Há quem se preocupe em melhorar

Foram 20 meses de trabalho e o relatório final tem 120 páginas. Uma tarefa nada elementar, nem milagreira para estudar o problema dos maus resultados em matemática nos Estados Unidos.
O relatório final pode ser consultado aqui.

Eis algumas declarações de Hung-Hsi Hu, professor da Universidade de Berkeley, que integrou o National Mathematics Advisory Panel, grupo criado por George Bush para reformular o ensino da disciplina e que veio a Lisboa, a convite da Sociedade Portuguesa de Matemática, para falar deste problema que também nos afecta.

"Há vários anos que os resultados dos alunos americanos a Matemática nos testes internacionais estão a piorar. O que é que originou esse declínio? Ainda estamos a viver o rescaldo do que se chamou math wars. Nos anos 60, um grupo de matemáticos achou que o ensino nas escolas não era o adequado e propôs mudanças muito rápidas e extremas nos currículos. Defendiam que a educação matemática nas escolas não era mais do que Matemática pura e que os alunos deviam ser ensinados como nas universidades. Para esta corrente - New Math-, o importante não era entender, mas resolver os problemas. No final dos anos 80 impôs-se uma outra corrente como solução, mas também ela extrema. O NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) aprovou um conjunto de orientações, adoptando um novo método de ensino, que privilegiava a participação e o envolvimento dos estudantes naquilo que devia ser aprendido. Mais do que os conteúdos, era a pedagogia que interessava, o que também não trouxe bons resultados. (…)
Mas as novas tecnologias não podem ajudar, pelos menos, os alunos com menos gosto pela disciplina a interessarem-se e ter melhores resultados? Aí estamos a falar de outra coisa. O grupo foi criado porque estávamos a ficar para trás. A ideia é garantir que os alunos estejam preparados para enfrentar os novos desafios da era tecnológica. Se não sabem Matemática, como é que vão ser contratados por empresas como a Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Texas Instruments? Essas empresas querem alguém não que saiba trabalhar com calculadoras, mas que consiga raciocinar e lidar com informação nova. O objectivo não é garantir que os jovens aprendam alguma coisa que é melhor do que nada."

Do extenso relatório destaco algumas passagens:

"(…)
· Use should be made of what is clearly known from rigorous research about how children learn, especially by recognizing a) the advantages for children in having a strong start; b) the mutually reinforcing benefits of conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and automatic (i.e., quick and effortless) recall of facts; and c) that effort, not just inherent talent, counts in mathematical achievement.
· Our citizens and their educational leadership should recognize mathematically knowledgeable classroom teachers as having a central role in mathematics education and should encourage rigorously evaluated initiatives for attracting and appropriately preparing prospective teachers, and for evaluating and retaining effective teachers. (…)
Positive results can be achieved in a reasonable time at accessible cost, but a consistent, wise, community-wide effort will be required. (…)

The Panel recommends that the U.S. Secretary of Education take the lead in convening the forum initially, charge it to organize in a way that will sustain an effective effort, and request a brief annual report on the mutual agenda adopted for the year ahead. (…)
The Panel lays out many concrete steps that can be taken now toward significantly improved mathematics education, but it also views them only as a best start in a long process. This journey, like that of the post-Sputnik era, will require a commitment to “learning as we go along.” (…)

Over a period of 20 months, the Panel received public testimony as a committee of the whole but worked largely in task groups and subcommittees dedicated to major components of the presidential charge. (…)

A focused, coherent progression of mathematics learning, with an emphasis on proficiency with key topics, should become the norm in elementary and middle school mathematics curricula. Any approach that continually revisits topics year after year without closure is to be avoided.
By the term focused, the Panel means that curriculum must include (and engage with adequate depth) the most important topics underlying success in school algebra. By the term coherent, the Panel means that the curriculum is marked by effective, logical progressions from earlier, less sophisticated topics into later, more sophisticated ones. Improvements like those suggested in this report promise immediate positive results with minimal additional cost.
By the term proficiency, the Panel means that students should understand key concepts, achieve automaticity as appropriate (e.g., with addition and related subtraction facts), develop flexible, accurate, and automatic execution of the standard algorithms, and use these competencies to solve problems. (…)
Research on teacher incentives generally supports their effectiveness, although the quality of the studies is mixed. Given the substantial number of unknowns, policy initiatives involving teacher incentives should be carefully evaluated. (…)
Instructional Practices
All-encompassing recommendations that instruction should be entirely “student centered” or “teacher directed” are not supported by research. (…)
A review of 11 studies that met the Panel’s rigorous criteria (only one study less than 20 years old) found limited or no impact of calculators on calculation skills, problem solving, or conceptual development over periods of up to one year. This finding is limited to the effect of calculators as used in the 11 studies. However, the Panel’s survey of the nation’s algebra teachers indicated that the use of calculators in prior grades was one of their concerns. The Panel cautions that to the degree that calculators impede the development of automaticity, fluency in computation will be adversely affected.
The Panel recommends that high-quality research on particular uses of calculators be pursued, including both their short- and long-term effects on computation, problem solving, and conceptual understanding. (…)"