Arizona, like other states, is in the process of introducing new math and ELA standards in place of Common Core. Whether this is a “rebranding” of CC, as has happened in other states, remains a question, but this part of the news article provides some hope that it won’t be just a renaming:
“Some of the key changes in math standards are as follows:
“All examples that provided guidance on how a standard should be taught were removed.
“Standards involving calculating money and time were added.
“Standards for Algebra I and II, which used to be in category, were divided to provide additional clarity.”
These changes are more than I’ve seen in the states that have simply rebranded CC. In fact, the removal of examples that provide guidance is a significant step. Although examples are just that and do not have to be followed, the interpretation by many school districts, publishers, and profession development vendors is to take the examples as gospel. Removing the examples will create much more flexibility in how the standards are to be taught.
Also, breaking algebra I and II into separate categories is important. Lumping all of algebra into one composite set of standards has resulted in confusion over what concepts to teach when. Now if they would remove statistical concepts from algebra…well, one can’t hope for too many miracles. But this is a state to watch at any rate.
traditional math 