Top mathematicians and scientists urge U.S. to withdraw endorsement of methods that leave out basic skills.
Federal official says change is unlikely.
Nearly 200 top mathematicians and scientists, including four Nobel laureates, are urging U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley to withdraw the government's endorsement of math programs that experiment with nontraditional teaching methods. The strongly worded letter expresses outrage that some of the 10 widely used programs leave out such basic skills as multiplying two-digit numbers and dividing fractions. To recommend these books as exemplary and promising would be a joke if it weren't so damaging. Several said they see the letter, which is to be publicized widely today, as providing a countervailing argument. Klein was joined by math professors and physicists from UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Harvard University, the University of Chicago and elsewhere.