A popular post on these pages is about the mathematical skill of estimation—of determining whether an answer is reasonable or unreasonable. We wrote it almost a year ago, and it continues to dominate our “most popular” lists. I pointed out that estimation is notoriously difficult to measure on a standardized tests, because kids just think it’s about rounding.
Isn’t standardized testing the point? I asked. In other words, why is estimation even in the Common Core if we can’t test it?
My answer, to myself, was that standardized testing isn’t the point at all.
But I actually thought the point was to improve classroom instruction by encouraging students to think a little deeper about problems they might encounter in the real world, not to perform better on a test. That’s what I hope this diversion into the detail beneath one of the third-grade standards has shown.
Now Joey Sagel writes in a blog post for the Illinois Principals Association, “If you observe many older students who went through elementary school before the Common Core standards were established, they have a shocking lack of number sense. As many a high school teacher will tell you, many students are not able or willing to answer the question, ‘Is my answer reasonable?’ They simply plug the numbers into a formula and cross their fingers that things will turn out right.”
That was the old way, of working on subjects that only suited a standardized test. Now, he says, students are working on material, like estimation and number sense, that, as we pointed out, can’t be reliably measured on a standardized test.
I see students focusing on deeper levels of understanding rather than just covering a lot of content. I see students spending more time persevering on a concept rather than just memorizing a procedure to get through 1-31 odd on a homework assignment and forget it immediately after the test. I see teachers working very hard to ensure that students will go forward with a solid foundation of mastery in key concepts that will not have to be taught and reviewed again and again.