Despite all the backlash against the Common Core, I am deeply committed to raising the bar for all students. The Common Core is an important step in this direction. I may have deep concerns about implementation and assessment, but I have no significant concerns about the quality, appropriateness and importance of the Core math standards and, in particular, the Eight Mathematical Practices.
Those states that are now defending their pre-CCSS standards are forgetting that the Common Core was developed by these states and approved by these states, not the Federal Government. The Common Core was a response to the fact that our students have been falling behind a majority of industrialized nations, particularly in math and science. The future of our children is at stake.
We need to stop the political rhetoric and do what's right for our children. Raise concerns about assessments and the timetable. You should. But remember this. On every international comparison our students have been performing at a mediocre level. That's reality. If there were no problem we wouldn't need to fix it. But there is a problem...
My commitment to our children and our teachers has been demonstrated by giving away hundreds of free higher-order math problems on this blog and on twitter for years now.
But implementation of CCSS will take the commitment of everyone. Or like every other educational initiative it will fail. But this time, if this fails, we will be failing our children. Hyperbole? Just check our nation's performance on international comparisons...
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2 comments:
Thank you, Dave. I wholeheartedly agree. Assessment and implementation of CCSS are our challenges. But I want to believe that we are heading in the right direction with the standards and the math practices.
Thanks, Fawn. Nice website. The book on Number Sense you read and reviewed speaks to the change which must take place in our classrooms. Our math lessons need to build on the natural intuition the child brings to us. This is the spirit of the Mathematical Practices in CCSS. Another big issue for me is how we define an "open-ended" math assessment question. Should the open-ended questions we pose in a classroom essentially the same as those on a standardized test? I do not believe so. How do you feel? This is important enough to warrant its own blog post!
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