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It’s monstrous, and devastating to those families, and to our frontline teachers, to perpetually sell them damaging, unproven strategies that are little more than opinion and experiments on our children. Math performance in B.C. is failing, yet educationists prefer to spend time fiddling while Rome burns.

B.C.’s PISA performance clearly demonstrates that despite increasing enrolment of school-aged children in tutoring centres, we have experienced a 16-point decline in our PISA scores between 2003-2012. It is truly shocking just how quickly math performance has deteriorated following the influx of discovery/inquiry/21stcentury learning/problem-based learning in this province. B.C.’s rate of functional innumeracy between 2003-2012 increased from 8.4 per cent to 12.3 per cent. This increase in change is larger than the Canadian average and represents a larger proportional growth than that of the country as a whole. In terms of those kids at the other end of the spectrum (the smart ones at levels 5 and 6), their performance also decreased from 21.6 per cent to 16.5 per cent. This decrease is also larger than the Canadian average decline of 3.9 per cent, and is also reflected in the decrease of our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) leaders. Approximately 25 per cent of that group vanished both nationally as well as provincially during this same time frame.

But test scores only reveal part of the picture. More damaging are the relentless attacks upon the institution of mathematics which has stood the test of time. There are regular editorials, articles and discussions which inaccurately portray what’s important for strong math skills. Discovery/inquiry/21stcentury/problem-based learning is all the same failed learning strategies re-packaged in a new way. Cognitive Science has determined that understanding and knowledge cannot occur without mastery of math facts, and those facts are best learned through straightforward methods and direct instruction. These are the same methods utilized in tutoring centres across the country, of which up to 50 per cent (in some communities) of our kids are now enrolled. To repeat, learning centres rely on the same successful methods that our provincial system chooses to ignore.