Comparison of Two Mathematics Curricula

This paper will demonstrate the pre-service teachers’ understanding of mathematical practices as part of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. It will address two specific standards for Mathematical Practices, describing the essence of both and providing a description of how teachers facilitate these practices and how students are engaged in the practices.

In a time of educational reform, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was heralded as being the new path to academically successful students who would thrive in the 21st Century. The CCSS were drafted by experts and teachers in the industry with the goal of preparing students for today’s students entering the workforce, college, or training program. In addition, the CCSS focused on clear, consistent guidelines and standards that would foster critical thinking and problem solving skills for students to be successful (Common Core State Standards, n.d.). However, the CCSS have had many critics since its debut in 2010, but it has also attracted followers as well. One such proponent, Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York hailed the CCSS as “a necessary step in the process of reform” and “create a competitive edge in the 21st century world that requires innovative educational strategies that will enable students to succeed in a global economy.” (Common Core State Standards, n.d.). As such, I do believe that the CCSS creates opportunities to encourage

The article, “From Common Core Standards to Curriculum: Five Big Ideas” seeks to address the misconception of Common Core State Standards and Curriculum through big ideas, some of which will be discussed in this review. The problem being addressed is whether or not the Common Core Standards and Curriculum are interchangeable.

“Class, today we will work in our practice workbooks. Please complete drills nine and eleven.” One can almost hear the groans of exhausted students echo across the classroom as another day of drills and memorization passes. Unfortunately, endless drills, mountains of workbook pages, and dry, tedious lessons have become the norm in today’s classrooms across Mississippi. However, there is a bright light in the distance known as the Common Core State Standards. Common Core State Standards, which was released in 2010, is a government implemented program aimed at improving public education nationwide (“Common Core Glossary” 1). Though the standards set by Common Core will benefit the nation as a whole, Common Core will also benefit students

In 2010 majority of the states in the U.S. adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These new standards were built on the best of high-quality math standards from states across the country. They also draw on the most important international models for mathematical practice, as well as research and input from numerous sources, including state departments of education, scholars, assessment developers, professional organizations, educators, parents and students, and members of the public. The CCSS provide clarity and specificity rather than broad general statements. The CCSS stress conceptual understanding of key ideas, but also by continually returning to organizing principles such as place value and the laws of arithmetic to structure

Since schools have implemented the Common Core standards, many parents find themselves increasingly confused by the coursework their children bring home, feeling incapable of providing homework help. Because the methods kids are now learning in school are dramatically different than those you might have been taught, the changes may seem arbitrary and unnecessary. However, as the expert math tutors at Mathnasium of La Cañada explain, the new standards are intended to engender a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and why they work.

For over two decades, New York State has been refining and fine tuning the learning standards that teachers use for their students daily. It is no surprise that countries were education is a “high-performing ability”, pinpoint their success to curriculum that is strictly focused and coherent for one goal; to improve the achievement of students as whole. The challenge of “creating a sequence of topics and performances that are logical and reflect the sequential or hierarchical nature of the content from which the subject derives” was one presented to teachers amongst others. Such standards needed to be coherent and must evolve from the previous ones to deeper structures in which students would be challenged by higher-level thinking (NYS Common Core Learning Standards in Mathematics, 2010, p.1). This paper examines the New York State Teaching and Learning Standards and follows the shift to the New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards and its continuous growth from here on.

Since the early 2000 and the No Child Left Behind Act, the introduction of the standards-based education in the public school system came to light, and recently the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has brought on another challenge along with controversies. Some critics view it as the “same old wine in a new bottle” (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012, p. 1) but it does provide some merits and require a positive new approach instead of the old habit of “zeroing in on the grade-level standards before a careful examination of the goals and structure of the overall documents” (p. 1). Another concern is the role of the Standards. “Standards are not curriculum. A Standard is an outcome, not a claim about how to achieve an outcome” (McTighe & Wiggins,

With the implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in school districts across the country, many teachers are struggling to find out how they can successfully implement CCSS into their Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum. CTE curriculum is aimed at preparing students for jobs in technical fields, such as Agriculture of Aviation; typically, these CTE programs have had different standards for a core curriculum than traditional courses for a college prep tract. However, CTE instructors now need to implement CCSS into the core subjects which they teach, meaning that more teachers than ever are seeking special resources to help them boost their competence in math and literacy so that they may be able to teach CCSS more efficiently.

The movement in 2009 of Common Core State Standards in a mass majority of states and other educational realms, such as the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) (CCSSI, 2015), has the focus is rigorous instruction and deeper development of skills in cognitive abilities for English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematic instruction. Educators are once again restructuring their lessons and instructional strategies to meet these, along with other high demands in order for students to develop

Survey results again revealed that teachers were making gains in content knowledge, pedagogy, and perception of their abilities to impact their students’ learning and gains toward being successful with their secondary mathematics requirements. The Organization also conducted pre- and post-tests on the rising ninth graders who participated in Summer II. Student results reflected significant gains in student’s proficiency with middle school mathematics content that is foundational for success in first-year algebra.

Associate Superintendent Mary Jo Conery presented the first reading of the academic content standards of the course to the board for their consideration and approval. Dr. Conery reported that the applications of mathematics are a new fourth year high school mathematics course that were approved by the board on January 26, 2016 for the 2016-2017. The academic standards for mathematics provide a consistent, clear understanding of what student are expected to learn. The standards are focused, coherent, and relevant to the real world, describing the knowledge and skills that student need for success in college and career pathways. By steering high expectations with a commitment to succeed with all students, the district is positioning the future

In the last two decades, word problems in algebra have been the subject of debates among educators across the country. To cope with this issue, many states including Georgia turned to the Common Core Curriculum, which emphases on critical thinking rather than just simple calculation. One standard in coordinate algebra indicates that high school freshmen to be able to: “Create equations and inequalities in one variable and use them to solve problems” (Georgia Department of Education, 2014). However, the ninth-graders have shown difficulties mastering this concept in the past three consecutive end of course tests. To illustrate this point, in 2013, only 37 percent of ninth-graders met or exceeded this standard. The mastering of this standard is imperative to enhance students’ success in algebra and the state test. Therefore, algebra teachers must completely revolutionize their teaching strategies to ensure students to mastery learning and prepare their students for the next grade, college, and even the workforce.

In any case, there is room for improvement for our school building. Hence, the concern for keeping the curriculum aligned to rigorous standards. As indicated on the What Works Clearinghouse (2017) website, the Teach For America math curriculum has been shown to be highly effective. The study was conducted on over 50,000 students, and they concluded a total of four whole points on the improvement index indicator. Additionally, Teach For

I love teaching students about math, but when I hear the question, “Why do I need to know this?” or “When am I ever going to use this in real life?” it frustrates me. In some cases my students will never need to know how to add and subtract polynomials. Everyday I connect my lessons to real life examples, but some students still do not understand why they need to know some of the topics in math. In our district we spend a lot of time making sure students are meeting the standards set forth, but many times we are puzzled wondering why are we spending all of this time making sure students meet the standards. Why do they need to be proficient in all of the standards; who will in benefit in the long run? I am going to discuss who benefits from standards, and whether the aims of standards are intended to benefit society or the individuals in my classroom.