WEBVTT 00:00:10.106 --> 00:00:14.526 I'm Larry Faulkner, President of Houston Endowment 00:00:14.526 --> 00:00:17.276 and Chair of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. 00:00:17.896 --> 00:00:24.096 The Panel was charged by the President of the United States in an executive order. 00:00:24.446 --> 00:00:29.106 We were created by the President to, essentially, 00:00:29.106 --> 00:00:36.676 look into the best available scientific evidence relating to the preparation of students 00:00:37.406 --> 00:00:40.836 to enter into and to succeed in algebra. 00:00:41.246 --> 00:00:48.766 This Panel differs from other committees or groups that have been chartered to look 00:00:48.766 --> 00:00:56.476 at math education historically in that it has had a very strong focus 00:00:56.526 --> 00:01:04.186 on what the scientifically generalizable evidence can tell us. 00:01:04.546 --> 00:01:11.956 This Panel has encompassed the full scope of educational philosophies. 00:01:12.156 --> 00:01:21.436 We have members who cover the full spectrum, and people approach the issue of educating children 00:01:21.436 --> 00:01:26.576 in mathematics-instinctively anyway-from radically different directions. 00:01:27.046 --> 00:01:34.516 But they have converged in this effort on an agreement that what we would do is look 00:01:34.516 --> 00:01:44.106 at what the real and strong and defensible scientific studies tell us 00:01:44.106 --> 00:01:46.826 about mathematics education. 00:01:46.826 --> 00:01:50.876 As teachers approach the Math Panel's report, 00:01:50.876 --> 00:02:02.866 I think it's important to recognize that there aren't details here about exactly how to carry 00:02:02.866 --> 00:02:07.596 out a given instructional practice, 00:02:07.596 --> 00:02:17.126 but there's advice on-general advice-on how instructional practices can succeed, 00:02:17.976 --> 00:02:20.536 better ones for better situations. 00:02:20.996 --> 00:02:25.866 And there is quite a bit here about how children learn mathematics 00:02:26.276 --> 00:02:31.686 that can inform the way teachers develop their own pattern 00:02:31.686 --> 00:02:35.026 of instruction and approach to students. 00:02:35.516 --> 00:02:42.316 Our hope is that the findings that we have communicated will be used by schools 00:02:42.316 --> 00:02:47.606 and school leaders and teachers to improve the education of young people 00:02:47.606 --> 00:02:49.956 so that they can succeed in Algebra. 00:02:51.356 --> 00:02:57.316 Algebra in turn is, I think, an important goal for the nation to focus on. 00:02:57.406 --> 00:03:04.086 Our children aren't succeeding as well as they need to by worldwide standards, 00:03:04.086 --> 00:03:10.846 and it turns out that algebra is in a central position in the curriculum. 00:03:11.356 --> 00:03:16.686 It has a lot to do with how far children can take their education overall, 00:03:17.196 --> 00:03:21.236 not only in secondary school but beyond secondary school. 00:03:21.356 --> 00:03:26.896 A message that we would really want to convey is that teachers 00:03:26.896 --> 00:03:38.826 at all levels are laying the foundation for children to succeed in algebra. 00:03:39.146 --> 00:03:48.006 Children are assembling knowledge from early ages to later ages that culminates in success 00:03:48.006 --> 00:03:52.716 or lack of success in another foundation experience, Algebra, 00:03:53.496 --> 00:03:58.496 that has a great bearing on a child's future life. 00:03:59.196 --> 00:04:02.696 Still another message, I think, that we want to be sure 00:04:02.696 --> 00:04:06.536 that teachers understand has to do with importance of effort. 00:04:07.486 --> 00:04:15.156 There is a cultural tendency in America for us to give up easily on mathematics, 00:04:15.786 --> 00:04:26.206 and the Panel has the sense that this cultural tendency is rooted in a view in the nation 00:04:26.206 --> 00:04:31.266 that mathematics is really a matter of talent, you either have it or you don't. 00:04:31.946 --> 00:04:36.136 And that's actually not supported by research. 00:04:37.356 --> 00:04:46.746 Research shows that if students believe that working at their mathematics will make them smarter 00:04:46.746 --> 00:04:56.846 in mathematics, that they actually do achieve and eventually reach higher levels of proficiency. 00:04:57.586 --> 00:05:07.526 As the Panel looked into matters relating to teachers, the most important message that has come 00:05:07.526 --> 00:05:12.356 out of our work is that teachers are enormously important. 00:05:12.786 --> 00:05:23.376 Teachers, as they approach children, have greater effectiveness if they have a greater command 00:05:23.376 --> 00:05:26.596 of the mathematical material that they are expected to teach. 00:05:27.306 --> 00:05:34.946 And so we do put a high emphasis in this report on approaches that can increase 00:05:35.006 --> 00:05:39.726 or strengthen teacher knowledge of the mathematical subject material. 00:05:40.286 --> 00:05:49.076 As teachers have opportunities in service development or in other venues, 00:05:50.276 --> 00:05:54.136 we've urged them to take advantage of opportunities 00:05:54.136 --> 00:05:55.966 that can actually strengthen their content knowledge.