The next great national export -- Singapore math?

It's something students here have been drilled with for years, but now, there's a trend taking place overseas -- elementary schools and students in America have started adopting what they call "Singapore Math" in their classrooms.

The teaching method is based on a series of textbooks called "Math in Focus: The Singapore Approach", which according to the Marshall Cavendish Publishing Group (formerly Times Publishing): "Brings to U.S. classrooms Singapore’s top-ranking, research-based approach to teaching mathematics in grades K–5," and also "Singapore’s method to attain outstanding math achievement." K-5 is the approximate equivalent of Singapore's Primary 3 schooling.

It started with public schools in Kentucky's Lexington city, but has picked up popularity in Seattle schools as well. So far, the new math teaching methods are a success, and although standardized test results are not available yet, teachers say it all looks very promising. "I know I'm teaching math at a much higher level now than I ever taught it before, and the students are grasping it more quickly," K-5 teacher Polly Anna Cox said to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Seattle Times editorial columnist Bruce Ramsey thinks that the secret of one elementary school in Seattle -- Schmitz Park Elementary, the only school in the West Seattle district that has adopted the Singapore method -- is Singapore Math. According to Ramsey, test results are encouraging -- Schmitz Park elementary students have a much higher passing percentage than the district-wide average. Parents are highly supportive as well. "Schmitz Park's curriculum is more like the math parents remember. They came out big for Math Night a few weeks ago [and] their PTA pays for the Singapore books," he writes.

So, the moral of the story is, don't take what you already have for granted -- people are paying good money to learn what you did. Next up, Phua Chu Kang to teach "English as it should not be spoken" to American school kids?