Common Core Swun Math and its Impact on Student Learning

Teaching is an evolving profession. The challenges and demands teachers face today are greater than ever. With ever-increasing testing and result-oriented learning, how teachers teach is shifting. The traditional call and response methods of teaching are fading. Teaching is using far more interactive, hands-on, experiential, and technology-based methods. This is clear, especially in the subject of math.

There are generally two types of teachers in schools today, those in favor of the old-school method to lecture kids with a drill of information and technique format that preaches practice (how they were both taught and instructed on how to teach), and another, ever-growing group that believes a more creative approach is needed to engage students. And the creative approach is becoming more common. One common core curriculum called Swun Math uses the less traditional and new approach. Swun math was created by Si Swun. Swun is an immigrant, English learner who struggled with math as a student. As a classroom teacher, he drew upon his experiences to ensure incredibly high levels of success for a diverse student population. This curriculum is a step sideways from the traditional learning I grew up with, which was a blackboard with equations and lots of practice following the specific guidelines and methods my teachers spoon-fed me. Swun Math and their Curriculum focuses on real-life application. So many times, I can remember solving equations and wondering how this would ever apply to my life. I didn’t see my parents balancing equations and trying to find the value of ‘X.’ The goal and aim of Swun math is to allow students to think mathematically beyond the lesson of the day. To see math in their daily lives and apply it in a real-world way. Swun Math is rooted in a dynamic lesson design, embodying best teaching practices that incorporate student-driven learning. Students learn math best when they approach the subject as something they enjoy. “Speed, pressure, timed testing and blind memorization poses high hurdles in the pursuit of math”, according to Jo Boaler, professor of mathematics education at Stanford Graduate School of Education.

As the income inequality gap grows in this country, how teachers address students entering the school year with varying degrees and levels of conceptual understanding is a challenge. How do you make sure the student who comes in with a private tutor who will easily meet standards, will learn alongside those whose families don’t talk about math or struggle with the topic themselves? The idea of Swun Math is to close the gap between these two students. For example, at Thomas Jefferson Elementary, Swun Math program propelled Jefferson from ranking among the lowest in the district in mathematics (56 percent proficiency) to taking the lead with 87.2 percent of the students reaching proficiency levels on the California Standards Test. Cheryl Mosier, an Earth Science teacher from Colorado, says she’s most excited about the Common Core because it’ll be a challenge for all students, not just the high-achieving students, which Mosier and her colleagues say will go a long way to closing achievement and opportunity gaps for poor and minority children. If students from all parts of the country — affluent, rural, low-income or urban — are being held to the same rigorous standards, it promotes equity in the quality of education and the level of achievement gained.

"There is a common and damaging misconception in mathematics – the idea that strong math students are fast math students," said Boaler. In education, we often praise those students who are quick to memorize and recall, especially in math. Think about time tables, memorizing equations, and being able to do so quickly and accurately. In doing so, math can become a stressful and irksome subject for many students. Those who have a harder time memorizing might consider themselves bad at math, when they just need a little more time and practice. Student perceptions about ability are formed early, and across the board, too many students feel like they are bad at math because it takes them longer to understand new concepts. Fortunately, said Boaler, “the new national curriculum standards known as the Common Core Standards for K-12 schools de-emphasize the rote memorization of math facts. In English, a student reads and understands novels or poetry, without needing to memorize the meanings of words through testing. They learn words by using them in many different situations – talking, reading and writing. No English student would say or think that learning about English is about the fast memorization and fast recall of words," she added. We have traditionally treated math as an isolated subject- very black and white, little room to discuss and engage—the change is likely welcomed by teachers and students. With common core curriculum like Swun Math, the subject can become alive and engaging again.

Common core curriculum like Swun Math has several advantages. Hands-on activities allow students to understand a concept or relationship. When students can explore a concept, and immerse themselves in that content, they emerge with a full understanding that lasts well beyond the testing season. The curriculum expects students to understand what they are doing so they can use and apply mathematics when they leave the classroom. This is different from the cookie cutter math problems I remember doing. Math was always something I did, rather than something to think about and explore. It is exciting that students can view this complex subject through a different lens. And who doesn’t want their children to think about what they are doing. We want to teach them how to think, not just what to think. We want to give them the tools, not just the answers. The future is going to need problem solvers. Not just problem doers. The way that common core curriculum is set up is forced to make students think and learn in a way that their parents did not. Naturally, there is some tension between what has been, what was, and what will be. The challenges ahead for the world will need critical thinking and problem-solving. And with new problems, we won’t be able to use old ways of thinking.

In other words, ‘The Common Core standards explicitly focus on those properties to prepare students for success in college and beyond, to real life critical thinking. And because of the math standards, you can expect to see your child learn a better balance between procedural fluency (the “how”) and conceptual understanding (the “why”), so that she will develop the ability to apply mathematics in solving all kinds of problems. And that’s a skill that will serve your child for the rest of her life’.

Do you remember how you were taught math? I do. Most American math classes follow the same pattern, a ritualistic series of steps so ingrained that one researcher termed it a cultural script. Some teachers call the pattern “I, We, You.” After checking homework, teachers announce the day’s topic, demonstrating a new procedure: “Today, I’m going to show you how to divide a three-digit number by a two-digit number” (I). Then they lead the class in trying out a sample problem: “Let’s try out the steps for 100 ÷ 5” (We). Finally, they let students work through similar problems on their own, usually by silently making their way through a work sheet: “Keep your eyes on your paper!” (You).

By focusing only on procedures — “Draw a division house, put ‘100’ on the inside and ‘5’ on the outside, etc.” — and not on what the procedures mean, “I, We, You” turns school math into a sort of arbitrary process wholly divorced from the real world of numbers. Students learn not math but, in the words of one math educator, answer-getting. Curriculum like Swun Math moves away from this cut and dry teaching to a more expansive view of thinking about math. Growing up, math was something that seemed like a task. Something to do, check off my homework list, and then forget. Memorize enough to do well on the test, and then dump that information and gather new information. I was never taught how to think about math. Just how to do it.

The tough guidelines of common core were set out to match the expectations set for students in higher-performing rivals like Singapore and South Korea. The standards would not only catapult American students ahead of other developed nations but would also help close the gaps between low-income students in the U.S. and their wealthier counterparts. The Common Core would drive publishers and test-makers to create better curricula and better tests and push school districts and teachers to aim for excellence, not just basic proficiency, for their students. And the guidelines would arm every principal, teacher, and parent with the knowledge of exactly what it takes to get into college and succeed.

The growing economic gap in this country needs addressing, and education is one of the first places we close the gap. This curriculum will make sure that students are challenged at the same level, not just the bare minimum that each school establishes. It puts pressure on teachers to make sure that these standards are met but gives them flexibility in lesson planning. The level of accountability has increased. The common core curriculum is important for the future of America. Improving math skills and comprehension is important to the future of our students and our countries productivity among other nations. Education is the key to success, and reforms in the education system introduce new ways of thinking with Common Core Curriculum like Swun Math. Pushing students to achieve in these subjects is necessary to their long-term success as individuals and a collective whole. While some might have reservations about the pressure put on students, I think we will always be pleasantly surprised when students rise to the challenge set before them. The first thing teachers can do for their students is to empower them to believe that they have the capabilities and capacity to be mathematicians. Enough students already have preconceived notions about these topics, to give them the confidence to succeed is to get them interested and hooked on learning these subjects. The curriculum and teaching methods must engage students in a meaningful way. Common core shakes up the way we have traditionally viewed and thought about math. Students are diving deeper into the material than ever before.