Show Me Institute Showing Signs of Getting It

James Shul, Show Me's newest Education Policy Analyst, had conversations with teachers on both sides of the state and discovered that they were not happy with the Common Core Standards being rolled out across the state. (read article here)

Both were unhappy about the relentless testing associated with the standards, and that part hasn't even fully come into play yet.

At a recent Rockwood District public meeting Chief Financial Officer Tim Rooney reported that the district expects to spend $900,000 to retrain staff over the next two years to comply with Common Core. That's almost a million dollars to radically change the way the teachers, in a district that has very good stats compared to the state, teach. When it comes to Common Core the old adage, if it ain't broke don't fix it, doesn't apply.

Confounding this statement was an observation by one parent that the middle school had already begun teaching Common Core math through the use of new text books and no training was required. So what will we be paying close to a million dollars for? How to administer on-line assessments?

For Rockwood, the change in math standards has been a welcomed improvement. For years the district stuck with the Everyday Math program which is so bad at teaching math that it has been banned in two states. The majority of teachers hated it. Some even secretly refused to teach it. Students went home crying about math and Kumon Centers made a lot of money tutoring students in math. It is just a shame that it took something as dramatic as nationally imposed standards to move this district.

Before the Rockwood parents throw a party, they should realize the trade off Mr. Shuls pointed out in his article, "the math standards eliminate Algebra I in the eighth grade." One step forward, two steps back.

Show Me acknowledged the relative secrecy under which Common Core was introduced in the state. Since their focus is finance, they also reported the millions of dollars committed by the State School Board to adopt Common Core without public approval. Show Me is looking for comments or experiences with Common Core. Please be sure to share your thoughts with them.

Common Core, Lattice Math Problems and a Parent's Frustration

Just wait until you see the Math lattice problem.

I got a chuckle when I read this from e cards.  How many of you remember word problems in Math that didn't seem to make sense?

A blog on educational matters, Learning in Maine, had an article extolling Common Core math standards.  The readers took exception to some of the writer's praises about Common Core's strengths (according to the writer) in an extraordinary and thoughtful manner.  This comment on how math works, or doesn't, is worth pondering:

As a parent with a minor in Biology and dad who works remotely as an IT Security Consultant (and who sees many Asians blow our kids out of the water when it comes to mastering computer programming which uses not only math but "logic"). Both of us cannot comprehend Everyday Math.

I can't help my son with his 6th grade homework because I do not understand half of it and neither does my husband.

We learned math the old school way and are very proficient ~ I have even passed college level Calculus 2 and Statistics.

My son is in 6th grade and I fear that he has never learned the basics. We are going to talk to the Principal of my son's school and beg for him to learn "Singapore Math". We pay enough in our property taxes and they should help us out here.

Everyday math is fine if you want a nation of liberal arts degrees rather than science, computers and engineers.

Pulling up internet resources about "Everyday Math", it looks as if lattices are taught in solving multiplication problems.  If this is the way students are assessed on the Common Core assessments, the reader's plea to her principal is useless. If the student doesn't understand the process of a problem, the student will fail.  If the student fails, the teacher's accountability rating goes down.  What teacher wants to teach math problems in a manner that will affect his/her job?  

If "Singapore Math" is not the consortia's assessment decision for your state, it's a safe bet your local school district won't teach it, even if the taxpayers demand it.  Is this really the best way to teach math to children?  This is the lattice method for the multiplication problem 567 x 432.  And you thought word problems were bad?

It's clear as mud to me.