Should Texas' State Board of Education have rubberstamped McGraw's 3rd grade Everyday Math because the state textbook review panel okayed it?
State review panels do not always get it right. That panel was supposed to find factual errors, yet it missed 89 of them in MACMILLAN'S 3rd GRADE TEXAS MATHEMATICS
in this submission – by far the worst editing we have seen in 22 Math programs over three Texas adoptions. Here are samples.
After we filed our list, Macmillan admitted them in writing to the Texas Education Agency (we have documentation) and promised corrections in
its final 3rd grade Texas edition. But just as many factual errors may still remain uncorrected in other grade levels of this program that we
lacked time to check. For identification purposes outside Texas, where it would not be Texas Mathematics, its authors are Altieri, Balka, Day, Gonsalves, Grace, Krulik, et al.
Q: "Is the sum of the lift height and vertical drop greater than or less than the vertical drop?"
A: "less than"
– p. 385, "Real-World Math," no. 3,Student and Teacher's Editions
wrong sum
This answer claims that the sum of two addends is less than one of the addends. Change "less than" in this answer to "greater than."
"Divide by 0 and 1"
"I will … divide by 0 and 1."
– p. 262, page title and "MAIN IDEA"
"Divide by 0 and 1"
– p. 262, bottom margin, "Reteach (p. 43)," top, Teacher's Edition
"Divide by 0 and 1"
– p. 262, bottom margin, "Skills Practice (p. 44)," top, Teacher's Edition
Q: "Solve. Write a number sentence to show each quotient. … Forty thousand ÷ 0."
A: "40,000 ÷ 0 = 0"
– p. 263, bottom margin, "Enrich (p. 47)," no. 2, Teacher's Edition
Q: "Solve. Write a number sentence to show each quotient. … Number of legs on five chickens divided by the number of legs on five snakes."
A: "10 ÷ 0 = 0"
– p. 263, bottom margin, "Enrich (p. 47)," no. 6, Teacher's Edition
Q: "Solve. Write a number sentence to show each quotient. … Number of flat sides on one number cube divided by the number of flat sides on a rubber ball."
A: "6 ÷ 0 = 0"
– p. 263, bottom margin, "Enrich (p. 47)," no. 8, Teacher's Edition
"Divide by 0 and 1"
Q: "6 ÷ 0 = ____"
A: "0"
Q: "2 ÷ 0 = ____"
A: "0"
– p. 263, bottom margin, "Homework Practice (p. 45)," top and no. 2 and 8, Teacher's Edition
wrong operation
P. 262, bottom, admits that "You cannot divide by 0."
Q: "A sidewalk surrounds a rectangular park. What is the total length of the sidewalk?"
[Graphic shows a rectangle 180 yards by 120 yards.]
A: "400 yards"
– p. 482, no. 21, Student and Teacher's Editions
wrong perimeter
Change "400 yards" in this answer to "600 yards."
Q: "The frame is 10 inches by 12 inches. If the frame is 2 inches wide all around, what is the area of the painting?"
A: "80 square inches"
– p. 378B, bottom right, "Problem Solving (p. 36)," no. 6, Teacher's Edition
wrong area
Change "80 square inches" in this answer to "48 square inches." The painting is 6 inches x 8 inches. Each side of the painting is 4 inches less than the corresponding width or length of the frame.
Q: "How many cubic units does the figure hold?"
[Graphic shows a 4 x 4 x 4 box.]
A: "30 cubic units of sand"
– p. 431, upper right margin, "ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES," no. 1, Teacher's Edition
wrong volume
Change "30 cubic units of sand" in this answer to "64 cubic units of sand." 4 x 4 x 4 = 64
Q: "Justin is going to a baseball game with 8 other boys. The tickets cost $5. How much will it cost for all 8 boys to watch the game?"
A: "$40"
– p. 204, bottom margin, "Skills Practice (p. 29)," no. 27, Teacher's Edition
wrong totals
The total number of boys in this group is 9, not 8; and the total cost is $45, not $40.
wrong estimate
Change "100" in this answer to "700." 200 + 500 = 700
Q: "Estimate each sum using rounding. … 239 + 478"
A: "100"
– p. 70, bottom margin, "Skills Practice (p. 19)," no. 4, Teacher's Edition
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