Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Switch to Common Core Math Standards?

Hey folks,

Anyone have any experience in watching their district shift to the new common core math standards?

There are a few meetings this week in the district to hear about how this will affect our district, and I'm wondering what "gotchas" I might want to watch out for.

I'm particularly anxious about the effect this will have on the gifted programming we have in elementary (compacted 4th and 5th grade math done in 4th grade) and early subject accelerations.

We'll be negotiating my daughter's 5th grade prealgebra placement on Feb 8, so at least I have the chance to hear the presentations before that meeting, but the writing on the wall is that they're going to yank the opportunity from her after she's spent this year doing 6th grade math independently.

We'll be negotiating my son's placement as he moves into 1st grade in May. His current level is hard to pin down, and we've got salty reports that say 2nd grade, 6th grade, and 11th grade. The school has been back peddling and not following through with previous arrangements to make his kindergarten year tolerable. Reasons for back peddling have been these common core standards.

Thanks for your comments. So is this something coming online for people just now, or are there districts out there a year into this? I'd love to hear what it looks like in practice.



So, that's one of the points I worry they'll bring out against DD retaining her acceleration. She didn't do super well on the state tests last year (passed, but not by a mile). I had already had written into her educational plan for this year to work on DD's test taking skills, knowing that most of the issue was test taking. I did that before I had her state test scores.

And there are rumors coming from a school staff member (via a friend who I trust for accuracy) is that they will eliminate the gifted sequence. DD is already through it. DS will be in dire need of it when he hits 4th grade math.

I went to the middle school meeting last night.

The way the CC is affecting our district is that they are adding a year into the curriculum before algebra. There is no prealgebra class, just CC7 and 8. Turns out our district had this weird stop-gap class between algebra 2 and precalc that neither DH nor I took, and this is where you get the time back. The sum total effect on DD will then be that she gets 4 math classes on her high school transcript, not 5. So, no biggie for her.

BUT: From all appearances, the kids coming out of gifted elementary into junior high will take CC7 with the rest of the middle school population, such that they lose their cohort. This is the biggest loss to DD, as that cohort was her life line last year.

They are phasing in 2 acceleration paths for kids who don't qualify for gifted, the first combining 7,8, and algebra in 7th and 8th grades, and another by doubly up algebra 2 and precalc (but taking two periods a day, so material isn't presented faster). That first path won't be available next year, but otherwise a particularly talented kid coming out of the gifted program could presumably test into that for 6th and 7th grade, then finishing an additional year early. I suspect this is what we'll do for DS6 if he continues on his path of tearing through curricula.

It looks like Everyday Math's days are numbered in our district, so that now the primary concern is of that unknown.

Besides that, I left depressed by the amount of jargon being thrown around ("rigor" completely lacks meaning now as far as I'm concerned) and a variety of statements of what kids can and cannot do at a particular age. My loss of faith with certain members of my school admin when they informed me that my then second grader wasn't old enough to have sufficient metacognition to move any faster through the math curriculum.

I'll be going to the elementary meeting tomorrow. <Sigh>

MON, thanks for that. The weird thing in our district is that the kids who are now in pre-algebra won't get Algebra immediately after we switch to CC-- they will go into "common core 8" and then Algebra in grade 9. They effectively lose a year, although the district is saying that that's not true because there's some algebra in CC8 and that what they are calling "Algebra" contains some of what used to be Algebra II. But then there's another year called Algbera II later.

It doesn't make sense to me yet, but I'm watching the transition.

DeeDee

We are also in the midst of a switch to Common Core and my experience has not been positive to this point since our District Office has already used "Common Core" and "rigor" that is coming as an excuse not to continue my DD's math subject acceleration. Our district currently offers 6th grade pre-algebra and 7th grade algebra, so we are anxiously awaiting word as to which curriculum our rising 6th grader will be taught. (The irony of it all is that her older sister, who is not clearly gifted in math, could possibly be 1 to 2 years ahead of her in math curriculum by the time everything falls into place.)

Also, if I hear the word "rigor" spouted one more time as a positive thing for gifted students, I'm going to scream! "Rigor" is NOT a positive word -- look it up. Last time I looked, it means "harsh and inflexible" or "an act or instance of strictness, severity, or cruelty." Ever heard of "rigor mortis?"

I think this is the definition of "rigor" commonly used in the context of math and science instruction: "The quality of being extremely thorough, exhaustive, or accurate."

Amylou, your definition of "rigor" would be well and good and I'm sure that is what's intended. However, in our district, they are already using Common Core's promised "rigor" to rigidly refuse to meet the educational needs of gifted children, and we haven't even fully implemented Common Core yet.

Hi revmom,

It looks like we're seeing similar things. What grade level math is your accelerated DD in? We've got a meeting to discuss my daughter's placement on Feb 8. She's in 6th grade math as a 4th grader. Under the previous sequence (something we have in writing from the school...) she was to take pre-algebra next year. Now the plan appears to be that she take Common Core 7, the CC8, then finally algebra in 7th grade.

That isn't a disaster for DD, but sounds long, drawn out, and dull. I will be advocating strongly for DD to retain her gifted cohort in CC7 if this happens. However, I'm starting to catch wind that they'll want her in CC6 next year. That will be a disaster, and I'm taking extended steps to establish why that's inappropriate.

Check the CC standards online, and there are transition guides in there for transitioning into the CC standards, and no where does it say that kids should be placed back a year. There's no justification to undo accelerations.

I'm also reading through the state's requirements and guidelines on retention, since if you make my kid repeat a year, that's a retention...

I started a sister thread to this one about the definition of "rigor." Yes, rigor mortis is what comes to my mind as well.