A Word from the President

The 1983 Federal publication of “A Nation at Risk” tried to wake up Americans about the vast problems facing our schools. After the first large-scale state by state study of math achievement, then Education Secretary Lamar Alexander declared a math emergency in the nation’s schools. “None of the states are cutting it,” he said. “This is an alarm bell that should ring all night throughout this country.” Eight years later, in 1991, we still had not figured out the solution. Scores were continuing to decline. A June 17, 1991 article in Newsweek stated, “Educators say too many children are wasting time practicing adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing when they could be moving on to more interesting and challenging math.”

These days, students are introduced to calculators in second grade. By the time they reach junior high, calculators have become another appendage to their bodies. But scores are not improving. So new textbooks have been written accommodating the calculator. They are filled to the brim with pretty pictures and interesting tidbits. But scores are not improving. So schools initiate graduation standards and testing at benchmark years to be sure their students progress. But scores are not improving. As a result, colleges must offer courses in remedial mathematics for students who cannot qualify for the college level math classes. This is expensive in time, materials and human resources. In one Minnesota junior college, for example, about 80% of the incoming freshmen each year do not score high enough on the math placement test to enroll in the freshman college algebra class. But colleges cannot send these “future leaders” back to high school to try it again.

Before the days of calculators, computers, and cash registers that tell how much change to give, life was less technical. Kids were expected to know their math. The buzzwords of the time were “drill and practice”. Teachers and students considered this drudgery. But it worked. A student’s self-esteem came from knowing the right answers, not from being excused from learning. The phrase was altered to “drill and kill” to describe the effect on students of such treatment. Now tenth graders reach for a calculator to do 9 x 7. The pendulum has swung far in both directions. Somewhere in the middle is that wonderful balance between a student using his brains and using his tools. A student who knows the basic facts does not get bogged down in the details while learning more advanced concepts. I suggest the phrase “know and go.” Students who “know” their fundamentals are ready to “go” on to more challenging math with skill and confidence.

Math-Power® is designed to allow students to practice just a few minutes each and every day. The foundation on which to build a limitless supply of knowledge starts with basic concepts and moves on only when those fundamental skills are ingrained into a student’s knowledge base. Just as a concert pianist must rehearse daily and a major league player must attend daily practice, so a strong mathematics education is built with daily effort.

The Math-Power® program does not bog down a student in a mire of mathematical morass. The sequential nature of the program maintains the delicate balance between review of recently learned materials and the presentation of new concepts. Progress is measured independently for each and every student.

It is the sincere desire of the Math-Power® staff to present an affordable program that is manageable in time, sequence, and scope. We welcome you to the Math-Power® program.