in 200. The aver- correct answer more than the guess,'' ``Give floor. I suggest the absence of a age standardized math score in Japan good grades only for good work,'' and ``Avoid quorum. is 80. In the United States it is 52. vague objectives.'' The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. When my staff contacted Marianne Bologna sandwich? Those vague objectives ENZI). The clerk will call the roll. Jennings to obtain a copy of this text- include meandering exercises that have little The bill clerk proceeded to call the to do with math, such as illustrating data book, I did learn one good thing about roll. collection by having second-graders draw Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I ask it. She told my staff that because of pictures of their lunch, then cut the pictures public outcry the public schools in her out and put them in paper bags. Worse, the unanimous consent that the order for area have discontinued its use and have New-New Math comes with the usual stew of the quorum call be rescinded. gone back to traditional math text- ed-school obsessions about feelings, self-es- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without books. Another useful purpose has been teem, dumbing down, and an all-around po- objection, it is so ordered. served by my personal perusal of this litically correct agenda. f Marianne Jennings, a professor at Arizona textbook. I now have a partial answer State University, found that her teenage THE 1997 STANLEY CUP CHAMPION to my question about why we don't daughter was getting an A in algebra but had DETROIT RED WINGS produce better students despite all the no idea how to solve an equation. So Jen- Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise money that Federal taxpayers shell nings acquired a copy of her daughter's text- out. book. The real title is Secondary Math: an today to pay tribute to the 1997 Stan- The lesson here is for parents to fol- ``Integrated Approach: Focus on Algebra,'' ley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. low Marianne Jennings' lead and take but Jennings calls it ``Rain Forest Algebra.'' Following Saturday night's 2 to 1 vic- It includes Maya Angelou's poetry, pic- a close look at their children's text- tory in game four of the NHL finals, tures of President Clinton and Mali wood completing the Wings series sweep of books to be sure that the new-new carvings, lectures on what environmental math and other similar nonsense has the Philadelphia Flyers, the sports sinners we all are and photos of students world has taken notice of what those of not crept into the local school system. with names such as Tatuk and Esteban ``who All the Federal dollars we can chan- offer my daughter thoughts on life.'' It also us from Michigan have known for nel for education cannot counteract contains praise for the wife of Pythagoras, years, that Detroit is the home of the the disastrous effect of textbooks like father of the Pythagorean theorem, and asks best hockey team, and the greatest this one. They will produce dumb-dumb students such mathematical brain teasers as hockey fans, on the planet. After a ``What role should zoos play in our society?'' students and parents need to get heav- long 42-year absence, the Stanley Cup However, equations don't show up until Page has returned home to Hockeytown ily involved to reverse that trend now! 165, and the first solution of a linear equa- Mr. President, I ask that an article USA. tion, which comes on Page 218, is reached by Sometimes in sports certain teams from the May 26 edition of U.S. News guessing and checking. and World Report on the same subject Jennings points out that Focus on Algebra capture fans' imaginations in a way that embodies the spirit of an entire be printed in the RECORD at this point. is 812 pages long, compared with 200 for the The title of the article is, ``That so- average math textbook in Japan. ``This city. The 1984 Tigers were so good they called Pythagoras.'' would explain why the average standardized dominated the game of baseball from score is 80 in Japan and 52 here,'' she says. the first pitch of opening day through There being no objection, the article Marks do seem to head south when New-New was ordered to be printed in the the last out of the World Series. The Math appears. In well-off Palo Alto, Calif., 1989 Pistons, with their gritty, tough RECORD, as follows: public-school math students dropped from the 86th percentile nationally to the 58th in style of defensive play were the ulti- [From the U.S. News & World Report, May mate blue collar champions. So it is 26, 1997] the first year of New-New teaching, then went back up the next year to the 77th per- also the case of this year. THAT SO-CALLED PYTHAGORAS centile when the schools moderated their ap- The 1997 Red Wings have inspired De- (By John Leo) proach. troit in a similar manner. These play- ``Deep Thoughts'' started as Jack Handy's The New-New Math has become a carrier ers have experienced recent disappoint- running joke on TV's Saturday Night LiveÐ for the aggressive multiculturalism spread- ment. They came so close to the title a series of mock-inspirational messages ing inexorably through the schools. Lit- the previous two seasons, eliminated in about life that make no sense at all. Now erature from the National Council of Teach- ``Deep Thoughts'' are available on greeting ers of Mathematics, which is promoting the finals by New Jersey in 1995 and in cards, including one that pokes fun at the whole math, is filled with suggestions on the semifinals by Colorado in 1996, only fuzzy new math in the schools.