Dear Friends

There is a house bill HB4434 being considered by the Michigan House of Representatives. The bill calls to
“REVIEW THE MATHEMATICS CONTENT STANDARDS DEVELOPED UNDER SUBSECTION (2) AND REVISE THE MATHEMATICS CONTENT STANDARDS AS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR TO THE MATHEMATICS STANDARDS ADOPTED BY THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND CURRENTLY IN EFFECT IN THAT STATE”. (http://198.109.122.10/txt/house.bills.intro/1999-2000/4434HHHH.HTM)
I urge you to write to the Chair, House Education Committee, Michigan State Representative Jason Allen with copy of the letter to Robert Gosselin who introduced the bill. I am enclosing all the information of the relevant politicians in case you want to send copies of your letter to them. For your reference, I am also attaching at the end of this message two letters, one by me and another one by a chemistry professor Gary Blanchard. I believe even a short e-mail saying that you support the bill will help. I hope there is enough response from voters to stimulate debate within the legislature about math standards in Michigan.

Thank you
Betty Tsang
Representative Jason Allen, P.O. Box 30014 Lansing, MI 48909-7514, Fax 373-9420
jasonallen@house.state.mi.us,
Representative Robert Gosselin, P.O. Box 30014 Lansing, MI 48909-7514, Fax 373-7512
rgosselin@Boyager.net,
Senator Dianne Byrum PO Box 30036, Lansing, MI 48909-7536 Fax: (517) 373-5397 e-mail: SenDByrum@senate.state.mi.us
Governor John Engler P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, Michigan 48909 FAX (517) 335-6863
(For Okemos) Representative Laura Baird, P.O. Box 30014 Lansing, MI 48909-7514
lbaird@house.state.mi.us
 
 

Betty Tsang, 1775 Mirabeau, Okemos MI 48864
www.nscl.msu.edu/~tsang/CMP/cmp.html

Michigan State Representative Jason Allen
Chair, House Education Committee
P.O. Box 30014, Lansing, MI 48909-7514    January 22, 2000

Dear Representative Allen,

I am writing to you regarding HB 4434, a bill to strengthen the standards for the K-12 Mathematics curriculum.  In the past few years, I have examined the mathematics standards published by the Michigan Department of Education many times to find out what my two children should know. Instead of detailed descriptions of what specific mathematics knowledge they should have acquired at their grade levels, I found pages of ambiguous descriptions such as “Investigate and develop an understanding of …”. The term “applying their understanding of” is used so liberally that it has no meaning. For example, under Number Sense and Numeration, the Michigan Math Standards states:

“Elementary: Apply their understanding of number systems to model and solve problems.”
“Middle School: Apply their understanding of number systems to model and solve problems.”
“High School: Apply their understanding of number systems to model and solve problems.”

Schools and educators look to the Standards when developing their own curricula. The results of the lack of rigorous standards are devastating to our children’s education. Even in Okemos where the school district ranks among the highest in Michigan, it is not uncommon to find sixth graders who do not know the multiplication table. In defense, these students may say “But I understand that 6x8 is the same as 6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6” – something quite different from knowing the answer. Equally disturbing, these students often add the numbers incorrectly since accuracy is not stressed in the school work.

Recently, our school district adopted a series of mathematics programs in-line with the Michigan Math Standards. The fuzziness of the language used in the Standards shows through in the textbooks of these programs. In fourth and fifth grade, parents are advised not to teach their children multiplication table. In sixth grade, students use strips of paper to learn simple fractions such as ½ and 1/3, an activity done in third grade in many countries. In eighth grade, Algebra is noticeably absent even though the U.S. Department of Education has recommended that ALL eighth graders take a rigorous Algebra course.

On Jan 23, 1999, I wrote in an article (copy attached) published in the Lansing State Journal that “parents cannot hold schools accountable for dumbing down the curriculum because the math standards published by the Michigan Department of Education is very vague.” To prepare our children to compete globally, Michigan should adopt world-class standards in mathematics.  Anything less is unacceptable.

Sincerely,

Betty Tsang (Professor, National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, MSU)
Cc: Governor Engler, Representative R. Gosselin, Senator Byrum, Representative Baird