WHAT'S WRONG WITH COMMON CORE'S GO MATH?

(And yes, there is Common Core math being taught in Katy ISD schools. MM)

“Experienced Civil Engineer Faults Common Core-Aligned GoMath! Series”

8.19.15

http://www.educationviews.org/experienced-civil-engineer-faults-common-core-aligned-gomath-series/

On 8.6.15, Henry W. Burke, an experienced civil engineer, testified before the Nebraska State Board of Education on the Proposed Nebraska Mathematics Standards.

Starting at marker 2:13:08, Mr. Burke gives very insightful and negative comments about the Common Core-aligned GoMath! series.

Mr. Burke’s full, ten-minute testimony begins at marker 2:07:00 and ends at 2:17:17 (http://www.education.ne.gov/Movies/StateBoard/Aug_2015_Work_Session.mp4 ).

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Comments on Go Math! Textbook in Nebraska

By Henry W. Burke

8.19.15

The first question that you should ask is: “How did a Common Core textbook like Go Math! get adopted into Nebraska school districts?” After all, Nebraska has not adopted the Common Core Standards.

When you have loose, vague Type #2 Math Standards in Nebraska, almost anything will satisfy the Standards.

Math teacher Nakonia (Niki) Hayes provided an excellent critique of Go Math! and I will share some of those observations here.

Nakonia (Niki) Hayes was a K-12 math teacher, counselor, and principal. She also worked outside of teaching, mainly in journalism. She now operates a tutoring academy in Waco, Texas, providing help in math, reading, and writing.

In 2008 Niki started work on the biography of one of America’s great teachers, John Saxon. Publishers said no one wanted to read a story about a math teacher, so she published it herself. The book is entitled “John Saxon’s Story: A Genius of Common Sense in Math Education,” by Nakonia (Niki) Hayes -- http://saxonmathwarrior.com/.

Her mission is to have John Saxon honored for his superior teaching methods and his continued record of success with students today. Everyone who cares about American K-12 education should join her mission. When free to choose, people choose Saxon. More than one million homeschoolers use Saxon textbooks!

Nakonia Hayes was a member of the Texas math curriculum standards writing team that developed the strong Type #1 2012 Texas Math TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills).

Go Math! is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a very large textbook publisher. Matthew Larson is listed as one of the co-authors of their K-12 mathematics programs.

As one of the Go Math! authors, Dr. Larson is paid for his writing and is paid for promoting the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s books around the country. Dr. Matthew Larson is the President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Dr. Larson and the NCTM are strongly endorsing the Common Core Standards.

Textbook publishers are earning millions of dollars from Common Core instructional materials (or IM’s). It is a huge market! Think about it. Each of the Common Core school districts must purchase new instructional materials because their state adopted the Common Core Standards.

The Go Math! student workbook for the 4^{th Grade is published in two volumes, totaling 671 pages. In the first workbook, over 30 pages are spent promoting the partial product and partial quotient methods of solving multiplication and division problems. These are “progressive” methods with absolutely no proof of success. By comparison, the traditional algorithms have been used for hundreds of years by almost every country around the world.}

There is no proof that Go Math! improves student learning. It is too early to tell the results of Go Math! on student learning. Pilot projects should first be held for all demographic groups with parental permission being given. Without pilot projects, we are using our children as guinea pigs on invalidated methods.

Are there any positive test scores resulting from the Go Math! textbook? Can the Go Math! proponents provide a list of schools and contact names for support? We have not seen it; this information does not exist.

The Go Math! authors do not understand the classroom. There are 180 days of teaching in the typical classroom. If at least 15 days are set aside for testing, that leaves 165 days to cover about 650 pages of material, or 4 pages per day. Subtract events that take time from the direct classroom instruction (e.g., assemblies, pep rallies, project-based learning, etc.) and we can say students need to cover 6 pages in 45 minutes per day.

The Go Math! book is designed in chapter format (hunk learning) which means students must learn one chapter to proficiency before going to the next chapter. Those who cannot swallow the hunk will fall behind.

How many administrators have surveyed their parents and teachers about their math education studies? How many of their students are enrolling in advanced math and science classes? How many of their graduates are required to take remedial math courses in college?

How much professional development--days/hours--will be needed to support GO Math!, which means teachers will be absent from their classrooms?

Here is an interesting detail about Go Math! The publisher requires school districts that adopt Go Math! to sign a “fidelity of implementation” agreement. This agreement says no other methods or materials may be used by the teachers.

Finally, you should ask about the Go Math! experience in other states. The one state that I know of that adopted Go Math! is Alabama. Betty Peters is on the Alabama State Board of Education. She said Go Math! is hated because of the frustration it causes the children and the anger in the parents. I suggest that you contact Betty Peters for more information.

TO READ HENRY W. BURKE’S COMMENTS ABOUT THE PROPOSED NEBRASKA 2015 MATH STANDARDS, PLEASE GO TO: ^{http://www.educationviews.org/experienced-civil-engineer-faults-common-core-aligned-gomath-series/}