Mathematics Professor David Klein (California State University, Northridge) presented an editorial in Am. J. Phys., Vol. 75, No. 2, February 2007, titled “School math books, nonsense, and the National Science Foundation.” As the Principal Investigator and Project Director for System-wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE), the NSF comprehensive Math and Science Partnership (MSP) project mentioned in his editorial, I feel obliged to correct at least some of Professor Klein’s misrepresentations.
Professor Klein cites SCALE as an example of a multimillion dollar grant awarded by NSF to distribute “‘fuzzy math’ programs” to schools. Professor Klein’s assertion is a misrepresentation of the intent of the NSF MSP program and is false and misleading with respect to the SCALE MSP work.
First, some background. SCALE is a partnership of the major urban school districts in Denver, Madison (WI), Providence (RI), and Los Angeles, together with UW—Madison, California State University, Dominguez...
