why are students in the US so bad at math?

Question

i heard that the overall abilities of mathamatics across the nation are pretty bleak. Is this true? And if so, why is this so?

Answer 1

Teachers in the US have a tendency to expect very little from their students. They treat the students like they arn't capable of doing things, then the students pick up on it, and before you know it we have a stupid nation.

Answer 2

It is very much so true.
Math I think is very overrated and more complicated and complex in so many ways, math, the structure, and standards are constantly changing.
Half of the time they say it doesn't when it does.
I know I am bad at math I could be a whole lot better. but everyone cannot be academically straight A's in every subject.
I do fine in all my other subjects except math, why is that I don't know.
I try and try and I don't seem to get much better, I hope I will one day, but until then I'm going to be bad at math.
I have talked to lots of people about this, people my age, younger, and older, and they say the same thing.

Answer 3

I am from the US and am very good at mathematics. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of students form the US who are beyond excellent in the subject.

Overall, I think that the students really don't focus on it as much in the US. Some teachers don't care anymore (not all, there are millions of excellent teachers that do care out here)There are so many other things going on around them, and the sad reality is most students can memorize the lyrics to a rock, pop, or hip hop song, but not a math equation.

Answer 4

As a teacher of 7th and 8th graders, I can tell you that one of the main problems is parents. Students have very different home lives than previous generations. The students of this generation come from broken homes with values placed more on money, possessions, and little if any personal responsibility.
The majority of the students I teach claim to be too poor to afford the basic materials that they need to learn, such as a paper and pencil. However, they boast new shoes on a weekly basis that are priced in the $100-$150 dollar range and wear about $600 dollars worth of clothes. They hypocrisy is almost too much to bear.
Students come to you unable to read, with no desire to touch the written word. The smallest task of reading and writing or following classroom procedures only brings about cries of the world being unfair, the task being too hard for them to do, and questioning why they have to do anything at all.
The voices of those who want to learn are drowned out by the disruptions of those who don't, those whose parents have not shown them respect for elders and authority figures.
So in answering why students in the USA aren't as good as students in other countries, it boils down to one thing and one thing only: Desire. Students don't have a desire for an education. They don't have a desire to learn, to be curious about the world.
You can have as many standardized tests as you want to measure performance. You can send teachers to countless training sessions about classroom management and teaching the basics of the curriculum and teaching towards the test. But if a student doesn't want to learn. If a student is comfortable where they are at then they will never see the need to advance themselves.
I may sound bitter only because I have experienced first hand by working at a title I school what it is like to work with kids who just don't want to be there. How do you convince a kid that they need an education to get a job when they could sell drugs and make money that way?
The situation may seem hopeless but it isn't. This society will at some point have to focus on knowledge again. We are being pushed at all sides by other cultures who have a greater desire to advance than we do. That pressure will have to translate into real effort and a wake up call about what we teach our children and the values they need in the real world.

Answer 5

I teach high school math in Texas, and I have some students who get to my class and can't add, subtract, multiply and divide with one-digit numbers without a calculator. There has been a push in the educational system to get away from rote learning and make every subject "engaging" every day and appeal to a variety of learning styles. Now that sounds really good, but I still don't know of any way to learn the multiplication tables without practicing over and over. It might not be the most fun and entertaining, but it will get the job done. We spend too much time trying to entertain and build self-esteem, that kids don't think they really have to learn anything to be able to pass. I think we need to get back to basics, and kids will gain self-esteem when they actually accomplish something.

Answer 6

That's not true! There are some people who still have great aptitudes in math and science. The biggest problem is that we are faced with a problem to inspire us! you see bak then a few decades ago when our parents where young they had the space race that actually turned into a science race, there was a leader and a problem to get us into to science and math, so America bloomed, but today we see our youngsters go really bleak in math bcoz of the fat we acaquired and the attitude of taking things for granted.That's our problem, but it doesn't mean you kinda finally say that US is bad at math.
That's wrong

Answer 7

Our nation as a whole isn't as "book" smart as others because our kids and young adults don't study and go to school for 10-12 hours a day with no sports or extra curricular activities.

I must say also though, with the TAKS test in effect, Texas kids are now geniouses! My 6th grader is doing advanced algebra, my 2nd grader is doing triple digit addition and subtraction, complex word problems, and already doing multiplication.

Answer 8

Because the government school system is horrible. Having gone to several public schools and a private school I can say without a doubt that privatization of education is needed. Most high ranking nations have done that with great result.

The competition that is created between schools is itself a form of accountability as horrible schools will be forced to either perform well or fail.

Answer 9

Because the teachers don't teach, and the few that do have the kids that don't listen.

Makes me wonder how long it'll be before we get a persident who was running the " I know my ABCs " platform.

Answer 10

Lack of appreciation for the benefits of music in the early ages.