Common Core Math: A Guide

The state of Oregon has been realigning, reformatting, essentially re-creating its educational math standards every few years for over a decade. For today’s parents, this not only means that an entirely new system is being used to teach their children math than when they went to school themselves, but that their children are learning a completely new way of looking and dealing with math altogether. The progression of alterations made to standards has led to a more content-oriented curriculum, which aims toward deeper student understanding of the same math concepts taught years ago. Current standards point their focus away from rote memorization of integer operation facts (e.g. times tables), and toward mastery comprehension of the “why” and “how” of mathematical reasoning. Students are being taught to become mathematical thinkers rather than mechanized reiterators. According to the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), academic content standards are “statements of what students are expected to know in particular subjects and be able to do at specified grade levels” (ODE, 2010, p.1). These expectations provide teachers with a general guideline to which they orient their lessons throughout the year, and which they use to assess student learning