First, the students were completely untracked, with everyone taking algebra as their first course, not just the higher attaining students. Second, instead of teaching a series of methods, such as factoring polynomials or solving inequalities, the school organized the curriculum around larger themes, such as "What is a linear function?" The students learned to make use of different kinds of representation, words, diagrams, tables symbols, objects, and graphs. They worked together in mixed ability groups, with higher attainers collaborating with lower performers, and they were expected and encouraged to explain their work to one another.
eoeuoeu oepup on 14 Jun 09American children have it easier than most other children in the world, including the supposedly lazy Europeans. They have one of the shortest school years anywhere, a mere 180 days compared with an average of 195 for OECD countries and more than 200 for East Asian countries. German children spend 20 more days in school than American ones, and South Koreans over a month more. Over 12 years, a 15-day deficit means American children lose out on 180 days of school, equivalent to an entire year. American children also have one of the shortest school days, six-and-a-half hours, adding up to 32 hours a week. By contrast, the school week is 37 hours in Luxembourg, 44 in Belgium, 53 in Denmark and 60 in Sweden. On top of that, American children do only about an hour's-worth of homework a day, a figure that stuns the Japanese and Chinese.
