Shocker - Common Core not giving good outcomes

[indigoshuffle]

Reading through the few actual studies on learning outcomes, a common refrain seems to be teachers feeling unprepared to teach due to substandard training. I'd suspect that would lead to some trouble down the line.

You seriously have to try to help your kid with math to figure out what the problem is.  I've known math and engineering majors who couldn't help their 3rd graders with their math homework.  They were completely lost.  If that doesn't tell you there's a problem, I don't know what does.

In addition to poor teacher training, it's completely unrealistic - not at all developmentally appropriate for the different ages/stages of kids they're teaching to.  In the years when you're supposed to have kids learn the memorizable stuff (multiplication and addition tables for instance, when kids' brains are in the "parroting" stage), they are teaching them the "why" of math - the kids aren't there yet, and can't fathom what'd going on.  During the "why" phase for kids, they have them parroting.  It's just not based on science, or developmental psychology, or anything.  It's a disaster.

You hit the nail on the head... which is why I'm a big fan of Jean Piaget. If you introduce kids to concepts too early it will hurt them and they will be discouraged. 

In my very humble opinion, kids in middle school and the first 2 years of high school should be focusing on high yield, memorizable stuff. They should be learning how to take notes. They should be learning how to read a paragraph or book and strain out the high yield info. They should have the multiplication table memorized up to 15.
There is also another factor here... Chinese parents have a different way with their children and they don't let up until the learning is learned. American kids are very soft (I'm sorry but it what I've observed). 
American kids have many things to distract them, video games, television, Netflix, and other non sense. This is why GM and Ford have stopped making sedans in this country, and why Honda and Toyota have crushed the United States. We cry about our border, but how can we protect the border when we can't even place our kids in these high level jobs? CEOs are having to get kids from India and China and Japan. It's not just because their labor is cheaper, ITS BECAUSE THEY PASS CALCULUS IN THE 10TH GRADE WHILE OUR KIDS ARE ON THE XBOX. We play too much with our kids' education, then blame others for coming here and taking jobs that our kids couldn't do if you held a gun to their heads. We yell at our kids for results, but we don't sit with them and tutor them. I wrote another post somewhere on this forum about seeing the CULTURE of education when I walk into the home of one of my Japanese, Chinese or indian friends' home. How can we compete with that?

As you can obviously see, my family is not from the US, but the weakness of the educational system is very apparent by foreigners who have a few years of grade school in other countries. Now they're talking about privatizing our schools, and making profits off the back of American children? This country is losing a war by putting all of it's resources in the wrong type of weapons. More money for bombs, military budget, etc... but not wanting to spend more money to reinforce our most powerful weapon, the minds of our children. I'm sorry this became political, I really am.