

Guesses and Hype Give Way to Data in Study of Education - tokenadult
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/science/applying-new-rigor-in-studying-education.html

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tokenadult
It's good to see some of the first findings out from new, more research-based
studies of primary and secondary education in the United States.

"The findings could be transformative, researchers say. For example, one
conclusion from the new research is that the choice of instructional materials
— textbooks, curriculum guides, homework, quizzes — can affect achievement as
profoundly as teachers themselves; a poor choice of materials is at least as
bad as a terrible teacher, and a good choice can help offset a bad teacher’s
deficiencies."

The idea that instructional materials are important is intuitive to a lot of
homeschooling families who homeschool so that their children can receive more
academic challenge. (I know a large support network of such families here in
Minnesota, and have online interaction with a national network of such
families, who met one another through the Young Scholars program[1] of the
Davidson Institute for Talent Development.) Certainly, our oldest son far
exceeds in mathematics achievement what either of his two parents can provide
in mathematics teaching, but we used good programs as homeschooling parents to
start him out in his mathematics instruction. We begin with Miquon Math[2],
then transition to the Singapore Primary Mathematics series[3], then to a
mixture of EPGY online mathematics[4], ALEKS[5], Khan Academy[6], the Art of
Problem Solving[7], and other programs. There is probably a lot of "ceiling"
above what is currently achieved by instruction in United States K-12 schools
that could be more closely approached if only United States schools used
better instructional materials.

[1]
[http://www.davidsongifted.org/youngscholars/](http://www.davidsongifted.org/youngscholars/)

[2] [http://miquonmath.com/](http://miquonmath.com/)

[3]
[http://www.singaporemath.com/Primary_Mathematics_Stds_Ed_s/1...](http://www.singaporemath.com/Primary_Mathematics_Stds_Ed_s/134.htm)

[4] [http://ecae.net/epgy/](http://ecae.net/epgy/)

[5] [http://www.aleks.com/](http://www.aleks.com/)

[6] [https://www.khanacademy.org/](https://www.khanacademy.org/)

[7]
[http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/School/index.php](http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/School/index.php)?

