The intention of the Common Core is to ensure students around the country are receiving the same education. While this intention makes a lot of sense, at least theoretically, not everyone agrees.
Mention the Common Core Standards in a room of educators, you are bound to get a wide variety of opinions about the subject ranging from support as an educational equalizer to just another annoying mandate. Mention them to a room of parents, the range of opinions would probably be much narrower especially if the standards being discussed are the Common Core Math Standards. But what about the kids who have to take the tests to show they have mastered the Common Core Standards?
Under the Common Core math is taught using a conceptual approach that emphasizes the reasoning behind the solution to a problem. (The Week Staff, 2014) It is this approach which has parents frustrated. In their eyes, the emphasis on problem solving makes what should be a simple math problem into something much more complicated. This is comparable to parent's feelings when schools switched from the "old school method" of their childhood to the "new math" of their children's. But isn't conceptual math just another term for "new math"?
The Common Core test requires students to explain their reasoning in writing. Mary -Louise Newling, an elementary school principal in California and overall supporter of the Common Core, finds the writing requirement a cause for concern for the English-language learners that comprise 80 percent of her school's student body. (Bess, 2014). Four of these students, however, impressed Bess with" their confidence in explaining their problem solving approaches. "(Bess, 2014)
The four students Bess interviewed explain the box method of multiplication. A method a group of students introduced me to a few years ago. Even though it took me a while before I understood the method and thought it was a complicated way to do a simple problem. Unlike the parents who would then condemn the approach, I embraced it since it made sense to the students who used it. I have always been a firm believer in there are many different ways to solve problems from simple computation to complex word problems. The key is finding the approach that is right for the individual.
So back to the original question, what do students think about the Common Core? Here is the conclusion of Bess' report:
"BESS: Ten fourth graders in Concord, Calif., don't speak for everyone. And that one kid who didn't say much, she might hate the Common Core. But as many adults across the country struggle with the new standards, these kids seem surprisingly eager and willing to embrace something new. For NPR News, I'm Myles Bess."(Bess, 2014)Bess, M . (May 27, 2014) Meadow Homes 4th Graders Embrace Common Core Standards, Youth Radio. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://www.npr.org/2014/05/27/316269154/sampling-of-4th-graders-embrace-switch-to-common-core-standards?ft=1&f=4692815
The Week Staff' (May 31, 2014).The Common Core Backlash, The Week. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://theweek.com/article/index/262285/the-common-core-backlash#axzz33M5ddcPt
I often struggle with terms like "new math" and what it really means to have students understand the concept behind the math versus the skill to perform the math. For me, I had to learn the skill and practice it several time before I could move to understanding the concept behind it and hence obtain mastery. I think that there are students who might be able to show that they understand the concepts before they can demonstrate the skill. The question, I guess, is which one takes priority over the other, if either.
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