In case you didn’t have enough reasons to question the Common Core public school standards, Eric Owens of The Daily Caller highlights some interesting elements of Common Core-related math lessons.
Another week has gone by and, like clockwork, some more hilariously awful Common Core math lessons have oozed out of the woodwork.
This time, reports EAGnews.org, the culprit is Illuminations, an outfit created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and financially supported by the Verizon Foundation.
The Common Core-aligned lessons on offer at the Illuminations website are nothing if not illuminating.
Take, for example, the lesson plan entitled “How Could That Happen?” This math lesson for middle schoolers requires a math teacher to “engage students in a class discussion about whether or not they feel the results of” the 2000 presidential election were “‘fair.’”
A related lesson called “A Swath of Red” instructs teachers: “The election of 2000 was politically charged, so you should be prepared to address the issue. The merits of the electoral college [sic] are called into question during each presidential election, and some people have strong opinions.”
A similarly related lesson called “Why Is California So Important?” links students to a “CNN Student News” fact sheet that makes the incredibly dubious claim that the Electoral College exists because “some of the Constitution’s authors did not trust the ability of the common voter to make the ‘right’ decision.”
The actual math to be imparted in these lessons includes ratios, averages and “number sense.”