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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Forward to the Past - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Forward to the Past - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Forward to the Past

Dear Diane,

You're everywhere! Meanwhile, my big adventure this week was going to Boston. But it's always good to go and see friends and visit Mission Hill. What a wonderful place for 5- to 14-year-olds.

A math specialist who reads our blog (Margery Palmer) sent me interesting data on international comparisons re. math. She notes that many educators think they need two hours of preparation and review for every hour they teach. Maybe so. She noted that in the 15 nations in the Second International Mathematics Study, we ranked right in the middle in 8th and 12th grade. Only one of those that ranked above us had teachers who taught 25 hours or more a week. The others were 16 and 20. Interesting. Imagine 16 hours of class time and 16 hours of professional time. Hmmmm.

I had a singing teacher once who told me that when I thought I "almost had it" was the time to take a rest and