The curriculum is shaping up to be a battlefield of education policies in this election with concerns about declining literacy and numeracy rates across New Zealand.  

New Zealand is not the only country that's having a look at maths and the way it's taught, in an article in the Atlantic Dr Brian Conrad, Stanford mathematics professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, critiqued the teaching of maths in the state of California. 

He wrote that California is promoting an approach to maths instruction that's likely to reduce opportunities for disadvantaged students, the opposite of what they’re trying to achieve. 

He joined Kerre Woodham to discuss the situation. 

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