拿什麼來拯救你 美國的初等教育
To the Editor:
致編輯：American kids aren’t inherently less intelligent than kids in Singapore, or so one hopes. That’s the good news. The explanation for the Americans’ continued dismal performance in math therefore lies elsewhere.
好消息是，美國的孩子並不生來就比新加坡的孩子笨，或者我們希望是這樣。美國人長期以來在數學上的劣勢是由於其他方面的原因。
Having watched my kids navigate the local public schools for the past 11 years, I know that one of the problems is that educators still seem to be trying to figure out how to teach math. My daughters have been through the Singapore approach, with its traditional emphasis on mastery of number facts and arithmetic procedures; the reform approach, with its confusing inquiry-based philosophy; and now the “can’t we all just agree” Common Core standards approach. Why are we still trying to figure this out?
過去11年裏，通過觀察我在本地公立學校上學的孩子們，我發現其中一大問題在於，老師們似乎依然在摸索教授數學的方法。我的女兒們接受過新加坡式的教育。新加坡式的傳統教育方法強調對數字規律和運算步驟的熟練掌握。而創新的教育模式則是令人困惑的基於詢問的理念，直到現在的“我們怎麼不都同意呢”的共同核心標準方法。爲何我們國家現在還在摸索？Math has been taught to children at least since ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, and those kids grew up to use their mathematical skills to build the Parthenon, aqueducts and pyramids, which are still standing. The math taught in K-12 hasn’t really changed much since Gottfried Leibniz and Isaac Newton invented calculus in the 1600s, so one would think that educators have had enough time to figure out how to teach it.
最晚從古希臘、羅馬和埃及時代起，人們就開始教小孩學習數學，那兒的孩子長大後運用他們學到的數學技巧建立了存續至今的帕臺農神殿、水道和金字塔。自從戈特弗裏德·萊布尼茨(Gottfried Leibniz)和艾薩克·牛頓(Isaac Newton)在17世紀初發明瞭微積分後，從幼兒園到12年級的數學教育就沒怎麼變過。人們當然覺得這麼長的時間足夠讓老師們摸索出合適的教學方法。How about if educators stop experimenting with our kids, adopt whatever approach the Finnish or Singapore schools use, and get on with it?
不如老師們別再拿我們的孩子做實驗了，不管是芬蘭還是新加坡學校的方法，隨便選一種用下去吧？ELIOT BRENOWITZ
艾略特·佈雷諾維茨(Eliot Brenowitz)Seattle
西雅圖The writer is a professor of psychology and biology at the University of Washington.
作者是華盛頓大學(University of Washington)心理學與生物學教授。To the Editor:
致編輯：For America to keep up globally, students need to have a basic understanding of mathematics. As an eighth grader, I am not proud to admit that I struggled with some of the problems posed by Nicholas Kristof. However, the difference between America and other countries is work ethic, not natural intelligence.
對於美國來說，要想跟上全球的步伐，學生們得對數學有個基本瞭解才行。身爲八年級的學生，我不好意思承認自己確實被紀思道文中的有些題目搞得焦頭爛額。然而，美國與其他國家之間的差異在於工作態度，而不在先天智商。BRIAN SILVERSTEIN
布萊恩·西爾福斯坦(Brian Silverstein)Highland Park, Ill.
伊利諾伊州高地公園To the Editor:
致編輯：Despite all the national and local efforts, energy and resources invested in attempting to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics, Nicholas Kristof is correct: Our students’ results on international comparative exams continue to be dismal, and general attitudes toward the subject are worse.
儘管我們已經在提高數學教學和學習上做出了全國性、地方性的諸多努力，投入了一定的精力和資源，但紀思道依然是對的：我們的學生在國際競賽中的表現不如人意，對待數學學科的整體態度甚至更爲糟糕。Unfortunately, our country does not have enough highly qualified, well-prepared mathematics teachers who are well respected and properly compensated to motivate students to appreciate and excel in mathematics.
不幸的是，我們國家的確缺少能力超羣、準備充分、受人尊敬、薪酬合理，能正確激勵學生對數學感興趣並學好數學的老師。Quick fixes will never be the answer to strengthening the ranks of our mathematics teachers. Recruiting our best high school mathematics students (and there are many!) into a carefully designed, comprehensive and cohesive teacher preparation program would be a promising start.
權宜之計永遠不能真正解決強化數學老師的問題。把高中裏數學學得最好的學生們（有很多！）召集到一起，編成一支精心設計、全面而持續的教師後備軍倒會是一個充滿希望的開始。FRANCES R. CURCIO
弗朗西斯·R·柯西奧(Frances R. Curcio)Flushing, Queens
紐約皇后區法拉盛The writer is a professor of secondary mathematics education at Queens College, CUNY.
作者是紐約城市大學皇后學院中學數學教育教授。To the Editor:
致編輯：What is really disappointing is that meaningless test questions like these are used to judge educational competence. From a testing perspective, these should be classified as trick questions, not because they are hard, but because they have answers nobody would care about except for the test. Teaching kids to do well on tests like this is the real problem.
真正讓人失望的是這類毫無意義的考試問題居然被用來評判人們的教育水平。從考試角度講，這些問題屬於捉弄人的問題，並不是因爲它們難，而是因爲它們的答案除了考試外，沒人在乎。教導孩子們在這種考試上得心應手纔是真正的麻煩。MICHAEL ZIMMERMAN
邁克爾·齊默爾曼(Michael Zimmerman)New York
紐約
