Where a Wrong Answer Can be Right and the Right Answer Can Be Wrong | Somewhat Reasonable"Another Common Core-aligned math problem is going viral.
This time a 3rd grade math problem was marked as incorrect even though the student found the correct answer.
On the other hand, submissions with the wrong answer have been counted right.
The question asked the student to find the result of 5 multiplied by 3, using the “repeated addition strategy.”
The student wrote “5+5+5” and correctly found the answer to be 15.
Apparently, this strategy didn’t fit with the Common Core-established method for teaching multiplication, so the teacher punished the student for getting the right answer in a way not prescribed.
In problem number 2, the student was asked to solve 4 multiplied by 6.
The child created an array with four columns of ones and six rows of ones.
With this array, the student provided the correct answer of 24.
The teacher again punished the student for getting the right answer in a different manner, wanting six columns of ones and four rows of ones.
NBC Chicago reported, “The new math methods are in response to the Common Core States Standards Initiative launched in 2009.
It focuses on more critical thinking and less on memorization.”
That report is inaccurate.
First, these math methods have been around for more than two decades, under names such as New Math, Fuzzy Math, Everyday Math, and Chicago Math. Second, Common Core was created before 2009, as its own supporters claim.
Third, the critical thinking talking point is an excuse to prevent accountability for teaching methods and results.
This talking point also defies logic because, as this math problem shows, many Common Core teachers want only one method to be taught for calculating the correct answer, regardless of the critical thinking utilized by the student.
When a student uses his or her own strategy to come to the right answer, isn’t that an example of the kind of “critical thinking” Common Core is supposed to be promoting?..."
