[glesica]

I don't know a ton about Common Core (I don't have kids and I'm not a teacher). However, I know enough to agree with you that, assuming they got it right, Common Core should be a terrific thing. However, I spent some time helping a young relative with her math homework and it didn't inspire much confidence. Not because the assignment wasn't attempting to teach the things you mention (once I figured it out, I thought it was a great assignment), but because the assignment's instructions were vague and apparently incomplete. I struggled t figure out, based on the instructions, what the finished product should even look like. If they want to get parents on their side, they have to at least make it so that parents can check students' work, if not understand it themselves.

[brudgers]

The instructions may [or may not] be more readily interpreted in the context of a student who has had the relevant classroom instruction. That's been my experience as parent of a student taught under the Common Core.

But I think you've hit the nail. As in the article, the primary problem discussed is selling Common Core to parents and the no sale is generally "I don't understand this" coming from the parent. Whether Common Core is better or worse, it is not surprising that a new methodology is unfamiliar to adults trained under an older rather orthogonal one. That's what mostly drives the politics of public education and politics of public education is why your young relative had homework in the first place despite little vetted data supporting its imposition.

Disclaimer: My first reaction to Common Core was similar to my first reaction to Montessori - what the fuck are they doing, that's not the way I was taught. My current position is likewise the same, the results have been great and I am still not an expert in primary education despite my lack of effort to become one.

[smelendez]

This is kind of a side note, but is the idea of parents checking homework new to most people? Is it something that teachers now expect parents will be doing?

[TillE]

I had a third grade teacher in the mid 90s (New York state) who required that a parent sign each homework assignment, or else it would be regarded as incomplete. That might have been unusually strict, but the concept of parents checking homework seemed fairly normal.

[AnimalMuppet]

At a minimum, when children don't understand the assignment, they usually turn to their parents for help. If the parents can't understand the assignment well enough to help the children, that's a hindrance to the children learning.

[sehr]

I feel like that would depend on the district/teacher/parents.

[ensignavenger]

While your concerns and point are valid, remember that teaching methods have nothing to do with Common Core. Common Core does not specify teaching methods.