How many reasonably intelligent adults does it take to answer a 1st grade Common Core math problem? Three, if you use the scene from my dining room a couple of weeks ago as an example. My daughter is sitting at the table doing her homework and asked for help. Grandma was first to attempt the question. Upon hearing her grumbles, my husband walks over for inspection. I get up and go over when I hear the two adults go back and forth for the solution. I knew how solve the problem but had the same reaction the previous night when helping with homework. With the new Common Core standards, every parent or guardian is relearning mathematics whether they like it or not.
Written in 2009 by Phil Daro, William McCallum, and Jason Zimba, the goal of the Common Core, as stated in Sarah Garland’s article, would, “catapult American students ahead of other developed nations, but would also help close the gaping achievement gaps between low-income students in the U.S. and their wealthier counterparts” (Garland). Common Core is a new way to analyze and solve math problems. For example, you need to add 8+9 but you solve it by adding 8+8+1. This strategy is different and for those who do not like change, it is asinine. The standards have been adopted by the majority of the states in the U.S. since
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First, “the Common Core only contains broad guidelines about what students should know, not directions about how textbooks should be written or how teachers should teach” (Garland). Politicians, school officials, parents, and educators need to be on the same page for Common Core to work and they’re not. However, the largest hurdle seems to be the book publishers’ slow response in providing quality textbooks and materials. Daro, McCallum and Zimba should have treated their dream like a business plan and not a theory. Since a proper marketing and execution plan did not happen, many families are experiencing dining room