The First Casualty of the Common Core: Math

Perhaps you have heard that Minooka 201 is piloting a new math curriculum in elementary school.  The name of the new curriculum is Go Math.  The curriculum that Minooka 201 had been using exclusively in the elementary grades up to this year was Saxon Math.  Now, some classes are using Go Math and the other classes are using Saxon Math.

Why the change?  Was Saxon Math not a good curriculum?  Were the children not doing well in math?  Actually, the children were doing very well in math.  I am not one to base my decisions on standardized test scores, but math is one subject where test scores are useful since mathematics deals with objectively right or wrong answers.  Based on the test scores, Minooka elementary students were performing very well.  Our scores in math were consistently in the high 80s and 90s.

No, the reason for the change was the new Common Core State Standards.  Go Math, the administration was told, was aligned with the Common Core.  Saxon Math was "not quite aligned."  Therefore, Saxon Math would have to go.  Never mind that students were seemingly doing very well in math.  Never mind that Saxon Math actually utilizes a "spiraling" methodology where skills are built up step by step and previously introduced skills are constantly reviewed.

So how is the pilot of Go Math going?  Well, from purely anecdotal evidence, it is a slow motion car wreck.  And, perhaps, that is no accident, since the only mathmetician on the validating committee for the Common Core State Standards, Professor James Milgram of Stanford University, refused to sign-off on the math standards of the Common Core and has since publicly opposed implementation of the standards (see here, and here).  In addition, the District administration rushed into their decision to pilot Go Math at the end of the last school year without adequate preparation or training for the teachers, thus compounding the problems.

If your children were doing well in math, perhaps even enjoying math, and are now doing poorly in math, perhaps even hating math, it may be due to the Go Math pilot and the new Common Core State Standards.  And, if you are of a mind to complain about the Go Math pilot and/or the way in which it was implemented, approaching your child's teacher is of limited value since the teachers have no authority to change curriculum.  Any complaints should be directed to the Assistant Superintendent (for curriculum), the Superintendent and/or the school board.

Parental Rights Regarding Education of Children

Many parents are unaware of their legal rights in determining the education of their children. Many give too much deference, in my opinion, to the "education establishment."  Please don't misunderstand me. I am not disparaging teachers. What I am saying is that a parent's right to determine the content, character and moral principles of their child's education trumps the interest of the school and/or the state.

The institution of public education is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of the United States. For much of our history, parental rights regarding the amount, type, scope and content of their children's education were unquestioned (largely because it was the parents who provided or contracted for such education). It was not until 1925 that the United States Supreme Court made a definitive pronouncement on this issue. In a case called Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated an Oregon compulsory education law which would have required all parents to send their children to public schools. In a unanimous decision, the Court said the following: "The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excluded any general power of the state to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right and the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations." In other words, a state may require that children receive a certain amount of education in terms of years, etc. But, the manner in which that education is to be received, whether in public school, private school or home school, is to be determined by the parents.

The principle from this case (Pierce v. Society of Sisters) has been cited countless times as the basic principle of parental rights in education. If you understand this principle, then you understand that the ultimate authority regarding the content of a child's education is the parent. If the public school to which you send your children is not meeting your standards in terms of quality or content, then you as the parent have the right to send your child to private school or remove them from the school system completely and home school them. (In the past, homeschooling may have presented parents with seemingly insurmountable issues, but with the advent of internet schools, homeschooling is accessable to many more parents.)

Even within the public school system, parents can have a great deal of input in terms of content and quality of education. Every parent (indeed every citizen) in Illinois has the right to review all of the books and other materials that are part of the public school curriculum. All you have to do is go into one of the schools and request to review the materials. Frankly, every parent should do this on a regular basis. You have every right to know what is in the textbooks and other materials that are being used to instruct your children. Additionally, you have the right to be heard regarding your concerns, if any, about these materials. You can discuss these concerns with the teacher, the principals, the superintendent and the school board (you can go directly to the school board by showing up at a meeting and being heard during the public comment section of the meeting).

In addition to the above, Federal law protects the rights of parents regarding information kept by schools regarding their children. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the rights of parents to access and inspect student information collected and kept by schools. It also prevents disclosure of this information except for certain specified purposes.

In the end, they are your children, and the right to determine the content of their education belongs to you as parents.

Parental Involvement: A Huge Factor in a Child's Education

Many research studies have concluded that the single most important factor in a child's educational success is parental involvement (click here for a State of Michigan publication summarizing some of these findings). You read that right. It's not socio-economic status, per pupil expenditures, or access to technology. It's good old-fashioned parental involvement. It's parents taking the primary responsibility for their child's education (after all, the first and most important authority in a child's education rests with his or her parents) . It's parents setting high standards and ensuring their children work to achieve them. It's parents reading to their children and helping them with homework. It's parents asking questions about what their child is learning in school, what textbooks they are using, and what standards they are being held to. It's parents getting involved with their child's classroom, school and school district. It's parents holding the school board and administration accountable to spend the community's tax dollars in the most efficient manner to provide the best educational opportunities possible with those tax dollars.

If you are already involved, great! If you are not yet involved, why not? You could and should have a huge impact on your child's educational success.