Is common core math in schools a good thing?

2016-01-13T23:26:55-05:00

Sometimes things just don't add up...

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Jan 13 at 2016 11:30 PM

2016-01-13T23:30:18-05:00

SSgt Dustin Coy great depection! The picture says it all(lots of laughs)!

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jan 13 at 2016 11:30 PM

2016-01-13T23:30:56-05:00

DERP!!! :)

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Jan 13 at 2016 11:44 PM

2016-01-13T23:44:13-05:00

SSgt Dustin Coy Are you certain that was not POTUS's idea? Share all you get with someone else?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 14 at 2016 1:18 AM

2016-01-14T01:18:43-05:00

Right, 'cause everybody buying a $2 lottery ticket suddenly morphs into millions per person.
Even Common Core would have figured that one out.

Response by Vit Spirek made Jan 14 at 2016 2:58 AM

2016-01-14T02:58:03-05:00

good imagine, lol, similar projects exist in other countries

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 14 at 2016 7:36 AM

2016-01-14T07:36:33-05:00

Disclaimer: I don't support common core

Actually .... the common core math is a very advance math ... make it too advance to most youth. It over relay on visualization of math to achieve in such math. Therefore it eliminate the weak at their early age, and it will be super majority of our youth will not achieve in such math. Now for those that gifted in visualization in such math will achieve and take their place as elite in the society. The mass majority will not be looking forward to learn calculus, statistic, Differential Equation or even Algebra, so the mass will not even have the ability to challenge the elitist in their "formula". Even if they can do it with the OLD way, they will just brush us aside and claim that we are wrong and we know nothing.

That is the purpose of common core, to create work bees and to pick out the elite at their early age.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 14 at 2016 8:17 AM

2016-01-14T08:17:07-05:00

Crrtainly this is troubling. But, more troubling is the number who re-posted it as fact.

Sad.

Response by Capt Craig Gilman made Jan 14 at 2016 8:43 AM

2016-01-14T08:43:00-05:00

If you support both the military child and the plight of American prosperity, you should support Common Core on the basis of its merit and not oppose it simply because of a political agenda, which seems to be the greatest motivation for doing so. In regards to the military child, one of the biggest issues military families with children face is finding an appropriate school match for their children during PCS. Often families find their children moving from a high performing school to a lower performing school, or vice versa. It is pretty fortunate on those occasions when a child can seemingly transfer from one school district to another. The emotional turmoil military children face during PCS can be severe. It does them no service when they find themselves in their new school hopelessly behind in their subjects (especially Math) and struggling embarrassingly among their peers. The same is true for a student, suddenly bored and no longer enjoying school, finding himself in a class he mastered two years before at his old school. The greater debate is the political one, should states and school districts be allowed to slide by with substandard expectations for learning. As a (former) teacher in a state with solid standards I suffered having to adapt my curriculum during No Child Left Behind, not to mention all the moaning of so many teachers who suffered from the anxiety of having to do so, but I believed in supporting the greater good and, along with moaning with my colleagues, made the adjustment. I became a better teacher because of it and believe that the students I served benefited, as well. However, it is not the states that were doing well that had the most work to do. It seems to me that the lower on the ladder a state stood in regards to national education rankings, the more they voiced opposition. If you want to do a small part in making American more competitive in the global market, not to mention the local, support the acceptance of Common Core.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Jan 14 at 2016 9:48 AM

2016-01-14T09:48:21-05:00

Here we go again... Remember "New Math"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIKGV2cTgqA
Actually, New Math had a purpose. Rather than teach math by rote, it taught it conceptually. Now that's fine for those who are going to pursue careers that require great skill in the higher forms of math. But there's noting wrong for the rest of us learning basic arithmetic by rote. Memorizing addition and subtraction values as well as multiplication tables will serve the needs of everyone who isn't going to launch rockets to the moon. Think about it: Accounting is nothing but adding and subtracting debits and credits, and occasionally multiplying or dividing to find percentages and ratios. Economics requires higher forms of math.

New math set children on the path to studies in calculus. Learning arithmetic by rote was of little value in that process.

Common Core math, from what I've seen, serves neither purpose. You can't keep the books for a business if you can't do simple arithmetic and achieve correct results. And, Common Core approaches to math do nothing for understanding the higher concepts of mathematics.

So what is the purpose of Common Core? Simply this: Control. It vests control over education in America, all of America, in Washington. Yes, you may avoid using its teaching methods by home schooling your children, but they will fail college entrance tests based on standards dictated in Washington that use concepts learned by students who study in Common Core classrooms.

Thus, there is only one real solution to this math problem: Shut down the US Department of Education and return control to the states and local school boards. The sooner the better...

Tom Lehrer - New Math (Animated)

The full 'New Math' song by Tom Lehrer animated by myself for a school project. I created it in Flash CS4 and ran it through After Effects to convert it. I'm...

Response by SPC David S. made Jan 14 at 2016 10:11 AM

2016-01-14T10:11:45-05:00

Same guy said he hopes he wins the lottery so he can buy a house closer to work.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 14 at 2016 10:42 AM

2016-01-14T10:42:04-05:00

First, common core has only been around for six years... most of the people who believe this were not educated using common core. So the fact that some people look at this and believe it is more an indictment of the previous lack of standards than common core.

Second, for as long as I can remember there has been resistance to new ways of doing math. I didn't learn math the way my parents did... my kids didn't learn math the way I did and my grand kids will likely be exposed to even newer ways of solving math problems.

Common core instituted standards that were not met by previous textbooks. Schools went out and bought new textbooks. The new textbooks that meet common core standards don't do math the same way we did math. The problem isn't common core, basic standards for schools across the country is a very good thing. The problem is that the people writing textbooks are always looking for the newest way to do things so they can sell more textbooks and people don't always like the newest way of doing things.

Response by SFC Maury Gonzalez made Jan 14 at 2016 12:35 PM

2016-01-14T12:35:58-05:00

They don't teach math, they teach how to use calculators

Response by Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth made Jan 14 at 2016 1:39 PM

2016-01-14T13:39:23-05:00

Absolutely not. I do not want an engineer that got it close to design a weapons system or bridge or any structure that I will be using. I don't want the architect that is building my house to have the right process but the wrong figures for stress loads and I dang sure don't want a doctor or nurse that says the conversion rate for medicine for my body weight from Lbs to Kgs is close enough!!! I want critical thinkers that can work through a tough solution, not just recite something.
If that isn't enough for you, I don't want my daughter being common. I don't care that she is on par with everyone else...I want and expect her to be above average...that is where the scholarships and advantages in life are. I don't want teachers having to teach my daughter to a test and that is what is happening in our public schools...because if the students don't make a certain average score the teacher is held liable, so they are going to teach what is required versus TEACHING the subject matter four levels deep for critical thinking.

I am absolutely against common core and everything it stands for

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 14 at 2016 4:44 PM

2016-01-14T16:44:09-05:00

Here's a better question...what good does it do to teach kids to understand the "process" if you simultaneously remove their ambition to use it?

Response by 2d Lt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 18 at 2016 11:47 AM

2016-01-18T11:47:48-05:00

I think we have a bigger issue here than Common Core math. It was pointed out by SSG Private RallyPoint Member , which is there's no such thing as Common Core math.

The most common myth I've heard surrounding Common Core is that it includes a curriculum. It doesn't include a curriculum, it's a set of standards.

The second most common myth I've heard is that Common Core was developed by the federal government. That also isn't true. Common Core was developed by a group of states, and then voluntarily adopted by the majority of states. The Department of Education then stepped in to push the remaining states to adopt it.

Today, Common Core isn't controlled by the federal government. The only role the federal government has is to encourage (force) states to continue its adoption.

Now, is Common Core a good thing? I honestly don't know the answer to that. The concept is amazing, and necessary. Capt Craig Gilman pointed out the difficulty that children have in switching schools, because the schools have different standards. This is the core problem we need to worry about. We have several states that are failing us, and like it or not, the problem won't just affect those states in the future, it will affect our entire country. It's time to bring failing states into compliance with the rest of the country, take care of the children, and ensure we have a secure place in the global economy of the future.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 21 at 2016 1:00 PM

2016-01-21T13:00:40-05:00

I don't believe it's a question of good or bad. The education students receive at any level and in any state should be the same. A kindergartner in Iowa or New York should be taught the same things as a kindergartner in Alabama or Tennessee. I do believe that those standards should be taken from whatever state has the 'best' rating for education. Or maybe even from those countries that we compete with on a global scale. I'd like to believe that being able to better compete in the global market would be the long term goal of our education system.