A check written by a father opposed to Common Core went viral last week when the father used “Common Core math” to write a check to his son’s school.
In Facebook and Twitter feeds across the country, debates raged over whether the father’s criticism was justified or not.
Defenders of the father’s stunt insist nothing was wrong with the type of math traditionally taught in schools before Common Core. In the traditional method, to add two numbers you line them up on top of each other, add up the numbers from right to left, and carry numbers as needed.
Others counter that they never understood traditional math and that the Common Core method is superior. Using a grid with two rows of five boxes, students can use “ten-frames” to learn addition, subtratction, and how to identify even and odd numbers.
What if both groups could have their way?
For parents, it’s already too late. But students should have the flexibility to attend a school that will educate them in the most effective way.
Every student is different. Some will prefer Common Core’s method, while others will prefer the traditional method.
Requiring that every school comply with Common Core limits students’ flexibility at a time when most students already have too few educational choices.
Schools can still alter their curriculum to a certain extent, but they ultimately end up at the same destination. This is often reinforced by the state-mandated tests aligned with the Common Core standards that are used to evaluate schools, and sometimes teachers.
By no means is this the only problem with Common Core. The federal government pressured states into adopting the standards with federal money and waivers from punishments in No Child Left Behind. And, as the math example shows, some of the standards are simply too inflexible.
At the very least, individual students should be given the option to opt-out of certain sections of Common Core. Why should a student be forced to struggle in one subject area if another way of learning is better suited to them? For example, if a student struggles with ten-frames but understands the traditional method of addition on the first try, let that student use the easier method.
This wouldn’t necessarily excuse the student from the Common Core tests, but the tests are not typically connected to consequences at the individual student level.
If every student were exactly like one another, uniform standards like Common Core could be effective. But in reality, many students are uncommon.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
