My Book
About My Book
Metric System Yes, Common Core No: A Letter to American Parents, Educators, and Politicians from a Mathematics Teacher, published in 2016
Authored by Dillon M Lobban EdD
In 2015, United States (US) students, ranked 40th and 25th respectively in mathematics and science among 72 countries. Three years before, in 2012, US students ranked 30th in mathematics and 24th in science. The Common Core curriculum was implemented in over 45 States in 2010 and is still operational across the country. These poor rankings by US students are at the tail end of a documented decline in theses two subjects for over 35 years. And yet, the US spends more money per student than all other countries. In his book, Dillon M. Lobban, EdD, mathematics teacher, teacher trainer and curriculum designer compared the curricula and education environments of other countries and finds the reason the US continues to be so far behind. His analysis shows that the US, Myanmar and Liberia are the only countries in the word still using the convoluted medieval imperial system of measurements in school curricula. All other countries use the metric system and the Celsius scale. He has determined that the real culprit in the decline of math and science education in the US is the continued use of the United States Customary System (USCS) i.e. the imperial system of measurements, with over 20 asymmetric measurements units. The leading countries in math/science education utilize the simpler, easy to use and symmetric metric system with only three units and the Celsius scale in school curricula. Lobban argues that the Celsius scale would enable US students to start algebra in the first grade as does Russia. It was Russia, a metric system country, which shocked the US with the launching of Sputnik in 1957, making it the first satellite to orbit the earth.
In 2009, the US Department of Education pledged $5 billion to states, to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to improve mathematics education, without piloting nor field testing. Lobban has evaluated these standards through feedback from teachers, parents, students, and educational professionals, and finds them awfully deficient. Instead of experiencing the joy and pleasure of mathematics, American students are confused and frustrated to the point of being in tears.
In his book, Lobban lays out the solution of the two issues, the US precipitous decline in mathematics and science and the opportunistic implementation of Common Core and suggests practical solutions. He suggests scrapping the CCSS and default to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NTCM) Process Standards, with infusions of metric system elements. He argues for an immediate implementation of a ten-year country-wide phasing in of the metric system and the Celsius Scale while phasing out the USCS and the Fahrenheit scale.
Lobban’s book is written to be a resource for information, content and pedagogy for teachers and parents to bring joy and pleasure to mathematics and science. He advises parents how to become advocates for their children’s success in K-12 mathematics and science education.
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