This is an excellent discussion of the Common Core standards that’s chock-full of facts, which is not always the strong point of Common Core discussions.
As a parent with four children in our public schools and both my husband and I being math tutors or having tutored in the past, we have seen first-hand the struggles children are having with the standards. So, I decided to read the math standards for myself.
In doing so, I discovered that there are two sets of standards. First, there are the “Standards for Mathematical Practice,” which is essentially a set of eight approaches that act as a framework for a second “Standards for Mathematical Content.”
The Standards for Mathematical Practice includes: (1) Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them; (2) Reason abstractly and quantitatively; (3) Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others; (4) Model with mathematics; (5) Use appropriate tools strategically; (6) Attend to precision; (7) Look for and make use of structure; and (8) Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
The Standards for Mathematical Content refers to the actual mathematical content that students are expected to learn and master. When designing the affiliated curricula and assessments for these standards, designers of curriculum and assessments “should all attend to the need to connect the mathematical practices to mathematical content in mathematical instruction” (Common Core for Mathematics, pg. 8).
After viewing the sets of mathematical standards, I am less concerned with the Standards for Mathematical Content than with the Standards for Mathematical Practice.
This is because, when it comes to the content standards, I recognize that grade-level content is challenging, but with dedicated parents and professionals, our children can master these standards.
However, I am concerned with the forced application of the Practice Standards within the curricula. Now that I know these Practice Standards, I understand why my husband and I, even with extensive math experience, have had to confer with one another on more than one occasion to understand the word problems presented to our second grader and our fifth grader.
The problems were intended to have the student “make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.”
While I certainly appreciate being academically challenged, I fail to appreciate the merits in writing problems that, at best, are rigorous and challenging and at worst, convoluted and confusing.
I also fail to appreciate presenting these standards of practice at a psychological and developmental stage where children are learning the fundamentals of math.
via Does Common Core leave parents behind? | The Citizen.
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