Mathematically Correct

August 26, 1997

President Clinton
The White House
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We applaud your goal of introducing a national grade 8 mathematics exam as a way to stimulate improvement in mathematics education.

In developing such a national mathematics test, it is critical to get the details correct lest the goals be lost. We are seriously concerned that the development of the national mathematics test is flawed and in need of correction. Our concerns are in three areas: The underlying assumptions about what is important in mathematics; the composition of the committee which is writing the test; and the nature of the test itself.

It is clear that the authors of the exam are working under the assumption that there is, or will be, a national consensus that the 1989 Standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) are the appropriate guide for mathematics education in the United States. This is not true. Troublesome issues about the NCTM model are now being raised by committees of the Mathematical Association of America and of other mathematics professional associations. We and many others across the country feel strongly that use of the 1989 NCTM Standards as a guiding document is a serious error which will undermine the credibility and usefulness of the national test.

The committee which is drafting the exam specifications is biased. First, nearly all of its members are strong advocates of the NCTM Standards and of programs that repute to be aligned with the NCTM Standards. There is not a balance of different viewpoints regarding mathematics education. Second, members of the committee have significant conflicts of interest as they are actively involved in the writing or promotion of particular mathematics curricula. Even the slightest suspicion that the authors would bias the test toward material covered in their programs, or that their authorship of the test would be used to sell their programs or to help them get grants, undermines the credibility of the exam. Conflict of interest protections should be in place for those writing a document as important as the national math test.

The exam itself, at least as represented in the examination plan, is not at all adequate. To be truly informative, the exam should be comprehensive and cover those topics that are important to the future of America. At the top end, it must be sure to meet your call for Algebra for all 8th graders. Thus, the national exam must extend from basic numerical operations (without calculators) through all of the content of a rigorous first year algebra program. The exam fails at both extremes. There is no plan to test basic computational skills under the assumption that all students will know these things. Unfortunately, this is not true, as anyone who deals regularly with 8th graders can tell you. If we do not test basic skills we will hide from ourselves the extent and range of our weaknesses at the lowest levels. At the other end, in spite of calling 25% of the test "Algebra," the content addressed is not algebra at all - - it is not even pre-algebra. By ignoring the demanding content of algebra, the design will fail to measure success at the level of our international competition and will fail to promote greater achievement as intended.

The emerging plan is therefore totally inconsistent with the very reasons for having a national mathematics exam, and is contrary to the needs of our country. As you have committed yourself and the country to the goal of a valuable, meaningful and useful examination of mathematical competence, it falls to you to correct the errors that are occurring in the development of this exam.

Sincerely,

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