Math Wars Peace Treaty Analysis

The new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics bring a new opportunity to the classrooms of the United States that many people view as a controversial. According to the NCTM (2013) “The Common Core State Standards offer a foundation for the development of more rigorous, focused, and coherent mathematics curricula, instruction, and assessments that promote conceptual understanding and reasoning as well as skill fluency” (par. 1). While some people believe that the Common Core State Standards may hinder progress in the classroom for many reasons including too much government control, teaching to the test, an excessive focus on language arts and math, and wasted resources, others agree with the NCTM statement about that claims the standards help increase conceptual understanding, reasoning, and skill fluency.

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.

The most important conclusion from this editorial is knowing that mathematics is changing/will change over time. With that being said, reading this article and becoming familiar with the thirteen rules that expire, gives a teacher the opportunity to break out of the “norm” by teaching children by using tips, tricks, and strategies. This article allows teachers to understand that the concepts being taught need to be sustainable for years so they will not fall under this category of “expiration”. The commentary, “13 Rules That Expire” has many strengthens in the points

Chapter 4 describes Tom’s school experience in Pennsylvania and Poland, and discussed the relationship between math and many American students. Tom did not like math and thought he was not good at it. When he was asked to solve a problem in his class in Poland, he tried to make an excuse to avoid going to the board to solve it, which the book hinted typically worked in his American classes. However, he was still asked to solve the problem, which he could not do. The book explained that math is a difficult subject for many American students, and that on the PISA assessment American students score pretty low. Despite the bad reputation of American students being bad at math, the state of Minnesota ranked proficient in math. Overall, the chapter explained why students struggle in math and what Minnesota did to produce high test scores (Ripley, 2013).

First, he states making math mandatory deprives us from seeing and developing young talent, claiming that algebra is a black or white situation that constrains student’s minds from thinking outside the box. Furthermore, his second argument is that even the most affluent schools have talented students (Hacker). For example, many students may be flourishing with talent, however lack math skills that otherwise would classify them as phenomenal students. Some students take courses multiple times to pass, if not they drop the class. Seen across the board, math is the number one retention factor when dealing with academic issues (Hacker). The issue is that, because math is seen to be an increased factor throughout education, universities are beginning to raise their standards regarding that subject. In Hackers opinion, is it unnecessary to force children and young

The educational system in America has always been a controversial topic of conversation. Whether it be about the different techniques implemented in the classroom or the role and effect the teacher has on the students. Most importantly the struggle we stress on the proper and more efficient way to teach our children. We have set goals for ourselves that would be impossible to reach and Ravich explains in great detail about how the American education system does just this. In Chapter 3 of The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Ravitch focuses on District 2 and their implementation of the concept of balanced literacy and constructivist mathematics.

Standards for Mathematical Practice Kindergarten- Grade 12; Measurement and Data: Work with time and money.

Ever since the establishment of modern schooling in 1911, experts have debated on the best ways to educate a child. Whether it be through teacher lectures, group discussions, or individual study, the importance of educational methods cannot be understated. Yet, contrary to our emphasis on education, the United States is ranked 35th in mathematics and 27th in science out the of the 64 countries examined by a Pew Research study in 2015. George Bush tried to counteract this historical trend in 2001 with the “No Child Left Behind Act”, which paved the way for the establishment of Common Core State Standards throughout the country. These standards aim to improve education through “common” assessments and

Geometry and Algebra are so crucial to the development of the world it is taught to every public high school in the United States, around 14.8 million teenagers each year (National Center for Education Statistics). Mathematics is the engine powering our world; our stocks, economy, technology, and science are all based off from math. Math is our universal and definite language “I was especially delighted with the mathematics, on account of the certitude and evidence of their reasonings.” (Rene Descartes, 1637).

A Year in the Life of an Elementary School: One School's Experiences in Meeting New Mathematics Standards

This paper will reflect on a key subject critical to the learning process, that subject is mathematics. This reflection will be by the student, for the student’s vantage point. The student will convey how mathematics have affected them in their personal life, as well as during the educational process. Student will describe their personal view on algebra being a requirement for their degree plan. How they feel about having to take math? Elaborate on mathematics as part of the liberal arts curriculum, as well as the curriculum for any STEM field. Cover what they think of when they hear the phrase “liberal arts or STEM. Expound on what they think the true purpose of higher education is. Lastly, students will share their understanding of an article, “Why is Math Required in College?” Written by Jon Davidson, Professor of Mathematics at Southern State Community College. Did if the article change their views of the required mathematics needed to attain their degrees. To explain fully their answers to this age old question. This paper will covered all areas previously mention, some in more details than others.

The benefits of studying and learning mathematics have been the source of much research and debate. Recently, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have chosen to drop algebra from their general education requirements (Joselow, 2016). These two university decisions seem to conflict with the numbers of students who test into developmental mathematics every year. In a 2015 article written by Judith Keller, she stated that “… 60% of community college students require at least one developmental mathematics course…” (p. 4). Deficiencies in math skills occur for a variety of reasons. Today, more than 50% of all college students are over the age of 24 (Center, 2016) and need to improve or change their job skills. Those same students may never have had a college preparatory course. Many veterans returning to civilian life did not complete algebra 2 or higher in high school (Molina & Morse, 2015). Finding new ways to help students brush up on their basic math skills, while getting them ready for either a STEM or non-STEM related field, means more math departments need to move past the traditional lecture method of teaching to reach these diverse students through online and emporium styles of teaching.

When we read Tough’s (2012) How Children Succeed in class, some of my classmates were shocked by Spiegel’s frank and harsh tone with students. A line from her blog reads, “ ‘I said some amazing things to kids, including ‘You can count to two, right? Then you should have seen that!!’ and ‘If you are not going to pay more attention you should quit chess, because you are wasting everyone’s time.’ ” (Tough, 2012, p. 119) When Spiegel says, “ ‘Most people won’t tell teenage girls...that they are lazy and the quality of their work is unacceptable’ ” (p. 120) most people would respond, ‘Well,

Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes.

A second selection of essays included here surrounds modern education. Since I worked as a mathematics instructor for 33 years at both secondary