The answer to better math learning may be a “salad bowl.” Not with lettuce and tomatoes—with multiplication and division.
Hear Dr. Stanley Hartzler tell of how repeated practice with basic math each day helped Oklahoma kids rise from below average nationally to above average. Doing a quick set of problems, called a “salad bowl”—one each of division, multiplication, addition, and subtraction—was key to the kids’ success.
The idea particularly helped minority and special needs kids. So why did people rise to oppose it? Because they couldn’t make money off renedial education and fancy math programs any more.
Joy Pullmann is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture.
