I’ve looked quite a bit at Common Core, and frankly I’ve been puzzled at the curriculum, which seems to ignore common sense, science, and basic respect for humanity. A reason for this aberration has been advanced by someone in a position to influence Common Core: as penance for his white privilege. Here’s a part of […] … learn more→

One of the pieces of nonsense associated with the Common Core State Standards is the claim that the standards can produce “college ready” high-school graduates–a claim made with almost no consultation with college teachers, the very people students need to be “ready” for. This post, from “Wag the Dog,” provides nice insight into the situation. […] … learn more→

There can be no significant reform of higher education without a major overhaul of primary education and extensive changes in secondary education. One of the reasons students are graduating without being prepared to compete in today’s workplace is that far too many arrive at college without the knowledge and background to do college-level work. They […] … learn more→

When it comes to US public education, few topics engender such heated debate as a new set of maths and English standards for school children known as the Common Core. Since the final standards were released in 2010, they have been adopted by 44 states and the District of Columbia. This marks a departure from […] … learn more→

There is another issue to Common Core, possibly even more dangerous than making addition and subtraction so complicated that students will learn to become afraid of it long before they learn how to do it. The language is being changed, with a marked tendency towards lack of clarity and added complication. A Cheat Sheet, translating […] … learn more→

In previous posts, I’ve discussed how to add fractions. One way is very simple, simple enough a child can learn. The other way is how it’s done in public schools, using far more theory than an 8 year old can reasonably be expected to grasp. The result is a generation of students that have learned […] … learn more→

Last time I covered the “sledgehammer” method of adding fractions, a method that is very simple and anyone can master in a few minutes. That’s not the method taught in schools, however. Let’s go over what you need to know to be able to add fractions, using the public school method, and note that it […] … learn more→