today we failed 4th grade math even though we got all the right answers...

my 4th grade son brought home a math worksheet that was all about multiplying a whole number by a fraction. There were 4 steps involved that included breaking the fraction apart into its own math problem and adding some parentheses, then multiplying the resulting numbers and dividing by the denominator. By the time he was done he had a full line of numbers, a ribbon diagram and 6 out of 6 wrong answers....

I couldn't figure out how he was supposed to do it so I showed him how I would do it. Multiply the numerators and the denominators and there is your answer. He said, "wow that was really easy and makes way more sense". I told him to write a note to his teacher that explained why he did it the way he did. Needless to say I'm pretty sure he will flunk this one.

WTF? no wonder kids are are so stupid these days...




and you'll notice that they don't grade on spelling or penmanship anymore

Why do you think China and other Asian countries are kicking our f'n arses in academics.

you're not kidding...

My 6th grader doesn't even have a science or social studies text book, all his research is done on the internet. he gets frustrated because he opens these sites and cant understand a word of it because it is high school and college level and above... God Damn, we finally found a 6th grade teachers website that had links to 6th grade level stuff the he could finally understand after 4 hours of searching.

My cousin was a public school teacher until she had kids. Those kids go to privite school. No way she was sending them to public school after what she saw while teaching. And she worked for the Mercer Island school district.

I hear ya, Piper. I've had similar experiences with my own children. The best I can figure is that the "new math" is a response to the generalization that more students are visual learners and so require as many operations as possible to be illustrated, as opposed to mentally calculated. I almost always have to read through their lessons to be of any help, and sometimes even that doesn't work so well.

To answer your question, the Common Core is a grand scheme, devised by some of the wealthiest Americans (most notably those who made their fortunes from high tech), to devalue the booming market in high tech careers, cleverly disguised as a means of adapting our education curriculum to the needs of the modern era. How did I reach that conclusion? Read on if you care, and consider yourself warned if not.

On the surface, I agree that our education system needs to adapt to the changing world. What I question, however, is whether it's wise to put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak, which is what the Common Core does by placing strict emphasis on math and science, while phasing out things like arts and humanities.

The big themes of today are technology, natural resources, and climate change. Careers that work in those fields tend to require a strong background in math and science (or, at least, that's what the thinking behind the Common Core has decided). At present, there is a shortage of qualified professionals, particularly in high tech. As a result, those who have the skills command relatively high salaries. I should point out that this is a fantastic example of free market Capitalism working according to theory.

Of course, something we all know about corporations is that they exist solely to maximize profits, and paying high salaries does not advance that agenda as effectively as paying lower salaries. The way to get to lower salaries is to devalue the skillset, which is best accomplished by creating a surplus of qualified resources. That, in my opinion, is what the Common Core aims to achieve. If high school students can be taught a lot of the essential skills for tech jobs, they will be qualified for entry level positions immediately upon graduating, where at present, most such positions require a Bachelor of Science degree, or at least some investment in vocational training. High school graduates command less pay than college graduates, so if a college degree is no longer required, companies will be able to pay lower wages for what are well-paid jobs today. In theory, a standard like Common Core should produce more career ready tech workers among high school graduates, so it stands to reason that is what technology corporations (who have earned a lot of "free speech") would seek to enact.

Of course, there is significant societal value in educating children so they will be best prepared for the world in which they will be working, and that's not lost on me. However, I question that the Common Core is the best way to achieve that goal, for the following reasons:

1. It assumes that all people think the same way and can be taught to do anything, which is inherently false. Indeed, the sort of minds naturally inclined toward careers in engineering or software development, for example, are among the least common.
2. Even if every student did have the mental makeup to be a technologist or scientist, training them all as such would deny them any opportunity to realize their own, unique talents, which in turn would prevent a lot of great ideas and new possibilities from being explored. Not good for a country whose strength has always been innovation and is becoming increasingly reliant on the same.
3. Filling high tech and engineering jobs with people who aren't naturally inclined to those careers will produce a lot of sub-standard or uninspired work, which translates to higher costs from rework and negates the perceived value of the change.
4. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to live in a world that doesn't encourage talented people to do what they're good at. A sometimes not so sweet life is a lot better with good music, fine food, fine art, or an occasional, philosophical concersation to help wash it down once in a while.

Instead of taking the Common Core approach, I would favor something more like the European model, where kids are evaluated around middle school age to find their strengths. From that point further, their studies become more and more like on the job training, so by the time they graduate, they're ready for some sort of career that should lend itself well to their strengths.

If tech companies need more qualified young people, perhaps they should invest in programs that select qualified high school students to take classes on subjects like engineering and development in lieu of some standard high school curriculum and participate in mentorships, etc. To recoup their investment, they could place graduates from the program into jobs, on a probationary basis and at a slightly lower pay grade, with the reward for good performance being a full-time, full-salaried position at the end of the probationary period. This way, companies could also have a hand in designing the course curricula, to ensure that students learn skills on which they place the highest value. From my perspective, that allows tech companies (or really any company) to teach the right people the right skills at the right time, which seems to be a constant struggle today, particularly in the field of technology. It also doesn't prevent other personality types from realizing their full potential to serve society in a meaningful way.

I like it.

Public school seems like a joke to me that the taxpayers are hesitant to fund in these times.

Nice work Flea.

I adore Common Core!

As a middle age, Gen X professional, its going to continue to place great value on my traditional Engineering education until the day I retire. When these future "professionals" coming behind me can't even do basic arithmetic without a special, overly convoluted thought process, I win. Ain't nobody got time for that.

I'm probably never going to have kids, so fvck the future of America. Get paid.

PS: For those parents like Piper and WDFW, my comments should scare the living daylights out of you. If you want your kids to have any sort of STEM career and a future in this country, get them into a private school ASAP. The public education kids I have to deal with today are a complete lost generation when it comes to problem solving and its only going to get much, much worse. They don't have a clue and neither does Bill Gates.

My kids will have work ethics and common sense.
That will always be in demand and pay well.

They most likely will be self employed and make a living taking money from the book smarts.

I will support them in their efforts so don't forget to pay your taxes Nick.

Yes it will and that's good to hear. Common sense aint so common any more, so those that actually have it are at a distinct advantage. Adding in solid work ethic and you have a deadly combo right there.

Consider the trades for a great head start on a solid career. Too many kids get suckered into huge student loans for a degree that's worth squat in today's world. Somebody has to serve me my Starbucks, might as well be a Womans gender studies grad paying off their $150K Brown SL.

I always pay my taxes. I'm just partially joshing about the future of America. I still care, but also know we are mostly fvcked.

Hank - I did my 8 years at MSFT and I agree with your general farmed out Visa sentiment. However, in my particular case it's not likely. My degree is extremely rare (chosen on purpose for that reason alone - the one early life choice I made that actually worked out). It's ranked #1 in the world (the "Harvard Law" for this particular degree) AND I'm right smack dab in that middle age between lots of retiring Boomers and a bunch kids who can't tie their own shoes. Kush times ahead.

Plus I'm in Leadership now, so I've moved on from day to day grunt work. For fun and to keep mentally fresh, I still do some of my own work on occasion. Now I command my legions into the battle of over-thought destruction. But I digress...

My point being - Common Core exists exactly for the purposes outlined by Flea. It's meant to dumb down Americans so the rest of the Global community can rise up. Its plain as day to see. Throw in immigration; advancements in 3D, A.I. and robotic interface and the common working American is screwed within the next 20 years. I plan to get out before that happens, but I can't guarantee the future. Kids today need to think really hard about affordable skill sets that are not readily farmed out to Juan or Mr. Roboto, because that day is coming with a quickness.

This is a real Common Core math problem. 4th Grade level.

Please solve and show your work kiddies!

"Juanita wants to give bags of stickers to her friends. She wants the give the same number of stickers to each friend. She's not sure if she needs 4 bags of stickers or 6 bags of stickers. How many stickers could she buy so there are no stickers left?"

AYFKM? WOW! I mean I know the answer, but this chit for a 4th grader? No wonder these kids are crying over their homework. I'm crying and I'm not even a parent. Jeeeeeeeeeeeesus!

Hank is correct about whom will be the competition for the first generation to graduate from a Common Core program: Asians, here on visa (or overseas, thanks to the wonders of the Internet and globalization), who already have 5-10 years of relevant experience. Not only will our kids be less educated and experienced, but they will also refuse to work for less than what they think they deserve. Add it all up, and you've got a generation of American 20-somethings, living with Mom and Dad, and with not much hope for the future.

I think WDFW and Nick got it right - you don't need a college education to make a good living doing all the work white collar folks don't want to do. As long as we still need to build stuff and maintain our homes, there will be plenty of work in the Trades. I suspect, given that fewer and fewer people are being trained for the trades, the money is only going to get better for those willing to get their hands dirty. Ours may be the first generation of fathers who all want their daughters to grow up and marry a plumber (NOT trashing plumbers - I think most earn more than I do; just making a point).

Mike Rowe is not wrong.

My step father's profession is as "Dean of Technical Trade Programs" or some similar title for local and regional community colleges. He acquires government, state and regional grant funding to set-up next gen trades education facilities, programs and courses. Hire teachers, buy new welding equipment. That sort of thing. He's currently setting up the next generation program at the College of the Siskiyous in Weed, CA.

Per me Pops, now that the market crash of 08' has subsided a bit, there is more money to spend now than can possibly be spent (pent up demand). He can't turn down enough grants at the moment. The Trades are going to be where its at in the next 5 - 10 years.

If any parents out there would like to possibly learn more about where the Trades are headed, shoot me a PM and I could possibly get you hooked up info and contacts.

Gotta go mow the lawn. I'll be back to bitch some more later.

Interesting observations and opinions. I'm not sure what to think. My daughters graduated from public school (Oly High) in 94 and 97 taking as many honors and advanced placement classes as offered, and both attended private universities of repute, and one got her masters from a public (Berkley). They've been gainfully employed ever since, except when they choose not to be to take extended international trips.

I do think nearly all students should have basic math, science, English, art, literature, etc. because the number of stupid fvcks I run into is frightening.

Sg,

Agreed that all kids should get a general education. After all, that SHOULD be the way to figure out where their strengths lie. I just think we should make high school more like a vocational school. That's kind of what Common Core is trying to do, but I think it falls well short of ideal, due to the lack of variety and focus on subjects that are the most difficult for most students to grasp.

I'm duly impressed with the way things have turned out for your daughters. You should be proud. You should also be glad they graduated in the 90s; college tuition has more than doubled since then, outpacing general inflation four-fold. It's facts like this that have some of us Gen-Xers wondering if our kids really will have an opportunity to become self-sufficient. The boys out there can fall back on the trades, but there's not much left for our daughters if they don't go to college. I think it's safe to say that my daughters and I will all be in debt up to our necks for a long time (If they go to college).

Flea - actually your girls stand a great chance of being accepted to university or even awarded scholarships if they are interested in STEM studies and have decent to good grades and scores (north of 3.0 GPA, 23 ACT). Even if they don't, they can go the CC route for early credits and transfer to Uni at a later time. Gender and race ratios play a huge role in acceptance these days. There is also always Nursing, which is the female equivalent to a standard Male trade and its exploding in need.

Honestly, its our boys that are falling behind. Sad...

My older brother went to public school in - gasp - Shelton.

Then went on to get a full ride at UW, a full ride at MIT, got a Ph.D in Physics, and worked with a team at UW that won the Nobel Prize and a team at the Max Planck Institute of Technology that won the Nobel Prize.

The problem is, not everyone has a noggin like he did, and they'll need the help of good teachers or good parents, and both seem a little scarce these days.

My kids' teachers hated me because I was always giving them crap about the idiotic math homework my kids brought home. I did what Piper did - showed them how humans should do math and told their teachers to pound sand. When their teachers whined, I told them their sandiness was duly noted, and that I wasn't all that interested in their opinions.

I'm sure they thought I was a dick - many people do - but making teachers happy isn't my duty as a parent. Making sure my kids aren't worthless is.

Dan [ drops the mic ]

This is timely as I consulted (likely offended) the school psychologist today regarding this common core bulls.hit. She said she can't do it (the math) either but the kids need to know how to do it.

I think we'll be opting out of the state testing next week.

I'll be using the law to my advantage over the next couple of years and the school will be seeing a lot more of me.