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what happens when a test company gets it wrong
10-11-2014, 11:15 PM (This post was last modified: 10-11-2014 11:24 PM by Tim Wessman.)
Post: #3
RE: what happens when a test company gets it wrong
Common Core is just fine and has absolutely nothing wrong with it. The actual standard is perfectly well written and is simply a reflection of good teaching methods.

The problem is that a huge number of companies and those looking to make a quick buck have glommed onto it as a way to sell huge amounts of textbooks, tests, prep material, worksheets, and so on. THOSE are what every interprets and understands as "common core" when in reality they are just trying to make money. The vast majority of those complaining and demonizing it are purely looking at what the corporations trying to sell crap are publishing and throwing it all out as "Common Core is evil".

I've read the entire standard cover to cover and find nothing objectionable. 90-95% of it or so was ALREADY what was being done, and that last little bit is what the GOOD educators were doing.

It is a very interesting read. If you've not done so, I'd recommend reading it all cover to cover and not just looking at those trying to sell something. If you have done so, then apologies and I'd love to discuss the finer points and what you find objectionable.

Quote:Asking a student to understand something means asking a teacher to assess whether the student has understood it. But what does mathematical understanding look like? One hallmark of mathematical understanding is the ability to justify, in a way appropriate to the student’s mathematical maturity, why a particular mathematical statement is true or where a mathematical rule comes from. There is a world of difference between a student who can summon a mnemonic device to expand a product such as (a + b)(x + y) and a student who can explain where the mnemonic comes from. The student who can explain the rule understands the mathematics, and may have a better chance to succeed at a less familiar task such as expanding (a + b + c)(x + y).

That obviously is crap that needs tossing...

TW

Although I work for HP, the views and opinions I post here are my own.
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RE: what happens when a test company gets it wrong - Tim Wessman - 10-11-2014 11:15 PM



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