Parent Tips for the Common Core Mathematics
Many have likely
witnessed the extensive media coverage over the past several months about the
Common Core Standards and the assessments that have been designed to measure
those standards. From trusted news sources to blog posts to viral videos
on Facebook it is clear that there are many questions about the new standards
that have left many parents wondering why there seems to be a “new way” and an
“old way” to solve mathematics problems.
In fact, these “new
ways” have been around for quite some time. It’s important for us to
distinguish between a new way of teaching and learning and a poorly worded
worksheet that has gone viral on the internet.
This article will help
to frame some of the thinking behind the changes represented in the new 2011
standards and provide some helpful resources to parents to work with their
students at home.
This smartphone
application, available in the Apple, Windows, Amazon and Android Stores, has
been a revelation for us in recent weeks since a professional development
provider shared this application with our teachers. According to the
application’s website this app provides “instant results” as “PhotoMath reads
and solves mathematical problems by using the camera of your mobile device in
real time. It makes math easy and simple by educating users how to solve
math problems.” By simply scanning your phone’s camera over any
printed mathematical equation the application instantly solves the problem and
with the push of a simple button the app completes a step-by-step “human like”
problem solving of even the most complicated algebraic equations. And, as
the website states, they are “constantly adding new.”
The takeaway for
teachers and parents could be the realization that classwork and homework needs
to be assigned in a completely different way. Much in the same way the
calculator allowed us to arrive at the answer and the focus shifted for decades
to making sure that you “show your steps,” we now need to think about the fact
that a new technology provides the students with both the answer and the
steps.
If this is true, then
what does this mean for the student? The argument is similar to those
from History class. If a student can easily google facts and dates then
the shift in instruction needs to move from memorizing facts and dates to
guiding the student to be an evaluator and thinker. The student needs to
recognize which facts can be verified and determine the reliability of the
sources. The mathematics student needs to become a mathematical thinker.
It is no longer sufficient to just solve the problem and show the steps.
The student must be able to explain and understand how she arrived at
that solution.
PhotoMath has many great
possibilities and could be very helpful for parents assisting students with
their home assignments.
Massachusetts 2011
Frameworks
With the publication of
the 2011 Massachusetts frameworks for Mathematics the state provided educators
with the Common Core standards and added additional standards adopted by the
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in December 2010. Many of the
additional standards in Massachusetts are pre-kindergarten standards that were
developed collaboratively by early childhood educators from the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education, the Department of Early Education and Care,
and early childhood specialists from across the state. According to the frameworks,
“these pre-kindergarten standards lay a strong, logical foundation for the
kindergarten standards.”
Any parent or educator
who has questions about the new standards should first read through the 2011
Frameworks. We have incorporated much of the information about the new
standards into parent presentations and previous articles and shows on public
access television because it is critical that all members of the school
community understand the guiding principles and standards for mathematical
practice that are now embedded along with the grade level standards for all
students.
All current
Massachusetts frameworks are available here:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html
Additional Resources
For more parent
information about the common core we recommend the site Achieve the Core
(http://achievethecore.org). This site provides information for
educators, administrators, parents, and students about the shifts in the
standards and some of the research behind the decisions for these shifts.
Finally, a website that
is designed to help parents to understand the grade level expectations is Milestones
(http://www.greatschools.org/gk/milestones/). According to the site,
Milestones is a “free online collection
of videos aimed at helping parents understand grade-level expectations in
grades K-5. Milestones show students demonstrating what success looks like in
reading, writing and math, grade by grade.”
We
hope that these tools and sources of information will assist parents in working
with students to better understand the key shifts in grade level expectations
for mathematics.
