We will be using a framework for our lessons consistent with the Common Core for Mathematics (CCSS-M), supplemented by the NCTM approach to mathematical reasoning and problem solving.

Common Core has a bad reputation and for good reason. In many professional development sessions and during my college years, right at the beginning of the roll-out of the Common Core, as a conceptual way of teaching. A student would see the same units/topics just extended each year with mastery expected after so many exposures over the year with a focus on varied teaching strategies that developed the why behind math, but was vastly different than the way previous generations had been taught.

So, why are you using this as the basis?

At the height of the Common Core in 2011-2012, 45 states fully adopted the Common Core Standards. Only four states never adopted these standards: Texas, Virginia, Alaska, and Nebraska.

Of the states that adopted the standards many have only revised, renamed, or tweaked their standards and dropped the official name "Common Core" because of the bad reputation. However, the underlying core concepts—focusing on critical thinking, evidence-based writing, and conceptual math—remain embedded in most modern state academic frameworks. Making the Common Core Standards the most logical to assist as many students, families, and support staff as possible.