David Staples - A Reply
David Staples replied to my blog which was a bit of a surprise because, no offence to myself, I wouldn't have. He breaks his comment into five different points. Point 1 states that my fight is with cognitive scientists and math profs, not him. He continues by stating that the science is settled here for now and I'm getting it wrong. Cognitive scientists are clear that fluency in basic arithmetic is a pre-condition to deeper understanding in math, to the ability to move on [to] do more complex math problems. I must admit I had to reread my blog to understand what he was trying to say. After all, I thought I made it clear that I didn't know what made some students good at math and others not. However, after a reread, I realized that he's doubling down on his hubris by claiming that I may not know but he does . In short, it's "fluency in basic arithmetic." For support, I needed to go down to point 5, where he states that my "own research is unimpres...