“The direction in which education starts a man
will determine his future in life.” Recognition of the wisdom spoken by Plato has
sparked the beginning of such concepts as the Common Core States Initiative, henceforth
CCSI. As a nation, the United States has had countless educational standards,
either producing excellent educational opportunities or more often, substandard
schools. The CCSI standards are a necessary educational advancement that can
greatly enhance the future of the nation’s children with proper implementation.
Traditionally, the
curricula produced by education boards vary dramatically in the methodology
used within the classrooms as well as the content produced in textbooks and
other resources. These curricula have created erroneous notions such as one
being “gifted” at math as opposed to those who are not (Kimball, M. &
Smith, N. 2013). The CCSI standards provide
broad-spectrum goals for schools to meet for each grade level with an optimistic
outlook on reversing some of these misconceptions. As evidenced by the San
Francisco Unified School District, the most efficient way of ensuring
that changes beneficial to society take place is to take an active,
constructive part in their implementation (Dudnick, 2014). In order to
meet the goals consistent of the CCSI, the SFUSD aims to use hands-on
activities to allow more students to grasp math effectively.
References
Dudnick, Laura. (2014, August). SF schools rolling out new common core math curriculum this year.
Retrieved from: http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/sf-schools-rolling-out-new-common-core-math-curriculum-this-year/Content?oid=2868136
Kimball, Miles & Smith, Noah. (2013, October). The myth of I’m bad at math. Retrieved
from:
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/the-myth-of-im-bad-at-math/280914/
