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Just an FYI: Common Core is not a Federal mandate and probably never will be.
That is correct. States which don't adopt it just aren't eligible for Race To The Top money or grants from the Gates Foundation (among others). Other than that it's not a mandate.
Forty-eight states came together to discuss a new strategy, which led to what is now referred to as Common Core. Forty-three states have so far voluntarily adopted Common Core, including the Republican held South (minus Texas and Oklahoma).
I just realized that I missed this part. Yes, currently it is voluntary. That is, if you want state politicians to ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars that is attached to its adoption. We all know there is no way that most are going to say no to that. CC was adopted in my state NOT because a cohort of education professionals sat down and examined it and determined that it was in the best interests of students. No, a group of politicians were given a presentation by its proponents (other politicos and companies with vested interests) and a 300 million dollar carrot. That's why it was adopted in my state.
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How Common Core is implemented, how it is taught, and how the curriculum is developed is currently up to each individual state.
Big deal. If it's poorly sequenced, individual development by the states isn't going to help. Any by the way, your statement of -
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A viral "example problem" hit the Internet recently where, the father of the student, who is an engineer, claims that even he could not figure out how to solve the problem. First off, this is pure boloney.
is baloney. That example is one of many, many examples of the issues with CC out there. You think an entire nation of is going to go off one example? The people leading this dissent are educated people. People with the educational background to understand that this is an inefficient way to teach mathematics and have the political push to be able to ruffle the right feathers. In the past, usually it was only the poor getting screwed. Now they are expanding it and middle and upperclass constituents with a voice who are not letting it slip by.
And don't forget the textbook companies. All the previous textbooks have been declared obsolete. This has been a financial windfall for the publishing. My district purchased CC aligned workbooks (Springboard) that were so awful, that every single math teacher that I know figures out the bare minimum that they must use it and not get in trouble. In a district of over 300,000 students - not all, of course, using this particular book, but quite a few - using a consumable book that costs $18 per student, so much money has been wasted. Especially when you have specialty trained teachers who don't need it. And someone in my district got a kickback.
There are three groups who support this: Politicians, the pie-in-the-sky PhD academics who wrote the standards - but don't really understand the dynamic of different K-12 classrooms and don't care, textbook publishers, and hangers-on who are marching in lockstep in order to further their own careers.
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Just an FYI: Common Core is not a Federal mandate and probably never will be.
Are you kidding me? When the feds want something, history shows us that they withhold more and more money until the states comply.
In short, slacking off and rubber-stamping will no longer be permitted. Brain power is being tested.
Of course there is a big backlash.
Teacher, for years, have been crying out for tougher standards. This is not tougher standards. This is a clusterflub labeled as "tougher standards". If a classroom teacher (real experts) calls it such, he or she is called lazy or inept. If an educated parent calls it such, he or she is accused of "special snowflake" syndrome.
Forty-eight states came together to discuss a new strategy, which led to what is now referred to as Common Core. Forty-three states have so far voluntarily adopted Common Core, including the Republican held South (minus Texas and Oklahoma). How Common Core is implemented, how it is taught, and how the curriculum is developed is currently up to each individual state.
Just an FYI: Common Core is not a Federal mandate and probably never will be.
The Board of Governors was brought on board AFTER CC was done.
The "voluntary" part was more coerced.
You see if they didn't go with CC then they had to meet the NCLB mandate of 100% students passing their state tests in 2014.
Not one state in the nation would have met that goal.
And those states that didn't go with CC but got waivers also had to agree to some CC rules.
Texas is one state that chose not to go with CC.
So Texas rewrote their curriculum (TEKS) which goes into effect this coming school year along with a new test.
And golly gee whiz..doesn't the new TEKS line up exactly with CC !
And teachers will be held accountable for student failures under TEKS, just like CC.
So even those states that got waivers didn't get off scott free.
And with the ACT and SAT lining up with CC every state will end up teaching to the same CC curriculum.
Big business won. Achieve, Inc. is the author of Common Core.
In short, slacking off and rubber-stamping will no longer be permitted. Brain power is being tested.
Of course there is a big backlash.
This.
Notice that most of the complaints against CC are politically-motivated or based on obscure policy minutia like what board of directors voted when.
I guess it's easier and more fun to go picket the courthouse and spend hours complaining online than sit down with your kid and help them learn.
I've read plenty of example CC math problems. They are easy to solve for someone with a STEM background, and seem to me--as a decently-educated layperson--to be great ways for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of mathematics. Any engineer who couldn't solve a CC math problem should be ashamed of themselves, not going around proudly tweeting about what an idiot they are.
Notice that most of the complaints against CC are politically-motivated or based on obscure policy minutia like what board of directors voted when.
I guess it's easier and more fun to go picket the courthouse and spend hours complaining online than sit down with your kid and help them learn.
I've read plenty of example CC math problems. They are easy to solve for someone with a STEM background, and seem to me--as a decently-educated layperson--to be great ways for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of mathematics. Any engineer who couldn't solve a CC math problem should be ashamed of themselves, not going around proudly tweeting about what an idiot they are.
The first time I saw algebra tiles and was asked what it represented I was at a loss for words.
It took me a few minutes to figure out the big block with x on both sides represented x^2.
I did figure it out though and thought..what a waste. Algebra is supposed to be abstract and here we have gone and created concrete manipulatives so that one CAN "touch" x now.
I think we're dumbing down the math.
Instead of having students solve linear algebra problems and graph to find the answers, we give them the graph and ask them for points (x intercepts, y intercept) which you can find on the graph with no calculations necessary.
But then they go on to college where you do have to figure out those points computationally.
To raise the bar I would eliminate multiple choice from Math tests.
I would also eliminate manipulative pictures and end result graphs.
Manipulatives is supposed to be a teaching method..a "means" to the end so why are we testing it on these state tests if the students should be past that stage by the end of the school year ?
Algebra tiles have been around a long time. Someone got the bright idea that if young children, who by and large are concrete thinkers, need them for some applications then everyone must need them. I was taught to use them and when I did use them, confused the kids (I know, it's just because I am a bad teacher ). When I showed them the concept algebraically, they were annoyed that I didn't show the algebra in the first place. They understood the algebra. Eventually, I could have got them to understand the the algebra tiles, but it would have been much more time consuming and would have not had any transferable application in the real or math world. It's a cute little diversion if you have the time to take a detour and an extremely difficult way to teach a relatively easy concept.
Although CC doesn't specifically dictate the use of algebra tiles, it does have have us using equally confusing methods such as the one in the aforementioned post.
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Any engineer who couldn't solve a CC math problem should be ashamed of themselves, not going around proudly tweeting about what an idiot they are.
It should have been a very easy subtraction problem to solve using the standard subtraction algorithm - you know...the one that we all were taught to use. The one that even my developmentally disabled brother can understand and use. There are many algorithms that can be used to subtract, but the one we were all taught was standardized because it was the fastest and easiest one to use. Using convoluted, backwards skip-counting methods to teach subtraction is part and parcel with CC and accompanying standardized testing.
The engineer in the post is able to do the subtraction, and so was his son, btw. It was the method that was used to teach it that was being questioned. Oh, wait a minute. We are not allow to question, are we. Especially the people who have been specifically trained to teach.
There's quite a few things wrong in my opinion. While the standards might not be so bad, the implementation and the methods/teaching concepts have sucked. Here's a few things that bother me
- the high stakes tests that come with it. Because of the tests, schools have to use similar curriculum so the test will look familiar. Unfortunately, the methods used in the curriculum are awful and make very little sense. If an engineer or investment banker can't help his own kid with third grade math, then something is wrong.
- the implementation has been awful. We aren't starting in first grade, we're starting in every grade. So the fourth grader who wasn't prepared with CC aligned teaching in second and third grade is now supposed to jump into the CC method and be successful at it.
- thinking out of the box is great, but you still need basics. What's wrong with tried and true methods?
- it's top down, sideways, inside out, and VERY rushed. My third grader started division one Monday and by Wednesday he was doing fractions (in a weird way too, I might add). There is no more teaching to mastery and basic math facts are for the birds.
- the driving forces behind CC and education reform have little to no experience in the classroom. It deeply disturbs me that these people have anything to do with educational decisions. In the mean time, teachers who know what works are being ignored.
- It's another thing being used to weigh down successful public schools. In my state, a few charter school principals have pretty much admitted that Common Core will let everyone know about the "crisis in middle class school systems". Translation: Now that we've exploited the poor in urban areas, we're moving onto the middle class where the rushed and convoluted CC aligned tests will "prove" that previously successful middle class districts are also failing and they will have no choice but to close the public school and re-open as a charter.
God forbid that current American mediocrity, still dressed up as American exceptionalism because that's what is used to be, should be exposed.
Resist the enemy! Big government! Look over there!
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). When I showed them the concept algebraically, they were annoyed that I didn't show the algebra in the first place. They understood the algebra. Eventually, I could have got them to understand the the algebra tiles, but it would have been much more time consuming and would have not had any transferable application in the real or math world. It's a cute little diversion if you have the time to take a detour and an extremely difficult way to teach a relatively easy concept. 
