Monday, June 27, 2005

Politicizing Mathematics

The Wall Street Journal Opinion site posted an interesting article Sunday in which Diane Ravitch exposes how the teaching of mathematics has been transformed into a tool for social engineering.

A stark illustration of this is the "F" index of a math text from 1973 versus one from 1998. Topics in 1973 included factors, factoring, fallacies, finite decimal, finite set, formulas, fractions and functions. By 1998, the topic list had become families (in poverty data), fast food nutrition data, fat in fast food, feasibility study, feeding tours, ferris wheel, fish, fishing, flags, flight, floor plan, flower beds, food, football, Ford Mustang, franchises and fund-raising carnival.

There's more for the mathematically outraged.

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