Category Archives: Junk

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

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!

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

What kind of parents does Success Academy want? Well, me for one!

There’s an old joke about a man who goes to synagogue week after week, beseeching God to let him win the lottery. Weeks go by, years go by, decades go by, and the man dutifully asks for one thing only: … Continue reading

Posted in charter schools, Junk, stacking the deck | 1 Comment

Is it “No Go?” Or is it “No Math?” My Review of “Go Math!”

Bill Gates spent over $40,000,000 to fund the Common Core State Standards by donating to a variety of think tanks and teaching organizations. This is a review of Houghton-Mifflin- Harcourt’s “Go Math!”, one of the first curricula that is allegedly … Continue reading

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How “Conceptua Math” Gets Multiplication Really Wrong…

For some reason, I’ve been on the email list of an outfit called “Conceptua Math” for the longest time. I think their products are terrible and I’m always amused by the amount of hyperbole they put into their different press … Continue reading

Posted in Computation, Junk, Sucker | Leave a comment

Even the Times can’t get the math right….

You can bet that whenever there is a slow news week, an article will turn up in the New York Times on some new educational “breakthrough” that will finally help all children learn math. This week’s entry into the “miraculous … Continue reading

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