Group items tagged

Probability should not be assessed until grade 7, for instance, the document says, and statistical distributions should not be assessed by materials until grade 6.

In a sign that the new math document will be taken seriously, it has the endorsement of several prominent organizations in the education sphere, including the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Council of the Great City Schools, the National Association of State Boards of Education, and Achieve, a national nonprofit that managed the process to develop the common standards. Both the NGA and CCSSO spearheaded that undertaking.

In fact, a group of 20 big-city districts, led by the Council of the Great City Schools, served notice to publishers last month that any materials they purchase must reflect the priorities of the publishers' criteria.

Jason Zimba, a co-author of the document and one of the three lead writers of the math standards, said he anticipates some disagreement.

The other two co-authors of the criteria (and lead writers of the math standards) are William McCallum, a math professor at the University of Arizona, and Philip Daro, an education consultant to states and districts. Both McCallum and Daro also are advisers to Student Achievement Partners.

To be clear, this is not the final word from the standards writers. An "updated" version of the publishers' criteria for math, taking into account feedback, is expected out early next year. In addition, a separate document for high school math will be issued around the same time.

Zimba argues that the single most important element to ensuring the common core's success in improving math education is the emphasis on focus—essentially the idea of covering fewer math topics, but in greater depth.

The criteria document acknowledges upfront that it may be hard for math educators and experts to let go of some topics. "During the writing of the standards, the writing team often received feedback along these lines: 'I love the focus of these standards! Now if we could just add one or two more things,' " it says. "But focus compromised is no longer focus at all. ... 'Teaching less, learning more' can seem like hard medicine for an educational system addicted to coverage."

the new criteria are also aimed at helping to shape professional development pegged to the common-core standards.

The goal of the criteria, the authors say, is not to dictate acceptable forms of instructional resources, suggesting that "materials and tools of very different forms" can be deemed acceptable, including digital and online media.

the guidelines are not binding.

"Ultimately, it's still up to people at the local level. We think it's better to have something to react to than to have nothing out there, ... with people guessing on what they're supposed to do."