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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
Viewpoint may play a part in your perception. When you look at your kids' math books, and you see problems which don't really call for answers, but, instead, talk about things like "explore different ways that YOU might want to try to find a solution to this problem, and discuss these ideas with your exploration partners", and it strikes you as an appropriate approach to mathematics, well, I think our conversation is simply going to wander.

OK. When that happens, I'll post about it here. Ditto with the Koran study.

If, instead, your district has moved back to a more "yes, there IS one correct answer to this problem, and your job is to find it" mode, then, consider yourself lucky, because vast swaths of the country's school system have not yet done this. Speaking to an older friend, fairly high up in the MN ed system, and who is firmly of the belief that the "right answer" isn't as important as getting the kids to "think about strategies" last week, I was told that "a small percentage" of schools have "moved backward" in this regard - to the "find the answer" mode. I say this only to disclose where I'm getting the quantitative picture on where schools generally are across the country.

Perhaps I am naive, but your picture doesn't ring true to me, not least because the parents I know -- lefties and righties alike -- want their kids to learn the right answers, and not just to have good self-esteem. Maybe other board parents could chime in?