CHAPTER 9: Comparing Mathematics Teaching in the United States, China, and Germany

Internationally, nations spend more than roughly $230 billion in mathematics education in schools. Recent research findings cite that poor mathematics skills limit individuals’ access to better paying and more rewarding jobs (OECD, 2013). Further, the same data set indicated that regardless of the country, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds scored significantly lower than students from more economically privileged homes.

In the United States, research continues to cite a need for educational leaders to continue to work to improve mathematics teaching and learning in classrooms (OECD, 2013; U.S. Department of Education, 2008). Mathematics education leaders continue to spearhead various standards and curriculum reforms in an effort to support increases in student achievement. Assessments in the international Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) continue to show improvements that the United States is making in mathematics achievement (OECD, 2013) on PISA, which examines high school students, and the TIMSS study, which studies children in grade 4 (ages 9–10) and grade 8 (ages 13–14). However, the data from both large-scale assessments clearly indicate that American students still underperform when compared to other developed countries (OECD, 2013; Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Arora, 2012).