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‘Neither spell-check nor AI remove the importance of literacy in education,’ professor says
A Stanford University professor is being recognized for his work advocating for rigorous math standards in high school curricula in California and other states.
“The format of education has adapted to new technologies throughout history, but understanding of ideas is not devalued in that process,“ Professor Brian Conrad told The College Fix in a recent interview.
Stanford’s director of undergraduate studies in math, Conrad rose to national attention a few years ago when the California State Board of Education proposed revisions to the California Mathematics Framework for high schoolers. The changes included, among other things, that Algebra II courses be delayed to college in favor of data science courses.
Conrad (pictured) made a series of public comments arguing that omitting higher-level algebra and the critical thinking skills it cultivates would leave students “substantially unprepared” for STEM and other quantitative college degrees.
As a result, the state changed the most problematic parts of the new curriculum, he said.
“In the end, I feel that what happened in California did avert what could have been a very problematic development,” he told Princeton University Professor Sergiu Klainerman in a May interview through the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.
The initial proposal would have “gutt[ed] the university admissions standards for what kids need to know for a solid four-year quantitative degree, but also averted the problem of potentially having the high school curriculum replace substantive math content with fluff,” he said.
However, similar attempts to lower high school math standards have been occurring in other parts of the country.
For example, the University of Connecticut was considering “watering down” its math admissions requirements. However, he became involved and provided parents with information to help them successfully stop the proposal, Conrad said in the May interview.
Most recently, the new version of the SAT now requires fewer math questions in the same amount of time while permitting calculator use, The Fix reported last month.
Despite AI and other modern technology, Conrad told The Fix that learning mathematics is still critically important for many careers.
“Neither spell-check nor AI remove the importance of literacy in education, and likewise math remains central because it is the universal language for all reliable and creative quantitative work,” he said in a recent email.
Conrad pointed out how even the “AI superstars” that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is hiring for “eye-popping salaries” still must have a strong understanding of calculus and higher-level mathematical concepts.
“Those same core skills resting on algebra, functions, and geometry also underlie real understanding in data science and quantum computing, as well as work in many parts of science and economics, pursued for college degrees and beyond,” he said.
“Anyone seeking a quantitative career who subordinates their understanding of core high school math concepts to a machine will be replaced by a machine,” he told The Fix.
For his work, the American Academy of Sciences and Letters awarded him the Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement last fall. The prize recognizes professors for “outstanding scholarly excellence and courage.”
Conrad has been an “important voice for maintaining rigor in math education, so students at every achievement level will have the opportunity to reach their full potential,” the academy’s website states.
MORE: Math professors: Incoming students can’t even add fractions, subtract
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A student works on math homework; wk1003mike/Shutterstock, Rod Searcey/Stanford University
