Anyone know anything about accelerated maths?

[whatatip]

My daughter has just started a new school, (year 3), where they are using this program. I know a little about it, but feel quite dubious that it is stretching her.
It seems a little gimmicky, American, overly automated and I just can't shake this very uneasy, cynical feeling I have.

Does anyone have any experience or opinions? I think the school may be one of the first to have introduced it, so I may be a lone voice.

I would be very wary of a new American math program. America is hardly known for the quality of its math education - quite the contrary. I believe that for math, US pupils ranked 25th out of 34 countries in a recent report. If your school wants to try an international program, why aren't they using Singapore math, or something similar, ie, internationally reputable?

Exactly my gut instincts debeauvoir.

Sounds like it's a parallel to Accelerated Reading, which also comes from the US. In that, children are assessed for ability, then given books to choose from within that level. Once they've read the book, they do a computerised test to test comprehension. Points are awarded dependent on test results and them prizes sometimes too.

I'd imagine for maths they get given ability appropriate work, which then leads to a computerised test if it's similar. Can't see much wrong with that so long as it's backed up in class.