The Common Core State Standards are Coming: What’s Your Problem?

            Lingering in the air are the Common Core State Standards.  Administrators, teachers, specialists, and entire districts are in a state of wonder and insecurity.  How are we going to transition from the GLEs to the CCSS with ease?  How are we going to transition to the CCSS without leaving gaps in student understanding? How can teachers efficiently and effectively transition to the CCSS without affecting student learning? 

            The CCSS stress the mathematical habits of mind, the inclusion of mathematical practices and mathematical processes.

·      Make sense of problems and persevere

·      Attend to precision

·      Reason abstractly and quantitatively

·      Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others

·      Model with mathematics

·      Use appropriate tolls strategically

·      Look for and make use of structure

·      Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

           Embedded in our current practices are these very same habits, practices and processes.  Currently we push students beyond the everyday “drill and kill” into the higher levels of thought through modes of instruction, classroom activities, applications and assessment.  When we narrow down where and when we are asking students to perform beyond the basic skills we can certainly look at one’s mathematical competence in problem solving.

            Assessing students’ problem solving abilities gives educators a peek inside the mathematical mind of the learner.  Given a rich problem, students can show the mathematical knowledge, skill, understanding and any misconceptions they may have. To proficiently problem solve students must have a deeper knowledge base than the application of algorithms and procedural knowledge. When given a rich problem, students must have an understanding of the mathematics; how to justify, apply, explain, use appropriate tools and engage in the mathematical practices.  The key here is providing rich problems where students are given the opportunity apply the skills and habits we need to assess; the proficiencies and practices proposed by the CCSS.

             Look through those file cabinets, memory sticks and internet resources for your favorite problem solving task. Adapt this problem to make it one which is asks students to apply pattern building, conjecturing, generalizations and mathematical justifications.  Ask students to explain what they are thinking, how it can be solved or modeled another way, how they know that something is true or if something always works.  Give students the opportunity to show their skills in adaptive reasoning, conceptual understanding, productive disposition, strategic competence and procedural fluency. You have made this problem your own and adaptable to the CCSS. Connect it to a standard and you are one step closer to a smooth transition. This is your “problem.”

The CCSS are not asking educational systems to get rid of what works.  In reading a draft of the Content Specifications with Content Mapping for the Summative Assessment of the CCSS, there are four claims which put the goals of the CCSS in perspective.

·      Explain and apply mathematical concepts and procedures with precisions and fluency

·      Construct viable arguments to support their reasoning and critique the reasoning of others

·      Analyze complex, real-world scenarios and use mathematical models to interpret and solve problems

·      Frame and solve a range of complex problems in pure and applied mathematics

The CCSS are asking educators to continue working with what they know works with a clearer national focus to develop a cohesion that has been lacking in the mathematical arena. This is the time for educators to reflect on their instruction and determine what connections can be made to the CCSS.  Start with problem solving. No need to reinvent the wheel; just refine it. Think to yourself…The Common Core State Standards are coming. What’s my problem?