Mathematics vulgarizer Keith Devlin on July 1
posted an essay on Common Core math education.
His essay was based on a New York Times story from June 29,
“Math Under Common Core Has Even Parents Stumbling.”
An image from that story:
The Times gave no source, other than the photographer’s name,
for the above image. Devlin said,
“… the image of a Common Core math worksheet
the Times chose to illustrate its story showed
a very sensible, and deep use of dot diagrams,
to understand structure in arithmetic.”
Devlin seems ignorant of the fact that there is
no such thing as a “Common Core math worksheet.”
The Core is a set of standards without worksheets
(one of its failings).
Neither the Times nor whoever filled out the worksheet
nor Devlin seemed to grasp that the image the Times used
shows some multiplication word problems that are more
advanced than the topic that Devlin called the
“deep use of dot diagrams to understand structure in arithmetic.”
This Core topic is as follows:
For some worksheets that are (purportedly) relevant, see,
for instance…
http://search.theeducationcenter.com/search/
_Common_Core_Label-2.OA.C.4–keywords-math_worksheets,
in particular the worksheet
http://www.theeducationcenter.com/editorial_content/multipli-city:
Some other exercises said to be related to standard 2.OA.C.4:
| http://www.ixl.com/standards/ common-core/math/grade-2
|
The Common Core of course fails to provide materials for parents
that are easily findable on the Web and that give relevant background
for the above second-grade topic. It leaves this crucial task up to
individual states and school districts, as well as to private enterprise.
This, and not the parents’ ignorance described in Devlin’s snide remarks,
accounts for the frustration that the Times story describes.