March 25, 2014 | CAROLINE ALPHONSO, Globe and Mail

Parents push Alberta curriculum back to math basics

The Alberta government has bent to pressure from parents for curriculum changes and will require students to memorize their multiplication tables starting this fall, dealing a setback to the creative-math movement.

Education Minister Jeff Johnson has directed the ministry to ensure that reciting the times tables and recalling other basic math facts will be “more front and centre” in the curriculum for elementary students. The current curriculum requires students to know the multiplication tables, but doesn’t specifically state that they must memorize them.

It represents a victory for parents and some educators in the current “math wars,” who...Read more