In an op-ed in the Philadephia Inquirer yesterday, Katharine Beals writes about how “reform” (constructivist) curricula like TERC’s “Investigations” serve children with autism especially poorly:
Students on the autism spectrum, however much they vary, share several basic traits. They don’t perform well in unsupervised groups of peers. Many have trouble putting words together, and nearly all struggle with verbal comprehension to some extent.
To make progress socially, linguistically, and academically, these children require structure; direct instruction; an incremental, step-by-step curriculum; and specific, well-defined tasks. Indeed, these are the ingredients of the most promising and commonly used autism therapies.
Reform math gives them the exact opposite. Instead of direct, structured instruction by teachers (for example, on how to add large numbers), it offers child-centered learning through incidental discovery (for example, of ad hoc ways to add particular numbers). Instead of a curriculum organized incrementally around math concepts (such as borrowing from the tens place), it favors a sequence of themes (“Sticker problems,” “How many pockets?”).
