Richard O'Lander - The new math a look back

Today there is a great outcry from parents, teachers, business people, politicians and others about the low academic performance of many of our high school graduates. This is especially true when it comes to mathematics. ``How will we compete with the Japanese and German's?'' is the new rallying cry. This is not the first time such a concern has been raised. The 1950's and 1960's were a time of great curriculum reform in the pre-college mathematics. The reform movement was imitated in part by the supposed ``technological gap'' between the United States and the Soviet Union. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the basic premise behind the ``New Math'', as well as its successes and failures.