If your school has Everyday Math

If your school uses Everyday Math, you should be extremely watchful.  Everyday Math is problematic because it is a language-intensive-based program that

• stresses the use of calculators,
• wants the kids to come up with their own ways to solve the problems
• doesn't teach the traditional algorithms (the multiplication and division methods that they teach break down when using large numbers, but there is absolutely no reason to be able to compute large numbers nowadays, is there?),
• and does not advocate drill in any form.

Now, this means that some kids lose out:

• Kids who might have a language problem but would be really good at mathematics,
• kids who need the "rules" first and then they can come to the concepts (think phonics versus whole language),
• and kids who need drill in order to retain concepts.

Furthermore, if your child is mathematically gifted and is good in language, this program is just not advanced enough.

My town uses this and it is a disaster for both my kids. My daughter falls into the categories of needing the rule, then the concept and needing more drill. I am drilling my daughter in math concepts using a computer program, and she has improved dramatically. On the other hand, my son is so bored it is frightening. Particularly frightening is that I have read that it leaves out concepts that you need in order to go on to math at the highest levels. I’m doing more research on that now.

How did I find out about this and come to these conclusions? The state standardized tests; literally, thank God for the state standardized tests, the only test that allows a glimpse of what might be happening within the schools before it is too late. My daughter received a “needs improvement” on her 4th grade math scores.  Meanwhile, her math grades were all fine -- nothing that showed she should have received a needs improvement.

Of course, on receiving the score, I immediately contacted the school and asked for a copy of the test and her answers, which I received. I had her take the test in my kitchen to make sure that the results were valid. They were. Only one question off. I asked for a teacher conference, which I received. Her teacher didn’t seem concerned and said that she wasn’t a candidate for remedial math, and I can see why. My daughter gets concepts pretty quickly, but if she doesn’t drill to retain them, then they aren’t retained.

Furthermore, I found out at a school committee meeting that my daughter’s elementary school didn’t implement the curriculum correctly in comparison to the other schools in town. Everyday Math is based on a spiral – keep teaching the same concept in small doses each year. If you don’t get it that year, you will get it the next. Well, the teachers at my daughter’s school slowed down the curriculum so most children got it the first time. They didn’t go ahead as fast as they should have. As a result, they didn’t finish the program each year, and my daughter never was exposed to some key concepts at all. (This has since been fixed, but the parents who didn't listen to that school committee meeting were not informed.)

Fast forward to the end of 5th grade. It turns out that they give a pretest and a posttest for the curriculum. In other words, they give the final at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year to track the learning. My daughter received a 25 at the beginning of her 5th grade year in math, but she only received a 69 at the end of the year. Obviously, one year didn’t make up for what she was missing.

Clearly, intervention was needed. In the summer at the end of 5th grade, I had her try the Aleks computer program in math, www.aleks.com. The Charter School in my town uses it, and I decided to try it for my own daughter. A tutor would have been expensive and less than optimal in this situation because my daughter does get concepts, she just needs more drill (how can most kids hone their number sense if they aren’t ever asked to multiply and divide numbers continuously), and she needs algorithms that have fewer steps so there is less possibility of error (everything that Everyday Math does not provide.)

According to Aleks, my daughter only knew 21% of a traditional 5th grade curriculum – and this was at the end of 5th grade. Talk about having a heart attack! This was soon remedied. My daughter is now in the 6th grade and she has completed the 5th and 6th grade curriculum according to Aleks. I’m looking forward to the tests at the end of the year to see if my intervention worked.

All of the things that apply to my daughter don’t apply to my son. He gets everything the first time, including figuring out the multiplication tables, etc. He doesn’t need drill. He just needs to spend more than 60 seconds doing his math homework – something that is a bit more challenging. He isn’t going to get it from this program or the town’s teaching methods. When teaching reading there is more sophistication in the teaching methods, kids are broken out by ability and then brought back together. In math, every kid is the same. And every kid SHOULD learn math the same way; it doesn’t matter what their learning style is or what their strengths are – it doesn’t matter what IS.

So, bottom line? Kids in upper income communities will probably do OK despite the Everyday Math curriculum. Why? Because there are parents like me to pick up the pieces. If it isn’t Aleks, then it is high-priced tutors or mom or dad working with the kids each night. If there are concepts that are missing that are needed to become a mathematician, we’ll find out what they are and make sure they learn them.

Where Everyday Math will do real damage is in the communities who don’t have the knowledge or the resources to overcome the shortcomings.

And, sadly, who really gets shortchanged here? The kid who might be mathematically gifted but who has a language disability. All kids should have the opportunity to be good at something; these kids can’t even have that.

To find out what it could do if parents don't pay attention, read this: How Not to Teach Math, New York's chancellor Klein's plan doesn't compute, by Matthew Clavel (City Journal, Mar 7, 2003).

To find out what concepts are missing, read this: Review of the Everyday Mathematics Curriculum and its Missing Topics and Skills, by Tsewei Wang (April 9, 2001).

And for lots more criticism, go to this page: Reviews of UCSMP Everyday Mathematics.

Update: And for lots of contrarian views, read the comment section.

Update:

BTW, I'll be writing more about this, but my daughter made it into the "accelerated" math class for next year based on three things: her test score, her grades, and her teacher's recommendation. What a difference working with a traditional curriculum makes! Of course, her success will be attributed to the Everyday Math curriculum. But helping my daughter is much more important than "proving" a curriculum is broken for a lot of kids. And more math help here.

Additional posts here:

• More on How to Help Kids with Math: Math Tutoring (second post)
• More on Math... Math Sense: Stage 3 Help (third post)
• More Parents Find Out About EveryDay Math (fourth post)
• Everyday Math Exposed: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Reverses Course (fifth post)

Comments

[honeydo]

I am not saying that those in favor of EM math are wrong and as I told our principal, I'm sure it works great for some kids. But not for mine. I do not believe in this program, not one little bit. I did give it a chance...the whole second grade. Now the princ. told me that I needed to wait that in 2 years, he would be ok.

Backstory.....last year my son was in 1st grade, doing 4th grade math by the end of the year. GREAT. I'm proud. Never a calculator was used, he borrowed and carried to his heart's content and always got the answers right.

then......EM was instituted for second grade. Oh joy. I didn't understand it. But, ok, I'll give it a chance. After almost the entire year has passed, his math has gone down the drain. He cries during math at school, fakes taking his tests and outright refuses to do it. Why? Because he gets all the answers wrong. At this point he cannot complete a 1st grade math question properly when implementing the EM techniques.

I have gone round and round about this. Tried to use their "algorithms" and ways of solving problems. I have encouraged him to love math and follow the directions given to him by Mrs. H. I have supported this program despite my reservations. I have had to sign papers saying I will tutor him at home on the subject because he was doing poorly. NEVER in the history of that school have they had summer school or after school math tutoring....till now. Until they implemented EM into the curriculum. Almost the whole 2nd grade has to go to after school tutoring.

SO, last night I did an experiment. I let him do his HomeLink paper for EM. 4 problems on the bottom, 2 addition, 2 subtraction. Using the EM methods, all on his own, he got 1 right. 1. and done very inefficiently I might add, but I digress.

So, I re-wrote the problems on the back of his paper. I told him to do it the way Miss M. taught him. He lit up. "You mean the way I did it in 1st grade?" Yup, the way you did it in 1st grade. Lickety split, it was done. AND ALL 4 CORRECT.

Right there, spelled out in pencil. All on his own. HE responds to traditional algorithms best.

Math will now be homeschooled in our house and my children are now forbidden from learning Evil...errr....Everyday Math.

I'm probably going to get a phone call.

[TuLyn]

I have been working on a free math help site. Over 2000 video tutorials, hundresds of word problems and printable PDF worksheets. Please take a look : http://tulyn.com

[Diane]

I'm concerned with EDM. Our district implemented this program this year. My child is in third grade. For K thru 2nd she was not taught EDM, yet is expected to just "pick up" at third grade. There is no time for any drilling of multiplication facts, addition facts, subtraction, division. It is just "expected" that parents will do this. There is no time for the "games" that go along with this program as the teachers are just trying to teach the EDM curriculum. My child also is not the best reader. Therefore, she gets hung up on new words. For example, I gave her an example using the word "square" and she did the math problem very easily. Yet when the EDM test used words like "hexagon" "polygon", she did not get the math problem right.
Am I crazy or did our district make a mistake starting this program with kids who are in the 3rd grade? Any help with understanding is much appreciated.

[Mary Ellen Sofield]

I would like our school district to get rid of Everyday Math. When my daughter was in 2nd grade I realized she was not learning math facts. The only homework she received were single page worksheets that took her all of 30 seconds to complete and had no drill of math facts. I begged for homework but was told that research shows that homework is not effective. I enrolled my daughter in Kumon which gives her 20 solid minutes of math practice a day. Within six weeks her teacher told me how very happy she was with my daughter's progress and how well she suddenly knew all her math facts. Yes, I said, because she's been going to Kumon and doing homework - it's not because she learned it from Everyday Math. The school district and Everyday Math will use her good math grades to show how well Everyday Math works. She's learned math at Kumon. Also, we here in NJ pay a fortune in property taxes. 90% of the property taxes I pay in my town goes to support the school district. It makes me incredibly angry that on top of all that I have to pay Kumon $1200 a year so my daughter can learn the math that she's not learning in school.

[A student]

As a student, I hate ALEKS. Just about everyone in my school hates aleks. It makes me completely depressed. It's insanely time consuming and irritating. I can't explain why we hate it exactly. we just do. When I'm doing ALEKS, I feel as if the light and joy is being sucked out of my soul. It makes me want to run far, far away. And I am NOT the only one. Not by a long shot. Ignore me if you want, I can't stop you, and I'm glad if it helped your kids, but I have to speak for myself, my friends, my classmates and all the kids at my school. Our side of the argument needs to be heard.

[Ankit]

Nice Article. In India a2zExam.com is an Assessment company, which test students knowledge and skills and figure out what they know? Where they are weak? Whether they know concepts or they remember the rules.

Based on this it is very helpful for children, teacher and parents to work and improve on students learning. They call is Learning Outcome Management System.

[Marc DeMartini]

Friends-I am heartbroken and livid about Everyday Math. I suspect that at least 30% of my daughter's anxiety problems stem from repeatedly being unable to master problems that "spiral" past her. While there maybe other things contributing to her anxiety and depression relating to school, it always seems to peak when new math material is introduced. I suspect that she repeatedly sees herself as a failure because she knows she cannot solve the problems presented to her. Kumon has helped but she is being emotionally trashed by the EM program. She has an IEP and was using an alternative curiculum which she mastered so quickly that they mainstreamed her back to EM. That has been an ongoing headache. I always know when it is problematic because she refused to let me see her homework. Come next Monday, I am going to start pushing for her to let her go back to that other program. The school will whine about how overloaded their special ed resources are. We are paying for Kumon and counseling. But what really hurts is to see how miserable our daughter is.

[cindy Oneil]

I am the elementary math contact person in my district and our school is beginning the curriculum review process. I am enjoying all the dialogue on the EM. Our principal is highly interested in getting this program but I am rather reserved as to what I have read. I believe children need a foundation set in the basics but I also believe that problem solving is an integral part of mathematics foundations. I am in the midst of a Curriculum theory and development graduate course. I am hoping that through this research I can help my district implement a high quality curriculum in mathematics. Feel free to give a suggestions as I have a great deal of work ahead

[Marc DeMartini]

A note, prior to the end of her 4th grade year we transferred my daughter to a small parochial school, which uses a more classic and sequential approach to math. They have been quite supportive and she is looking forward to going back for 5th grade. Immediately on her arrival at the new school, her stomach aches decreased to almost zero and her enthusiasm for school returned. Those daily stomach aches she had been experiencing since the day Everyday Math homework started in third grade. She is working during the summer to make up for the things that EM did not teach her and appears to respond well to the sequential approach. I hope that we are done with EM.

[Deuce]

I don't know why this is even a debate. Look at Singapore Math's curriculum. Look at how well those students who use that text do on math tests compared to other students (you can do the same with calculator use and those students who score high on the TIMMS test), and the choice is easy. I teach my daughter Singapore Math at home. She uses Everyday Math in the classroom. She never learns anything new at school. And Everyday Math is half to one full year behind the Singapore Math curriculum.

Unfortunately, my daughter's teacher knows nothing about differentiating curriculum, so my daughter has to do what everyone else in the classroom is doing, even though she doesn't need it. Most schools, public and private, are a joke. Very few schools, like very few American homes, take the idea of educating young people seriously.

[JODI]

I'M SICK THIS YEAR OVER EVERYDAY MATH. OUR DISTRICT JUST CHANGED EVERYTHING THIS YEAR. MY SON ALWAYS DID EVERYDAY MATH, MY 7TH GRADE STRAIGHT A GIFTED DAUGHTER JUST STARTED WITH EVERYDAY MATH THIS YEAR. SHE HATES IT. THERE IS NO TEACHING GOING ON IN HER CLASS HE TELLS THE KIDS WHAT CHAPTER TO DO AND SITS DOWN. SHE'S CLUELESS. SHE ALWAYS LOVED MATH AND IT MAKES ME SICK TO SEE HER DREAD MATH CLASS NOW. ALSO MOST OF THE TEACHERS IN HER SCHOOL ARE JUST LEARNING IT AS WELL. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? WHAT CAN WE DO?

[JODI]

READ THE POST BY M G R JAN 7TH 2008 AT 8:28 PM THIS POST IS THE GREATEST AND SPEAKS THE TRUTH ABOUT EVERYDAY MATH

[Joe Paxon]

Wow...no shortage of words for you.
I am at the public library with my 3 brothers. We are a one parent family. My dad has been gone a long time. We live in a small camper in on a small lot that belongs to grandma.

We have no computer, no books, and no calculator. I am in the 8th grade. I grew up with EM. We moved from a school that taught Saxon math when I was eight. I was 3 years behind when I arrived at my present school that uses EM.

I loved learning more than one way to solve a math problem, problem solving, and all of the hands-on stuff. Saxon math was just paper and pencil with tons of boring practice. I was in the 99th percent tile on the 8 grade state test.

It is not how you learn, but how hard you work. It sounds like you have two lazy kids. Sell one of your cars, your three TV's and all that other stuff your kids are hooked on and make them study. Instead of complaining, go to the school you are complaining about and help other kids or get a jov.

[Tottlojo]

Here is my anecdotal evidence. My son who has been in EM for his entire school experience has struggled in math from the start. He is currently in the third grade. We have been told repeatedly all the standard lines about how he will get it next time around or how the math will "click" all of a sudden and he will get the concepts from one way of learning addition and subtraction and be able to transfer it to all the other ways EM tries to teach the same thing. It doesn't work, at least not for him. I got fed up. I sat him down about two or three weeks ago and explained how they are trying to trick him. How all these different types of problems are really just addition or subtraction. I taught him to add and subtract the way I learned it with the standard algorithms from my youth. He started to get it. He is not there yet but I see progress every day. Previous to doing this he would literally bury his head in his arms on the table and cry out about how hard math is and how he hates it. He hates it! The other night I left him with a page of subtraction problems while I went upstairs for a couple of minutes to check on dinner. When I came back down he had done all but two of the problems and was in the process of completing them. They were all correct. I was astounded as he has never come close to being able to do any problems on his own while following the EM program. In my opinion EM jumps around too much for him. Right when he makes a little progress they change his way of looking at things and he gets confused again! EM is like rice pudding. There are some people who like it (just like EM works for some) but I think the majority of people dont like it and try to avoid it. I have taken to putting notes on his homework pages to his teacher telling her when I have modified the assignment and why. No real feedback from her yet but I am very curious as to what the response will be. As I learn how the school reacts to this I will try to re-post and let everyone know how it goes. I know I am going to stand my ground though. Its better to fight the school on this and have my son learn math than fight my son on the math and learn the school and EM was wrong .

[Jill Voris]

In my 22 years of teaching, EM is by far the best math curriculum I've ever experienced! (I have also taught Saxon among others.) However, it took me a few years to 'buy in' to this program. As part of our training we were told continuously to trust the spiraling of the program. As hard as it was, teachers had to let go of ensuring all of our students master all of the math skills we introduced within a given year. You see, not all skills are considered 'secure' within grade levels; many skills are 'beginning' or 'developing'. 'Beginning' means that is the first introduction of a certain skill, 'developing' means they've already been exposed and received much practice (quite possibly within an earlier grade level), and 'secure' indicates mastery is expected. Several years ago, I was part of a brand new staff opening a brand new school. That first year we only had 47% of our 4th grade students pass the math portion of our state standardized test. Last year (nine years later), we had a 100% passing rate. The data is there. When the program is used the right way and teachers are trained adequately, the program works. And it works well!

[Katie B]

I love that you wrote this. My two children are exactly like yours. One is a "rules first" child who also, is really good at focusing on one topic but is NOT good at constantly switching topics.... so EM could not possibly be less effective for him... My daughter is really bright and is not challenged by it. My kids are young (going into 1st and 3rd grade). I am so frustrated that their school uses EM and wish I could convince them to switch. As I can't, I am begging them to let me hire a tutor during math class instead... Is Aleks the program that you most recommend to use as supplementation? Do you know of any programs that are for younger kids? Thank you for writing this... it really summed up my frustrations and made me feel better, although discouraged at the road ahead...

[liam]

actually as someone who wen't through the every day mathmatics course from first (i think) to sixth grade i can say that they did not stress the calculator use (in fact they basicly said that it was the cause of all wars exc.)

[Jay]

I looked the comparisons of Every Math with Singapore Math. While they may be similar make no mistake Every Math is geared towards producing workers bees that can read and interpret things. Singapore Math on the other hand is geared towards excelling in math. If your objective is to have your child go to college and study to be an engineer, mathematician or physicist etc., Singapore math is the way to go.

We live an egalitarian culture and I understand everyone needs to learn math but if you are shooting for the stars Every Day math will not do any good. It will serve the school district purpose and probably the teachers objective of every one gets a trophy. Unfortunately, it is a competitive world out there and Harvard still admits on the basis of merit and Every Day math will screw your child. I suggest at least doing Singapore Math with a tutor at home. Frankly, I do not understand why these school district can't embrace Singapore Math. I am foreign born and my daughters are learning Singapore math. Unfortunately I have to fight their American mom, who is an high school teacher and the teachers at school. They give me the look WTF is wrong with you. I am amazing how liberalism has dragging American children down the tubes without any mercy! Teachers are the enemy of your children, you can not convince me otherwise.

[Beth]

I hate Everyday Math. It was instituted in our district to boost standardized test scores. I have found that I have trouble assisting my daughters with their homework! They get confused about which method to use, which leads to more confusion when they try to use a traditional method when adding large numbers. Both of my girls say, I forget, 'do I go left to right or right to left'? I have not seen that they have a fundamentally different understanding of math than my older children who were taught different methods. The vocabulary is cumbersome and confusing. I am not a fan!

[natalie]

My son brought home his very first EM homework assignments. He is in the 1st grade and started doing additon and subtraction worksheets in Kindergarten,(Not EM),by the way. His homework is to cut and paste numbers from different texts around the home. He did this in Preschool. So how is this not dumbing down our children's curriculum? I am do disappointed in this program. And no most students don't like math, but most students don't like school either. It's something they have to do. Just like life. No one is going to make life simpler so why should math be?

[Lee]

Our 5th grader is alredy horribly stumbling in math. We just received results of standardized testing. She actually went backward in 4th grade.

We raised concerns multiple times about the EM curriculum with her past teachers. "We throw four or five different ways to do multiplication at the kids and hope one of them sticks."

Hope one of them sticks? Really?

Well, guess what... Our daughter latched on to the lattice method for multiplication.

And guess what... Starting with junior high, every student is expected to know the efficient standard multiplcation algorithm.

So, starting in 5th grade every student is required to use the standard algorithm to prepare for junior high.

And guess what... Our daughter is among the MANY 5th grade students who are already at a HUGE disadvantage in math now.

She used to love learning. Now, she feels like a total failure.

Thanks, Everyday Math.

As the next one works his way through, WE will be steering his mathmatics education, not the teachers who hope something sticks.

Coming from families of teachers, we are huge teacher supporters. But where EM is involved, we are highly opposed.