Teachers failed to communicate clearly the underlying concepts in the math activities and make sure students understood them, she explains. Rather, teachers seemed to look on the instructional strategies as an end in themselves. But that's not the point of the standards. Teaching methods are highly culture specific. You learn them through years and years of being a student.
Nobody ever goes to check what effect policies have on classrooms.
They have very little. Teaching practices are surprisingly uniform across the United States, Stigler says, despite the value Americans place on local control and teacher autonomy. Whether from New York City or the deep south, California or Montana, teachers in his video study displayed a remarkably similar teaching style. German and Japanese teachers also had a style particular to their culture. Then students would work problems on their own while the teacher helped individual students.