Table of Content

1. Math Discovery was the Significant Scientific Achievement of 2006
2. AMC 10/12 Competitions and Practice Events
3. California Math League Contests
4. CTY and Its Partners Launched Cogito.org
5. Summer 2007 Math Camps Accepting Applications
6. AMC 8 Results Announced
7. NCTM Released Curriculum Focal Points for Mathematics
8. Comparison of Chinese and American Math Teachers

1. Math Discovery was the Significant Scientific Achievement of 2006

The Science Magazine chose Perelman's solution to the Poincaré Conjecture as the Significant Scientific Achievement of 2006, the first time ever awarded in the area of mathematics. Poincaré Conjecture is a 100-year-old mathematical problem in the field of topology.  It is one of the seven Millennium Problems with a $1 million cash award offered by the Clay Mathematics Institute.  Russian Mathematician Grigory Perelman solved the problem in 2002 by posting his solutions in a series of papers on the Internet.  The original solution was about 50 pages long.  It took mathematicians around the world four years and 500+ pages of proofs to verify that Mr. Perelman indeed solved the problem.  Perelman was awarded the 2006 Fields Medal, the equivalent of Nobel Prize in mathematics.  However, he declined to accept the award to preserve his mathematical integrity.  To learn more: Significant Scientific Achievement of 2006.

2. FREE AMC 10/12 Competitions

Orange County Math Circle, sponsored by Art of Problem Solving Foundation and Avid Academy for Gifted Youth, will host AMC 10/12 competitions on two separate dates in February, 2007 at Concordia University, Irvine, CA:

Date:         Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Time:        6:30 - 8:00 PM, AMC 10/12 A
Location:  Concordia University, Irvine,  Library Art Building, Room 123

Date:         Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Time:        6:30 - 8:00 PM, AMC 10/12 B
Location:  Concordia University, Irvine,  Library Art Building, Room 123

Advanced registration is required to attend the events.  Please click on a link above to learn more on qualification and registration information.  Students who score a minimum of 120 out of 150 on AMC 10 or 100 out of 150 on AMC 12 will advance to AIME (American Invitational Mathematical Exam) in March. 

To help students prepare for the two exams, Avid Academy will offer two free practice tests and solution discussions on the following dates at Concordia University, Irvine, CA.  Space is limited to 30 students.  Please RSVP at info@avidacademy.com:

• Saturday, January 13, 2007, 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM: AMC 10 Practice Exam and Solution Discussions.  RSVP at info@avidacademy.com by January 10, 2007
• Saturday, January 20, 2007, 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM: AMC 12 Practice Exam and Solution Discussions.  RSVP at info@avidacademy.com by January 17, 2007

3. FREE California Math League Contests (Grades 6-8)

Through a special arrangement with California Math League, Avid Academy will sponsor 15 Orange County teams in grades 6-8 to participate in the 2007 California Math League contests. 

Date:         Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Time:        5:30 - 6:30 PM Grade 6
                 6:30 - 7:30 PM Grade 7
                 7:30 - 8:30 PM Grade 8
Location:  Concordia University, Irvine, CA,  Library Art Building, Room 123

For information on qualification, team composition, contest rules and registration, please visit 2007 California Math League Contest.

Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) recently launched www.cogito.org, an online community for academically talented students.  Initially funded by the John Templeton Foundation, the site provides news, information, and an online community for talented math and science students.  Students who are interested in a specific field of math and science can visit one of the Cogito channels for interviews, news and views, websites and tools, and list programs related to the channel.  A portion of the site is reserved for members nominated by CTY and its partners.  CTY invites all of its SET (Study of Exceptional Talents) members to join Cogito.

Two elite national math summer camps are accepting applications now:

• MathPath: MathPath is for talented math students in grades 7 - 9.  The camp director, Dr. George Thomas, was one of the founders of the prestigious USA/Canada Math Camp.  MathPath 2007 will be held from July 1 to July 29 on the campus of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO.  I visited the camp and the campus two years ago and found it a great place for learning advanced math problem solving.  The 10-question qualifying quiz for the 2007 camp is now available on its website for downloading.  We recommend the camp for students who advance to the MATHCOUNTS State competition.
• AwesomeMath: AwesomeMath is for talented math students in grades 7 - 11.  The camp director, Dr. Titu Andreescu, is the former Director of the USA Math Olympiad Team.   It will be held from July 16 to August 6 on the campus of University of Texas, Dallas, TX.  The 2007 camp brochure is available on its website.  The early registration deadline is February 12, 2007 for students who take the the Admission Tests between February 2-12.  We recommend the camp for students who advance to AIME.

Avid Academy for Gifted Youth will host 2007 Orange County Math Olympiad Summer Camp for students in grades 4 - 11 on the following dates following the same format and design of our successful 2006 summer camps:

• Session A: July 9 - July 20, 2007
• Session B: July 23 - August 3, 2007

Details of the program will be available by January 31, 2007.  For last year's program, please visit: 2006 Orange County Math Olympiad Summer Camp.

The results of 2006 AMC 8 contests were released in December.  There were 2,235 schools and 147,210 students who participated in the competition.  The  national average score is 10.14 out of 25.  The California average score is 10.76 with 13,065 participants.  Seven Southern California students received perfect scores:

• Andrew Liao, Solana Beach
• Hyunhwa Kim, Los Angeles
• David Tang Quan, Los Angeles
• Stephen Chen, La Jolla
• Jung Hun Koh, South Pasadena
• Daniel Pyon, South Pasadena
• Ivan Pyzow, South Pasadena
• Alexander Pusey, San Juan Capistrano

The following schools from Southern California made the National Honor Rolls:

• Carmel Valley Middle School, San Diego
• Chadwick School, Palos Verdes Peninsula

• Earl Warren Middle School, Solana Beach

• Harvard Westlake School, Los Angeles
• Muirlands Middle School, La Jolla
• Palos Verdes Intermediate, Palos Verdes Peninsula
• South Pasadena Middle School, South Pasadena
• St. Margaret's Episcopal School, San Juan Capistrano

A partial list of Orange County students who received national honors is listed here: Orange County AMC 8 National Honors students.

In 1989 the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) introduced its math curriculum guidelines.  Consequently, several "Reform Math" textbooks, such as Everyday Math, were published.  These textbooks de-emphasize on arithmetic drills and practices and prefer the use of manipulative to teach math concepts.  Everyday Math textbook series were adopted by many school districts around the country, but received different reviews from experts in the field.

In December 2006, NCTM released its new standards named Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through grades 8 mathematics in an attempt to solve the "mile wide and inch deep" problem in current math curriculum.  According to NCTM, "The Curriculum Focal Points are the most important mathematical topics for each grade levels.  They comprise related ideas, concepts, skills, and procedures that form the foundation for understanding and lasting learning".  Here is a Washington Post article on the new standards and the reaction from Northwest Progressive Institute: Back to Basics in math.

I recently finished reading a book titled Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics: Teacher's Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics in China and the United States by Liping Ma, a Chinese-American scholar. A book review is available on the NCTM website.  One interesting finding is that Chinese teachers usually teach only mathematics while American teachers usually teach multiple subjects in elementary school.  Consequently, Chinese teachers spent more time on lesson planning, collaboration, and self-improvement.  On average, Chinese teachers also have more solid understanding of math concepts and principles.

A follow up study by Columbia University Teachers College Professor Stephen Peverly and his colleagues found that while American teachers know more about theories of teaching, Chinese teachers can do the math.  To improve mathematics education in the United States, the researchers concluded that the teacher preparation programs and teacher in-service training should focus more on increasing understanding of mathematics. 

On the other hand, the Columbia researchers also identified the weakness in Chinese math education: "Chinese teachers were effective in providing instruction based on how well they knew the subject matter, their limited understanding of underlying psychological aspects of learning could be problematic.  This limitation could possibly lead to problems related to student motivation, spontaneity, and creativity among other things."

One of our missions at Avid Academy for Gifted Youth is to provide a bridge that will link the best of East and West math education and help talented students reach their full potentials. We are pleased that our unique approach to gifted education and math problem solving was reaffirmed by the research communities.