Libby Nelson argues in favor of young, American math students in a response to New York Times writer, Nicholas Kristof’s recent critical piece. Kristof’s article centers on recent results from the international math test referred to as the TIMSS, which showed American eighth-grade students could not complete math problems correctly solved by students from many underdeveloped nations. Nelson argues that while Kristof’s observations were true, American students, overall, performed well on the TIMSS test. She also sheds light on popular international mathematics testing programs in order to expose the complicated nature of these rubrics and their results.
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