Reply to Confused about math(s) now

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Confused about math(s) now"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]With the current standards in the state of MD, many kids who go to college need to take remedial math, so the standards they were exposed to didn't even prepare them for community college.

The Common Core standards for high school seem to be pretty basic -- algebra, statistics, geometry.

http://www.corestandards.org/Math

There's no trig, precal, calculus.   I assume advanced students with a serious interest in STEM would be accelerated at some point to study precalculus and perhaps calculus before graduation, by taking AP classes.   But there's no need for the majority of students to take those classes in high school -- not even for a career in business of finance.   If they need the coursework they can take it in college.[/quote]

You are mixing up standards, classes, and curricula.

If it's true that many high school graduates in Maryland have to take remedial math in college, that's not a standards issue -- that's an issue of what they learned in the classes they took.

Also, the Common Core is standards -- what students should know and be able to do -- not a series of classes. The standards include things students usually learn in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and pre-calculus, as well as statistics and probability.

You can look up the content knowledge for the Common Core standards in high school is here:

http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/note-on-courses-transitions/courses-transitions/

Finally, the Common Core is the Common CORE, not the Common Limit. There is nothing in the Common Core that says: here is what you should know and be able to do, AND NOT ONE THING MORE.[/quote]

I'm the PP You are responding to. [b] I LOVE Common Core standards[/b].  I think they are great.

[b]I was just pointing out that the Common Core math standards are a basic standard-- they don't go farther than algebra.  So yes, if they are ALL a child is exposed to in high school, it would not take the student through trig, precalc and calculus.   But there's no reason those classes can't be offered!  Students would likely take accelerated math classes in middle and high school to cover the Common Core requirements by 9th or 10th grade, which is easily doable as they aren't that hard for smart kids.

I looked at the standards for Geometry and probability, but they don't seem to me to include much calculus.  WHich is a good thing.  I don't think Calculus, trig and precalculus SHOULD be part of what all high schoolers are expected to master.   I think algebra and statistics are plenty[/b].[/quote]

A new PP chiming in.  MCPS and the State of Maryland used to have a focus on churning out kids who were ready for highly technical jobs including in STEM fields.  I have been in education for twenty years and I am now witnessing on the frontlines a movement by MCPS to spout in particular situations, "All MCPS is required to do is make sure kids meet State standards.  Nothing more."  When State standards align themselves with minimal preparedness for life after high school, I worry the net result is that opportunities for well paying jobs for a large segment of the Maryland population will be limited.

[b]I dislike the alignment of the State of Maryland with the Common Core Standards on the principal the Common Core Standards are too low. [/b] I would support a movement to raise the Common Core Standards or at least raise the standards in education in Maryland.[/quote]

Half the people think the standards are too low, half think they're too high.  That leads me to believe that they're probably set at the right level.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics