Common Core Standards

As an educator, I have had experience with different state standards. I received my teaching credential from California and taught lessons on the California State Standards. I have been teaching in Las Vegas for seven years developing lessons for the Nevada State Standards. Wanting to move from the area, I have taken exams for licensure based on Minnesota State Standards. I have first handedly seen the difference of standards between these three states, and there are 47 other states and standards. Common Core standards will make learning expecations, assessment, and mobility for teachers and students much easier.

The common core standards for math seem to address the "mile wide and inch deep" curricula we have in place today. Some opposers argue that the common core are too general and may "weaken" some state standards. Looking through the 3-6th grade core standards, I noticed that many of our current, more specific, power standards can easily be covered by the common core. The common core standards are not as specific, but they facilitate a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. The standards also stress relationships between concepts, something current standards do not address. For example, the 3rd grade standard of measurement included finding area, but it also emphasizes relating area to multiplication in the numbers and operation standard.

Although not stated as NCTM standards, the common core standards also address the 5 process standards NCTM present in Principals and Standards for School Mathematics: Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof, Communication, Connections, and Representation. These process standards are what provide the depth of understanding in mathematics. Unlike NCTM, these process standards are embedded within content standards.

Not as many new specific standards are introduced each year, rather previous learned concepts are further developed in subsequent years. The standards are also written so that they require higher level thinking skills. This again, adds to a deeper understanding of important mathematical concepts.