No Child Left Behind got it badly wrong for providing the society and workforce we need in the 21st century. It did so not only because it took a narrow, “fill the bucket and measure its contents” view of what education is about, it also focused on the needs of an America that will soon cease to exist. This is particularly true for mathematics, my subject.

In the digitally-connected, global economy Thomas Friedman described in his bestselling book The World is Flat, we cannot win the competition for where much of our mathematics will be done any more than we were able to hang on to manufacturing, software development, or customer relations management. Increasingly, China (200,000,000 K-12 students) and India (211,000,000 K-12 students) will be where companies send their math problems for solution. (The US has a “mere” 53 million students, and we do a poor job of educating them mathematically; moreover, they have many choices of what to study and what career path to follow, and few of them choose math.)

For instance, in Silicon Valley, where I live, much of the math is done by Asian-born engineers, and the main change being brought about by the global communications of Friedman’s flat world is that many of them will no longer have to uproot themselves and their families and go through the hostile procedures of the US Immigration Service in order to carry out that work.

But the bulk of the math that will go overseas in that way is the stuff that can be commoditized. That means “Do the (routine) math required to make X possible.” We can still hold on to the crucial first step of dreaming up the X (and its uses) in the first place. In other words, we should focus on what we do better than anyone else in the world: invent and innovate. (And then we must make sure that we are able to control the products of that invention and innovation.)

But can we commoditize and outsource math the same way we do manufacturing or financial services, and at the same time retain a global leadership role? I don’t know. For some mathematical tasks, it has already happened. But the outsourcing issue is never as simple as it is often portrayed. One thing is clear, however. If the outsourcer does not understand, at a deep level, what is being outsourced, then it’s only a matter of time before the entire enterprise moves overseas.

In terms of mathematics education, this means that we must ensure that all graduates from our schools and colleges have a knowledge of mathematics appropriate for this strategy. That is a very different goal from that of 20th century math ed.

So what kind of mathematics preparation does it take for the US to retain its position as a scientific and economic world leader?

First, we need a good level of what is generally called “quantitative literacy.” Broadly speaking, QL encompasses a general sense of number and size, estimation skills, the ability to understand graphs, pie-charts and tables and to read a spreadsheet, the ability to reason logically and numerically, and a reasonable understanding of basic probability and statistics. Since the importance of such skills lies in their applications, QL should not be the subject of a course, which would surely fail to meet its goal, rather should be viewed as a requirement to be met across the entire curriculum. (And yes, that includes the English class, the Art class, and the Athletic Department.)

Second, we need to make students more aware of the nature and utility of mathematics, its breadth, its origins, its role in history, and its applications in modern society, including its relevance to their own lives, and to provide them with first-hand experiences of looking at the world through mathematical eyes and to ensure that they know what is involved in
doing mathematics.

That means you can forget learning that formula for solving a quadratic equation. We can send the equation to China to be solved overnight — their working day — while America sleeps. But you’d better know when you need to send them a quadratic equation, which one to send, and what to do with the answer when you get it.

For elaboration of these ideas, see my recent postings on MAA Online:
* American Mathematics in a Flat World
www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_01_08.html
* Mathematics for the President and Congress
www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_02_08.html