One of the chief creators of the Common Core math standards is warning America’s parents to stop teaching their own children basic math because, he says, public school teachers are well-trained experts who understand rudimentary arithmetic far better.
The directive to leave children submerged in confusion as they try to do homework comes from Jason Zimba, who was part of a trio that originally wrote the Common Core math standards.
“The math instruction on the part of parents should be low. The teacher is there to explain the curriculum,” Zimba told The Hechinger Report, an education journalism website published by Columbia University’s Teachers College.
“The most important rule as a parent is to make sure it gets done,” said Zimba, who believes he himself is too busy to stoop to math assistance. “I may not have time to do an impromptu lesson on math but I can make sure everything is completed.”
Zimba, who has a Ph.D. in physics, also founded Student Achievement Partners, an outfit which coaches teachers in Common Core implementation.
The entire story by The Hechinger Report strongly urges parents to avoid attempts to help their struggling children with Common Core math homework and implicitly blames parents for getting frustrated. (VIDEO: Under New Common Core, 3 x 4 = 11)
Also, the 1,096 piece suggests, parents should only demonstrate methods of adding and subtracting numbers which have worked very well for hundreds of years — such as carrying numbers — if they emphasize to their own children that the exotic methods currently taught in schools are just as good. (RELATED: Common Core Teaches Kids New Way To Add 9 + 6 That Takes 54 Seconds)
“Make sure you are in touch with the school,” adds Lauren Fine, a teacher in Denver, Colo.
Common Core has long taken a beating in the court of public opinion, but it proved surprisingly durable in 2015 and likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Following the Republican sweep of the midterm elections, it was widely expected that the shared math and English standards would be repealed and replaced in many if not most Republican-controlled states.
But that didn’t happen. Repeal efforts in Mississippi, both Dakotas, and several other states failed completely. In some states, like Louisiana and Tennessee, efforts at total repeal resulted in compromises to set up commissions to review and suggest amendments to Common Core. In South Carolina, which officially repealed Common Core last year, the replacement standards were attacked by critics as nearly identical, and in North Carolina a commission’s failure to suggest substantial changes has imperiled a repeal effort there. (RELATED: Bill Gates Loves Common Core For Your Kids, BUT NOT HIS)
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