Washington, D.C. – A new white paper entitled “Why Students Need Strong Standards [And Not Common Core]” takes aim at the Common Core math standards and says it slows down American students’ math progression.
“Common Core started with the promise of advancing our competitiveness and reducing our achievement gaps,” said the author of this new report and former Senior Adviser at the U.S. Department of Education, Ze’ev Wurman. “Unfortunately, Common Core fails to deliver on both counts. It fails to increase the rigor of American curriculum, and instead retards it in many states.”
Wurman continued, “Worse, it is bound to increase the achievement gap for disadvantaged students, who will be unable to afford the private tutoring needed to counter the Common Core’s content defects and slowed-down progression.”
“Ze’ev Wurman’s paper examines critical factors in successful K-12 math programs,” American Principles Project’s Education Director Emmett McGroarty said. “He shows how a good math education should begin in the early grades, so that children can have a comfortable progression to a full Algebra 1 class by the end of eighth grade and, from there, to higher level math in high school.
“He shows how this is consistent with the practices of high-performing countries and with the recommendations of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel,” McGroarty concluded. “This is a must-read for parents and policy-makers alike.”
