Mathematics Made Easy

By Edwin M. Reingold

To many Americans, Japanese math students seem like computer-brained superhumans who effortlessly outscore their U.S. counterparts. The image may be exaggerated, but the challenge is real. So a growing number of American schools are adopting the latest Japanese import: Kumon Mathamatex, a math- teaching method developed by educator Toru Kumon to improve his own child's performance.

Unlike Japan's notorious juku cram schools, which concentrate on passing exams, the Kumon system seeks to increase speed and accuracy in calculation. Students compete not with others but with themselves, constantly striving to better their own scores. A student is given a series of graduated work sheets containing math problems and must score 100% on each within a prescribed time period, usually 15 to 30 minutes, before moving on to the next set. The emphasis is on learning and developing speed in computational skills rather than in mathematical theory. Although intended as a supplement to regular math curriculums, the 4,400 work sheets can take students from simple arithmetic through calculus at their own pace.

The method, developed in 1958, has had considerable success in Japan. Last year Kumon sent an old friend, retired auto dealer Takayoshi Sogo, to try to sell the program to American schools. So far, 196 in the South and Southwest have taken the offer. "I didn't see any reason why this system wouldn't work in America," says Sogo. "We have merely taken universal techniques and applied them to give each student the self-confidence to tackle his regular math courses."

The first U.S. school to try the system was Alabama's Sumiton Elementary. "One of the first things our teachers noticed," says vice principal Ilene Black, "was the change in attitude of the students. The parents are very positive; they love the fact that their children like it; they don't have to make them do their homework." John Aston, headmaster at the Undercroft Montessori School in Tulsa marvels that "some of our students are already performing at a masterful level" after less than one year.

Each morning at 8:15, students at the Walcott School, located near the New Mexico border in the Texas panhandle, hunch over their desks and busily scribble on their work sheets. There is absolute silence. Keith Meiwes, a fourth-grader who was once intimidated by math, is now doing seventh- and eighth-grade classwork. Melissa Meyer and Amy Perrin also credit Kumon with their new success in math. "This program has helped to give them self- confidence, a better self-image and motivation," says principal Bill McLaughlin. Nonetheless, Walcott teacher Cathy Fury finds most students still need aid: "It has helped the poorer students most."

Although teachers who have used Kumon are generally enthusiastic about the results, a few question the value of the repetitious system, with its heavy emphasis on the mechanics of math. Some are unconvinced that test-score increases are attributable to Kumon, while others object to the $45-a-pupil annual cost. Shirley Frye, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, takes a balanced view. "Of course there is no panacea for teaching math," she says. "We are looking for all of the methods that will help make students successful." Kumon certainly seems to be one of them.