Mathematically Challenged Common Core

The roster of actual mathematicians taking issue with the math in Common Core grows. “In mathematics, mastery of several calculation skills is delayed by one or two grade levels when compared with the standards recommended by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel (NMAP),” David V. Anderson writes in Replacing Common Core With Proven Standards of Excellence, a study published by the Heartland Institute. “Common Core specifies only three years of high school mathematics, compared to the traditional four years of instruction recommended by NMAP.”

Anderson is a retired research physicist and fellow of the American Physical Society who has taught high school math and physics.  “In other words, Common Core proposes 11 easy years of instruction in mathematics that will fall short of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel’s recommended 12 years of intensive work,” Anderson avers elsewhere in the pamphlet.

He also notes that:

• “Common Core postpones proficiency in whole-number division from NMAP’s benchmark grade 5 to grade 6.

• “Common Core postpones teaching relationships between fractions and decimals from NMAP’s grade 5 to grade 7.

• “Common Core postpones the grade level for a first algebra course from NMAP’s grade 8 to grade 9” and

• Replaces the “Euclidean approach recommended by NMAP with an experimental method that has had little success. Or, as some say, the pedagogy is ‘experiential.’”

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