I'll bet every school who uses reform programs like Investigations has a variation of the same theme: where's the traditional computation? It IS in there but not in the traditional drill and kill sense. Frankly, I'd prefer have kids be able to make sense of what they're doing rather than just memorizing a set of algorithms that make no sense. The former gives them a set of skills that they can use; the latter a set of skills that are less and less used out in the real world, what with calculators, spreadsheets, etc. Most of the standardized tests we now use assume calculator use (on most sections, anyway) so this lessens the need to do drill overkill. Sure, kids need to be able to know their basic facts but are we looking just for speed or for fluency with using them? How is this issue playing out in your school system?
