“Singapore Math”
By Murray Bourne, 22 Dec 2004
It wasn't so long ago that Googling singapore math would bring up my own maths website (Interactive Mathematics) in the number 1 position.
But since the US got onto the "Singapore model" of "excellent math teaching" the term "Singapore Math" has taken on a whole new meaning.
The TIMSS data (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) in the late 90s stirred up the Americans since it showed Singapore to be top of the pile in maths and science and the US was (blush) 6th and 8th respectively. The Americans ran around buying Singapore mathematics textbooks and this proved to be an interesting new export for Singapore. The more recent TIMSS study in 2003 showed that the US standards had not changed much since 1995.
Now that Bush is pushing national standards, many schools are dropping "Singapore Math" - but want to retain elements of the textbooks for their 'rigour' and 'for their clear, simple prose, their novel problem-solving approaches, and the complex, multistep problems they give students, beginning in 1st grade.' (Source: Mathforum).
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