Lattice method could be best, if bureaucrats got out of the way

By Murray Siegel

Americans have been debating for decades how to improve the quality of public education. A series of recent events have pointed out one irritant in our education process is state bureaucrats who devise rules for our schools without having the proper knowledge.

I have been a volunteer at Butterfield Elementary School since 2015. Last year I was asked to observe the teaching of math in all five fourth-grade classrooms. The students were learning how to multiply multi-digit whole numbers and the lessons included opportunities for students to use various methods. These methods were all mathematically correct, but I saw that the collection did not include what I consider the most effective multiplication method, Lattice Multiplication (LM).

When I asked the teachers why they presented the various methods and why they did not include Lattice, they said the methods were required by the Arizona Department of Education and that the LM was not among those required.

I called the Education Department and spoke with the woman who is responsible for the math curriculum in elementary schools. I asked her why Lattice was not included. She replied the LM was not effective. I strongly disagree but realized I had no chance to change her mind.

What is LM? Rather than trying to explain it without benefit of dynamic graphics, I suggest you visit the YouTube link bit.ly/LatticeM.

This year I am teaching an advanced math class at BES, comprised of the top math students in the school’s fifth grade. One day, I gave the class five minutes to compute 396 X 478 using any method they preferred. The results are troubling to me since only 11 of the 30 students obtained the correct answer.

These are the best math students in a school graded “A” by the state, yet most could not work a problem that was to be mastered in fourth grade. The fault does not lie with the district, or with the school principal or with the classroom teachers, since they are following the state’s dictates. This is but one small topic in a child’s education, so how many other academic topics are being taught inefficiently because of a state bureaucrat?

Have these bureaucrats taught in an elementary classroom in recent years? The dynamic of the elementary classroom has changed and those with no relevant experience are prone to make serious errors that affect our children’s education. This requires serious legislative investigation.

Murray Siegel, Ph.D., has 44 years of experience teaching mathematics. He is in his fifth year as a volunteer at Butterfield Elementary School.

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This column appears in the October issue of InMaricopa.