Does this contribute to people thinking about problems in simplistic, even/or ways in general?

https://news.yahoo.com/u-students-lag-other-countries-100040150.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/02/28/math-scores-high-school-lessons-freakonomics-pisa-algebra-geometry/4835742002/

Erin Richards
Feb. 28, 2020

The latest results of an international exam given to teenagers ranked the USA ninth in reading and 31st in math literacy out of 79 countries and economies. America has a smaller-than-average share of top-performing math students, and scores have essentially been flat for two decades.

One likely reason: U.S. high schools teach math differently than other countries.

Classes here often focus on formulas and procedures rather than teaching students to think creatively about solving complex problems involving all sorts of mathematics, experts said. That makes it harder for students to compete globally, be it on an international exam or in colleges and careers that value sophisticated thinking and data science.

•••••

“There’s a lot of research that shows when you teach math in a different way, kids do better, including on test scores,” said Jo Boaler, a mathematics professor at Stanford University who is behind a major push to remake America's math curriculum.

•••••

Other countries teach three straight years of integrated math – I, II and III — in which concepts of algebra, geometry, probability, statistics and data science are taught together, allowing students to take deep dives into complex problems.

In higher-performing countries, statistics or data science – the computer-based analysis of data, often coupled with coding – is a larger part of the math curriculum, Boaler said. Most American classes focus on teaching rote procedures, she said.

•••••

Improving the math aptitude of older students in the USA is connected to messages students hear about why math is important and who's good at it when they're younger.

Those messages often come from their elementary school teachers, many of whom didn’t like math as students themselves.

"Math phobia is real. Math anxiety is real," said DeAnn Huinker, a professor of mathematics education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who teaches future elementary and middle school teachers.

New research suggests that when teachers improve their attitude toward math, it can help to raise student test scores. At Stanford, Boaler and her team designed an online course for teachers featuring research showing anyone can learn math with enough practice, intelligence isn’t fixed and math is connected to all sorts of everyday activities.
[It has been my experience that almost everybody I know who hates math traces it back to a math teacher.]

•••••