The dirty little secret of Common Core: Wrong answers rightly reached are OK

[Viligant_Warrior]

[video=youtube;lLlvp2549D0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLlvp2549D0[/video]

So, apparently, under Common-Core standards, correct answers don’t really matter. So says so-called "curriculum coordinator" Amanda August in Chicago last year. Only when pressed by a teacher at the end of the video about correcting wrong answers did our dear little leftist educator tell the teachers that of course, we want them to "calculate correctly." Then tell us, Amanda, why you would praise a wrong answer to begin with???

Off course reasoning like this explains quite a bit regarding our nation’s $18 trillion debt, and Nancy Pelosi’s assertion that Obamacare was a "deficit reducer." They've just decided to teach our kids and grandkids the same fuzzy math they learned in D.C. When you consider that our finest economic leaders in the Federal Reserve, and the White House, think spending more money will result in fewer deficits, teaching that 3 x 4 = 11 (if you explain it well) isn’t really much of a stretch.

 

[dcontroversal]

Well par for the course......The system had to be dumbed down so people who cannot graduate with an actual education can now walk proudly across the stage to receive a piece of paper that states that they know something...kind of like the acid-guru-teachers that promote we came form some electrified protein filled sludge pool or a monkey in the African Congo.......the U.S. is about done for sure.....!

 

[3Scoreand10]

When I went to high school, we were told we had 4 years to gain enough credits to graduate because that was all the money the school received from the state.
Of the 44 in my class in 1962, 34 receiced diplomas and 10 received a certificate of attendance.

 

[Desdichado]

I really hope these math relativists are barred from teaching or participating in civil engineering courses. Bad news bears.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

I really hope these math relativists are barred from teaching or participating in civil engineering courses. Bad news bears.

I can hear that conversation before an NTSB hearing now:

NTSB: "And what calculation did you make regarding the load bearing of the center pylon on the bridge?"

Engineer: "Approximately 14.56 tons upwards to 17.2 tons on the pivot point."

NTSB: "Approximately?? And a range, rather than a specific load bearing calculation??? Where did you get your civil engineering degree, sir?"

Engineer: "Advanced Graduate Common Core Institute, sir."

NTSB: ::: shakes head, rubs temples, reaches for bottle of Aspirin and a glass of water :::

"Well, you're dismissed. However, I'd like to inquire of the Chair if the panel has the power to render the death penalty against an unindicted co-conspirator."

 

[ardchoille]

I'm reminded of this famous Abbott & Costello skit:

[video=youtube;xkbQDEXJy2k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkbQDEXJy2k[/video]

 

[Human]

[video=youtube;lLlvp2549D0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLlvp2549D0[/video]

So, apparently, under Common-Core standards, correct answers don’t really matter. So says so-called "curriculum coordinator" Amanda August in Chicago last year. Only when pressed by a teacher at the end of the video about correcting wrong answers did our dear little leftist educator tell the teachers that of course, we want them to "calculate correctly." Then tell us, Amanda, why you would praise a wrong answer to begin with???

Off course reasoning like this explains quite a bit regarding our nation’s $18 trillion debt, and Nancy Pelosi’s assertion that Obamacare was a "deficit reducer." They've just decided to teach our kids and grandkids the same fuzzy math they learned in D.C. When you consider that our finest economic leaders in the Federal Reserve, and the White House, think spending more money will result in fewer deficits, teaching that 3 x 4 = 11 (if you explain it well) isn’t really much of a stretch.

To learn the method is just as important as to arrive at the correct answer. If you take an equation:

5x - 6 = 3x - 8

There are several important steps to solving it. The first is to find a commonality on both sides of the equation that we can reduce. There are 'x' on both sides, thus we can remove the 'x' from one side by removing 3' from both, as both sides must be reduced equally. WE do this by taking 3x from each side, and arrive at:

2x - 6 = -8

Then, to find x we need to rid ourselves of any facets on the ''x'' side. We can do this by adding 6 to either side, thus:

2x = - 2

If we want to find '1x' or 'x' as it is commonly referred to, then we divide both sides by two, which gives us:

x = -1

With working out between tasks shown, and annotations written, it can be easily observed if a child understands not only the learned calculations but the reasoning behind making them, thus even if they make a small mistake in their addition or a typo as they calculate, it is fair to give them credit for each stage and for the reasoning behind the calculation, providing the reasoning is correct.

Anybody can make a small clerical error or a typo, but to understand WHY and HOW the calculations work, is more important than simply arriving at the right answer without showing how it was done. Hence, kids get credit for method as much as conclusion.

3 times 4 doesn't require but one calculation, so for two marks a child could explain WHY and HOw the calculation works (ie multiplication is the repeated addition of factors) and another mark for coming to the correct conclusion. This is why it's possible, in algebraic equations for instance, to get perhaps 7 marks out of 8 if the final answer is incorrect but the process of reduction has been explained and evidenced.

 

[Human]

I can hear that conversation before an NTSB hearing now:

NTSB: "And what calculation did you make regarding the load bearing of the center pylon on the bridge?"

Engineer: "Approximately 14.56 tons upwards to 17.2 tons on the pivot point."

NTSB: "Approximately?? And a range, rather than a specific load bearing calculation??? Where did you get your civil engineering degree, sir?"

Engineer: "Advanced Graduate Common Core Institute, sir."

NTSB: ::: shakes head, rubs temples, reaches for bottle of Aspirin and a glass of water :::

"Well, you're dismissed. However, I'd like to inquire of the Chair if the panel has the power to render the death penalty against an unindicted co-conspirator."

I know this is meant to be satire to exaggerate a point regarding what you think is the evident conclusion should educational standards go down the road you don't want them to go, but teaching High School kids method and awarding them marks for each stage -- even if there are small typos or miscalculations -- has been common educational practice for years here. That's how I was educated, and as far as I'm aware, the two best Civil Engineering Universities in Europe are English.

University standard is, in many regards, more stringent than Secondary standards and in reality no person as incapable as the one you portray would get a genuine civil engineering degree to begin with.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

I'm reminded of this famous Abbott & Costello skit:

Costello's dead, but his grandson must be chief economist for both Congress and the White House.