Comparing Math Curriculum Between the United States and Japan
C & I 501 Fundamentals of Curriculum Development
Assignment 3 - Comparing Math Curriculum between the United States and Japan
Crawford states “The National Defense Education Act of 1958, passed in response to Sputnik, was the first effort at the national level to strengthen mathematics, science, and foreign-language instruction” (pg 106). Unfortunately we all know that the money spent was modest and continue to be small; it looks like that is not enough funds for Education and especially for Math. For years, I have been listening that the United States is behind in Mathematics. Then, I decided to do an analysis in Math curriculum from Japan. I will analyze an elementary Math curriculum to find out which grade we start to get behind from Japan. The TIMSS (The Trends International Mathematics and Science Study) results suggest to American citizens that "compared to our goal of excellence among nations, we are not where we aim to be." The TIMSS scores show that American 4th-graders do well in Science, but that otherwise there is plenty of room for improvement in both mathematics and science. By contrast, Japan remains constantly at the top internationally in both math and science. The Japanese education system may suggest some lessons for improving teaching and learning in the United States.
Some background, Japan has a national curriculum for public education, the Course of Study or “COS,” that is revised regularly, and includes the material required for all students through the end of elementary school to learn. Content and performance objectives for students are contained in the nation’s curriculum, which is developed by the Ministry of Education (MEXT). By doing my project on this topic, I hope to gain a greater understanding on why these achievement gaps exist. In this assignment, I will choice and discuss three aspects of curriculum analysis from Posner. I will discuss the achievement gap in more details in my major project assignment.
VIII. How should the
Assignment 3 - Comparing Math Curriculum between the United States and Japan
Crawford states “The National Defense Education Act of 1958, passed in response to Sputnik, was the first effort at the national level to strengthen mathematics, science, and foreign-language instruction” (pg 106). Unfortunately we all know that the money spent was modest and continue to be small; it looks like that is not enough funds for Education and especially for Math. For years, I have been listening that the United States is behind in Mathematics. Then, I decided to do an analysis in Math curriculum from Japan. I will analyze an elementary Math curriculum to find out which grade we start to get behind from Japan. The TIMSS (The Trends International Mathematics and Science Study) results suggest to American citizens that "compared to our goal of excellence among nations, we are not where we aim to be." The TIMSS scores show that American 4th-graders do well in Science, but that otherwise there is plenty of room for improvement in both mathematics and science. By contrast, Japan remains constantly at the top internationally in both math and science. The Japanese education system may suggest some lessons for improving teaching and learning in the United States.
Some background, Japan has a national curriculum for public education, the Course of Study or “COS,” that is revised regularly, and includes the material required for all students through the end of elementary school to learn. Content and performance objectives for students are contained in the nation’s curriculum, which is developed by the Ministry of Education (MEXT). By doing my project on this topic, I hope to gain a greater understanding on why these achievement gaps exist. In this assignment, I will choice and discuss three aspects of curriculum analysis from Posner. I will discuss the achievement gap in more details in my major project assignment.
VIII. How should the
References: Crawford, J. (2004). Educating English Learners: language diversity in the classroom. 5th Edition. Bilingual Educational Services, Inc. Gallagher, C. (2007). Reclaiming Assessment: a better alternative to the accountability agenda. Heinemann Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Posner, G. (2004). Analyzing the Curriculum (3rd Edition). Boston McGraw Hill. Fujii, T. (2007). The Changing Winds in Japanese Mathematics Education. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=1554 Sugiyama, Y Takahashi, A. (2000). Current trends and issues in lesson study in Japan and the United States. Journal of Japan Society of Mathematical Education, 82(12), 15-21. Brown, A. (1994). The Advance of Learning. Educational Researcher, 23(8), 4-12. Ellington, L. (2005). Japanese Education. SPICE Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education. http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/120