Category Archives: Common Core State Standards

I’ve got a bone to pick with Jo Boaler…..

Posted on January 20, 2016 by rmberkman

Readers of this blog, of which I am certain there are few, will know that I am not an easy mark and that nothing delights me more than taking the sails out of the windbags who pronounce themselves “experts.” At … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core State Standards | Leave a comment

Why the New York Times Stinks at Math

Posted on July 26, 2014 by rmberkman

I love it when my hometown rag, The New York Times, attempts to publish something provocative about the state of mathematics and teaching. Yes, the Times has not aged well, and I often wonder if the editors of the various … Continue reading →

Is this the most ignorant article EVER about Common Core Math?

Posted on May 4, 2014 by rmberkman

“Vox” is a website that claims to explain “everything you need to know in two minutes,” but it took me a lot less time than that to figure out this may the stupidest article about the Common Core math program … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core State Standards, Khan Academy | 5 Comments

Yo, @LouisCK : We Need To Have A Dad-to-Dad Talk About Math, Homework & the CCSS

Posted on May 2, 2014 by rmberkman

Dear Louis CK: Okay, I’m a fan and I love your work. End of fawning admiration. I want to talk to you dad-to-dad about your daughter’s homework, the Common Core, and the fate of the world. Seriously, I do. I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core State Standards, Math Anxiety, Research | 1 Comment

“Waking up on third base” & Why CCSS Boasts Are Hollow

Posted on April 30, 2014 by rmberkman

Jim Hightower, whom many of us in the over-40 set will remember as the plainspoken former Texas politician, once described former “president” George H.W. Bush as someone who “was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.” Hightower was speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core State Standards, Junk, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Torah, Talmud and the Common Core: Oy Veh!

Posted on March 25, 2014 by rmberkman

There’s an old joke that if you put two Jews in a room to debate a question, they’ll inevitably emerge with three opinions. This comes about from the fact that Judaism is based on an ancient text written in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core State Standards, Computation, Go Math!, Junk | 1 Comment

The “Ins” and “Outs” of the “Common Core”

Posted on March 3, 2014 by rmberkman

By now, we all probably know the backstory behind the Common Core State Standards: how Bill Gates funded it with the interest he makes on one day’s worth of his vast fortune (about $500 million it cost him….), how it … Continue reading →