Constructivism

The New York Times article says, in part:

Dr. Brooks, a superintendent on Long Island, is the latest casualty in the math wars, felled by parents who complain that their children have failed to learn basic skills in one of the top-performing school districts in New Jersey. After consulting math professors and hiring private tutors, the parents flooded the Internet — and the local newspaper, The Ridgewood News — with concerns about what is known as reform math, collecting more than 175 signatures on a petition calling for an overhaul of math instruction in six of the district’s nine schools.

The New York Times

The Stratford (CT) Star’s article entitled, The children cheered in one third-grade class at Lordship Elementary School this year when their teacher said it was time for math includes this:

The new curriculum shifted the focus from a constructivist teaching approach to a more traditional one, and replaced all the math textbooks with new ones that were easier for students, parents and teachers to understand.

Stratford Star

Constructivist theory came to the table in the 70’s and 80s.

In this article by Martin Brooks and Jacqueline Grennon-Brooks the two authors identify five central tenets of constructivism [Grennon and Brooks, 1993)

Educational Leadership