Dan Keck reviewed The math myth by Andrew Hacker
Review of 'The math myth' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The author argues that:
• most jobs, even most engineering jobs, don't use any math beyond what's currently taught in the eighth grade.
• many students who may excel in some area are dropping out of high school or college primarily because they can't figure out the required math courses.
• proficiency in advanced math is being used as an arbitrary and easy filter in college admissions.
• people in general lack basic but important math skills: arithmetic, being able to estimate whether a numeric value makes sense in a given context, enough probability and statistics to appreciate scientific research and gauge with some accuracy whether an event is likely to happen.
• when companies like Microsoft say there is a skills gap because there aren't enough workers good at math, what they are really saying is there are not enough workers who are wiling to work for crap wages.
…
The author argues that:
• most jobs, even most engineering jobs, don't use any math beyond what's currently taught in the eighth grade.
• many students who may excel in some area are dropping out of high school or college primarily because they can't figure out the required math courses.
• proficiency in advanced math is being used as an arbitrary and easy filter in college admissions.
• people in general lack basic but important math skills: arithmetic, being able to estimate whether a numeric value makes sense in a given context, enough probability and statistics to appreciate scientific research and gauge with some accuracy whether an event is likely to happen.
• when companies like Microsoft say there is a skills gap because there aren't enough workers good at math, what they are really saying is there are not enough workers who are wiling to work for crap wages.
The author's points are worth considering. Maybe it would be good to stop having all students take algebra and geometry in high school, and instead keep hammering away at the most basic and important math skills for those who need it, and let the kids who don't need it move on to something else. But I still have a couple of concerns that haven't been addressed yet:
• He states that it's not just expertise in STEM fields where the United States need to be able to compete in the world. It's also important for the U.S. to be have leaders in literature, social science, the arts, and theology. My inclination is to agree, but it would be nice to see him defend this position.
• If higher level math does become de-emphasized, poorer schools will start cutting these classes to save money. This will reduce the size of the population that will have an opportunity to go on to those few math-heavy careers, like astronomy, physics, electronics R&D, and certain national defense analysts. At first this seems like a good thing, since the number of college graduates in these areas exceed the number of available jobs. However, we do want the best and brightest for these jobs. If large numbers of potential math students are excluded because their schools don't offer math beyond the eighth grade, then the U.S. may miss out on the best talent. (However, I can already think of counterarguments. Maybe these students in disadvantaged areas who show an aptitude in math could take online courses.)