The NCTM standards, for example, call for rote computation to be replaced with activities that convey a deeper conceptual understanding of mathematics. Instead of computing without understanding concepts, students were engaged in hands-on activities without understanding concepts, says NCTM President Glenda Lappan. 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.