SACRAMENTO, CA -- Recently, the California Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards released its draft math standards. Although still a rough document that will require refinement, Stanford University Mathematics Professor Ralph Cohen has observed that the math standards constitute "a courageous document." Prof. Cohen notes that "A curriculum aligned with these standards will be rigorous and deep. California students who complete the K-7 portion of such a program will have a thorough foundation in pre-algebra-level mathematics, allowing them to be ready for algebra in the 8th grade. This is an international benchmark that I am convinced that most California students can meet, if given the right background."

The draft standards do indeed require that students acquire the objective knowledge and skills that will allow them to perform specified mathematical calculations. For example, here are a few of the standards included in the kindergarten section: use up to 10 objects to add and subtract whole numbers and to model situations involving addition and subtraction; identify common coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter) and the value of each; and measure and tell time using analog and digital clocks to the nearest half hour and demonstrate an understanding of morning, afternoon and night.

For most Californians, expecting kindergarten-age students to master such skills would seem quite reasonable. That's not the view, however, of the public education establishment. At a commission hearing, Helen Faul, past president of the California Kindergarten Association, testified that, "My concern is that rigorous drill so as to achieve mastery does not become all encompassing. Children at the kindergarten level need opportunities and experiences that value the enjoyment of learning and relate learning to everyday occurrences. It is important to ask: 'Are the content standards essential to my life?'" (Does Ms. Faul believe addition and subtraction, counting money, and telling time are non-essential life skills?) Summing up the education establishment's "new, new math" mentality, Ms. Faul says that, "Children need opportunities that allow them to explore, justify, represent, experiment, solve, construct, investigate, describe, estimate, and verify mathematical concepts rather than drill that rewards just knowing the answer rather than understanding."

While California's students may be exploring, experimenting, investigating and describing mathematical concepts, they certainly aren't getting the right answer. On the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress math exam, the average score of California fourth graders ranked almost at the bottom of the nation.

Business, which must employ the products of our public education system, praised the rigor of the Commission's standards. Rayme Waters of Apple Computer said, "I looked closely to see that the skills included in these standards are connected with what the workplace, especially the high-skill/high-wage workplace, is looking for in job candidates." The draft standards, says Ms. Waters, "are, for the most part, clear, concise, and comprehensive [and] a good step in the right direction."

As it refines its standards, one hopes that the Commission stays on course and ignores the alarm calls of those who got us into our current mess.

-By Lance T. Izumi