The Ministry of Education in Singapore is releasing a new book this month that summarizes the thinking behind the model method for teaching math.The approach has drawn interest from many comers of the world thanks to the country's top performance on international exams.Last night, education officials and researchers from the US and Singapore highlighted some key differences between the two systems. Singapore's method is highly visual and explores fewer topics, but in greater depth.While Singapore's text books have an average of 34 lessons with 15 pages of explanation for each, much bulkier texts in the US include an average of 157 lessons, with about four pages of explanation per lesson.There arc some more surprising differences. Professional development is intensive for all teachers in Singapore, but strangely about half of the elementary teachers do not have university degrees.That is certain to change, though, as education standards for entering teachers are increasing, said Madame Low, the director of curriculum, planning and development with Singapore's Ministry of Education." Starting salaries for math teachers match public sector accountants or engineers.Teachers are treated as professionals," added Madame Low. Mentoring programs for new teachers in Singapore last five years! Teacher evaluations there are extremely comprehensive, and teachers who succeed receive bonuses worth one to three months of salary.Grades one and two have smaller class sizes--only 30 students.Students are taught in English, not their native tongue.Many are bilingual or trilingual. People often ask, how applicable is a successful model in Singapore to the more diverse and much larger US? I'm also interested in the practical challenges.Given that books in the US are written with state standards and assessments in mind, matching them up with another country's approach might be tough.        What do you think? How applicable is a successful model in Singapore to the US? The book released by the Ministry of Education in Singapore is about   _  .
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