Education Week – Sarah D. Sparks
“A typical 8th grade math textbook includes just a handful of real-world problems for students to solve, finds a new international study. And that’s not enough, according to William Schmidt, distinguished professor at Michigan State University. “It’s not enough anymore to just teach the kids the fundamental skills, but to move toward being able to reason with those to solve real-world examples,” he said, “because the textbooks simply do not provide enough opportunities for students to actually practice applying mathematics in real-world applications. And I think that now is a major issue confronting American education in math.”” (more)