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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Math framework for Common Core ready for your critique | EdSource Today

Math framework for Common Core ready for your critique | EdSource Today:


Math framework for Common Core ready for your critique - by John Fensterwald


draft of the California math curriculum framework went online Wednesday for public comments and suggestions. While weighing in at 1,200 pages, the document is actually a readable grade-by-grade manual that puts meat on the bare-bones Common Core standards that the state adopted in 2010. It  explains the rationale for key standards and puts them in context of what students will learn, while providing guidance on how they should be taught. Interspersed are numerous sample problems and illustrations that teachers can use in the classroom.
Although the Common Core Standards cover only transitional kindergarten through grade eight, the framework does provide suggestions for high school, where districts will have a choice between traditional subject courses (geometry, Algebra II and pre-Calculus) and integrated math courses, which blend traditional disciplines. Common Core is well suited for the latter. (Update:To quell rumors that it would not support integrated math courses, the University of California has issued a statement affirming its support for both the traditional and the integrated pathways.) And the document includes a chapter on options for accelerating math for those students ready to take Algebra I in eighth grade or, as an alternative for those taking Algebra I in ninth grade, combining three years of high school 

Bill restricting ‘willful defiance’ for suspending students moves ahead - by Susan Frey

With new data showing that more than half of all suspensions and a quarter of expulsions in California schools are for “willful defiance” of school authorities, the Assembly Education Committee voted 6-0 on Wednesday to move forward a bill that would restrict the use of the vague category by school administrators. Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, who introduced Assembly...