A recent Facebook post that went viral in the last few weeks took aim at the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Written by a self-proclaimed well-educated parent, the article criticizes the way his son or daughter is being asked to complete a math assignment on subtraction. You can check out the post here: https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/common-core-parent-facebook-post-indiana-school-181841158.html.
Not surprisingly, the post was brought to the attention of one of the authors of the Common Core standards for mathematics, Bill McCallum of the University of Arizona. McCallum responded to the Facebook post in a recent blog entry. He states:
"So, this Common Core problem has been making the rounds. In it a student is asked to correct a number line method of subtraction, and the parent is basically saying why not do it the good old fashioned way? Of the two methods, the only one that is required by the Common Core is the parent's way:
4.NBT.4. Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.
No previous state standards, including Indiana's, had such an explicit requirement for fluency with the standard algorithm. Now that Indiana has opted out of the Common Core, this parent had better hope they do not drop this requirement.
It is true that the standards also require students to understand place value, which I take as the goal of this problem. But there are many other ways to do that."
Find the full blog entry at
http://isupportthecommoncore.net/2014/03/26/quiz-of-the-two-methods-in-that-viral-facebook-post-which-one-is-explicitly-required-by-the-common-core/.