Through Googling, I have learned that this book is hated by teachers for moving too fast and being too hard. So maybe not great for most kids, but it may be that Common Core is indeed a step up in terms of rigor? (rigor rigor rigor)
At the parent meetings about Common Core here, the parents of slower learners were in a panic because their kids *were* being shoved ahead faster in the new curriculum, and the transition is going to be very rough on those kids. (They were in "slower moving classes" before and will now be thrown in with everyone else. How is that going to be for them? They are starting behind.) I think that concern is very real in how CC is being implemented here.
And the parents of faster learners were worried that the path to calculus in high school was still not smooth enough for kids not IDd as gifted. Also valid from how I see the details of the implementation.
The district is not treating CC as lockstep, but even so, it does hold most kids to a higher/faster standard than it did previously, and yes, I think that is more or less what is meant by rigor. (igor igor). Algebra 1 by 8th grade for most kids. They want all kids through Algebra II by the end of high school.
They have put in some 25 min. of extra class time a day at the MS for the kids who need extra support. I hope that works to keep most people on track, because I think it will be stressful for the kids for whom it doesn't.
I am interested in developing a flexible, humane educational system that has standards but also admits of individual need and individual difference. In all ways.
DeeDee
