Monday, April 28, 2014

Common Core Is Just Common

There has been a lot of fuss lately over the relative merits (or lack) of Common Core.  When I first heard the discussions on the radio, I Googled a sample to see what all of the fuss was about.  At first, I couldn't see the issue.  So they were adding from left to right...  So what?  I do that some myself.  Then I realized: the concepts and techniques that they were using were basically similar to one of my favorite books from the 50s or early 60s: High Speed Math Self Taught.  I may not have read this book until I was in college.

Not only that, Common Core is about a year or two behind the standards that are already in place in Georgia.  Parents are actually being told, "Do not teach or allow your kids to do math the old way, they will get the wrong answer."  What the ____!  No, they won't!  This is math!  I don't care how different the method is, the answer had better be the same! 

To sum up Common Core in one sentence:
Common Core is teaching 3rd grade math to 4th graders using 7th grade concepts.

This is apparently just another phase in No Child Left Behind, more appropriately titled: No Child Allowed To Advance.  There is no 'core' to Common Core - it's just common (adjective: showing a lack of taste or refinement; rough; unsophisticated.)