Anonymous wrote:http://www.rentonreporter.com/news/286678751.html?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+renall+%28All+Stories+-+Renton+Reporter%29&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner%3Fmobile%3Dtrue

In Washington state:

Teachers and staff in the Renton School District are expressing their frustrations about a lack of support for aligning curriculum with the new national reading, writing and math standards adopted by Washington state.

At a recent school board meeting on Dec. 10, four teachers spoke during the comment period, one near tears, addressing problems with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The standards are academic benchmarks for reading and math that lay out what students should know and do at each grade level and after high school.

Fighting back tears, Katie Thorleifson, a teacher at Campbell Hill Elementary, Eeported that 11 out of 14 teachers informally surveyed at her school said they have thought about quitting.

Last year, teachers, principals and staff were expressing a positive and optimistic view of the new national standards. Now, the mood seems to have soured as the process to align the standards to curriculum and do the required assessments clunks along.

Anonymous wrote:In California:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2014-12-26/changing-classes-concern-for-parents-teachers-administrators-say-common-core-standards-reason-for-modifications/1776425135624.html

Changing classes concern for parents, teachers: Administrators say Common Core standards reason for modifications
December 26, 2014, 05:00 AM By Angela Swartz Daily Journal

Parents are still concerned about losing math as they know it at the middle school level, but school officials say math is just not the same with the new Common Core standards.

When parents in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District found out most of their children will no longer be taking algebra or geometry in middle school, they contacted the district stating they wanted the classes to still be available so their children wouldn’t be left bored or miss out on opportunities to take Advanced Placement math classes like calculus in high school. Some parents were displeased with how the district responded to the concerns about math at a recent board meeting.

“Everyone was just stunned the district said, ‘Trust the district and this process,’” said Highlands Elementary School parent Nancy Hsieh. “We have asked them for a dialogue forum. We didn’t think they’d say, ‘Sure we’ll keep geometry.’ It’s important to have dialogue on an ongoing basis; that was the big disappointment.”

She notes that with the new state Common Core standards that shift to more technology in the classroom and project-based learning, there’s confusion that algebra and geometry are the same as they were before.

“They’re not in even the same courses,” Going said. “Standards in the old geometry course have been mostly pushed down into seventh- and eighth-grade. The old course of pre-algebra doesn’t even exist anymore. One of things we’re (the district) working on is document that shows each of the standards taught in each of those courses. When parents understand that they see having a student take half of math high school career within their middle school is an awful lot of mathematics.”

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, I'm serious. Many ES teachers major in "education", which is an easy major. Read the "why do people look down on teachers" post. I'm not saying all ES teachers are bad. My DC had a fabulous math teacher in 3rd grade. But, I do think a lot of the lower grade teachers are weak in math.

You really think that primary teachers do not understand primary math? Really? Calculus, maybe not. But, not understand math. You really have a low opinion of teachers, don't you?

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, I'm serious. Many ES teachers major in "education", which is an easy major. Read the "why do people look down on teachers" post. I'm not saying all ES teachers are bad. My DC had a fabulous math teacher in 3rd grade. But, I do think a lot of the lower grade teachers are weak in math.

You really think that primary teachers do not understand primary math? Really? Calculus, maybe not. But, not understand math. You really have a low opinion of teachers, don't you?

Anonymous wrote:CC math is repeating some of the mistakes we made in the past--cyclical instruction. That is one of the reason that our math scores fell. Look it up.

Anonymous wrote:CC math is repeating some of the mistakes we made in the past--cyclical instruction. That is one of the reason that our math scores fell. Look it up.

Yes, I'm serious. Many ES teachers major in "education", which is an easy major. Read the "why do people look down on teachers" post. I'm not saying all ES teachers are bad. My DC had a fabulous math teacher in 3rd grade. But, I do think a lot of the lower grade teachers are weak in math.

Anonymous wrote:

From what I understand, a lot of the ES teachers, especially lower grades, are very weak in math.

Oh, so that's the problem. Dumb teachers. Are you serious?

From what I understand, a lot of the ES teachers, especially lower grades, are very weak in math.

Anonymous wrote:

Less emphasis on a single, correct way to do it; more emphasis on understanding and number sense.

Confusing for most kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Less emphasis on a single, correct way to do it; more emphasis on understanding and number sense.

Confusing for most kids.

Less emphasis on a single, correct way to do it; more emphasis on understanding and number sense.

Anonymous wrote:Not the parent of the sixth grader. How about you tell us what good things CC is accomplishing? I'm the teacher who thinks it is awful.