New high school math studies aim for ‘real learning, not test preparation’

"High-school students who completed the highest level in math are not fully prepared for their academic work, faculty members in math-centered university departments say." continues Haaretz.

Students taking the matriculation exam in math at a high school in Hadera.
Photo: Haaretz

A new high-school math program, which its creators describe as an answer to the long-standing approach in which “there is no real learning, only preparation for tests,” has received preliminary approval from the Education Ministry’s mathematics advisory mittee.  

The authors of the new curriculum stress the urgent need to reform math studies in high school. The team, headed by professors Ron Livne of Hebrew University and Roza Leikin of the University of Haifa, wrote that under current circumstances, “The students’ potential cannot be fully realized. 
 
There is no real learning, only preparation for tests. There is no education for understanding, explanation, reasoning and the selection of strategy. The math instruction does not develop independent-study skills, it aims for success on the bagrut.” Admitting what the Education Ministry is loath to say out loud, the program’s authors said bluntly that faculty members in mathematics-centered university departments say that students who completed five credits in math in high school, currently the highest level, are not fully prepared for their academic courses. They noted that the Technion is considering requiring students with only four units of high-school math to do a one-year preparatory program in math before starting their freshman year. 
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Source: Haaretz