the National Research Council.
Of the familiar "three R's," reading and writing have aroused the most concern in today's debates over school re- form. Yet "numeracy" is no less important than literacy, notes the U.S. National Re- search Council (NRC).
"No longer just the language of science, mathematics now contributes in direct and fun- damental ways to business, fi-nance, health, and defense."
Yet, from elementary schools to universities, today's dismal mathematics...