(With this post I inaugurate a series of occasional items tagged “quick takes,” in which I’ll link to and offer short reaction to events or documents that touch on my areas of interest, though possibly not directly enough to permit full commentary at an acceptable level of quality.)

There’s more common sense about K12 math instruction in this fascinating dialogue posted at Education Next than in the math sections of the recent report on STEM education by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The PCAST report correctly identifies poor math preparation as a key barrier to retaining college students in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, but then utterly fails to reference or take a position on any of the ongoing debate over math standards. It simply blandly recommends a “national experiment” in effective math instruction. On the other hand, Education Next — apparently some kind of collaboration between Stanford and the Harvard Kennedy School — appears to be a website worth watching, and I will.