A Common Core Question - Algebra or Math, What's The Difference?

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Here in the US most states recently adopted the Common Core Standards for Math and Reading. We never heard much about Common Core Reading because, well, reading is reading. But did we ever hear about Common Core Math, and most of what we heard was not good.

Funny thing is, most of the bad we heard about Common Core Math was from people who'd never even seen it; they'd just heard about it from someone who'd heard about it from a cousin whose kid had a teacher who hated Common Core.

I went through the training that was supposed to get us ready to learn about Common Core. I thought it odd at the time that we spent hours learning about the process by which Common Core was developed and how it was going to be implemented, but never actually got any training on the content of Common Core itself.

As it turned out, by the time we were ready to start teaching Common Core, our new Republican led state legislature voted to abandon Common Core in favor a math curriculum to be named later. It didn't really matter. Despite voting to adopt Common Core Standards, the previous Democrat led legislature hadn't spent a dime to provide text books or materials aligned with Common Core.

One thing that did happen because of the adoption of Common Core was that the previous Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 progression was dropped from the curriculum in favor of Math 1, Math 2, and Math 3. Math 1 is supposed to be a combination of the beginning of Algebra 1 and Geometry. Math 2 is supposed to combine the end of Algebra 1 with the middle of Geometry and the beginning of Algebra 2. Math 3 is supposed to combine the rest of Algebra 2 with the rest of Geometry. Somehow, this new progression is supposed to work better for the students.

Evidently, many people here in our state don't think so. So many have complained to the legislature that a story recently came out in the paper that law makers are considering a new law to give students a choice - beginning with the 2017-2018 school year - between following the Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 progression or the Math 1, Math 2, and Math 3 progression. Whichever the student chooses, after 3 years he or she will supposedly have the same knowledge and set of math skills he or she will need to move into higher level math classes.

At the middle school level, this will cause an interesting issue. Qualified eighth graders used to be allowed to take Algebra 1 their eighth grade year. Right now, they are allowed to take Math 1. Does the new law mean middle schools will have to offer a choice of Algebra 1 and Math 1? Come the 2017-2018 school year that question will have to be answered.

As always, I remain,

The Exhausted Educator