In the resource room for upper elementary, most of my students have recently become readers and still struggle with reading below grade level which has and continues to impede their access to the math curriculum. Many also have difficulty receiving instruction in the general ed setting and struggle to learn new concepts, because of learning differences and processing disabilities, even in the small group setting of the resource room. Given these learning differences, most of my students are working below grade level in math.

Each of these 'basics' is a daily struggle and even if they achieve one today, by tomorrow we often need to reteach to bring them to what they could do yesterday. Now we are being expected to write grade level goals for these students based on the Common Core Standards. The gaps from where they are to these non-negotiables are amazing, the gaps to grade level are daunting.

I am truly struggling to visualize how this all works for students with special needs. Many districts around the country are developing resources to assist general educators to align to the Common Core, but the resources are not yet showing up for students with special needs, yet the requirements to meet grade level Common Core Standards are already there.

What are the basic non-negotiable skills that all students should have?  I nodded while reading the list that Steve outlined. I would agree as others have mentioned that some basic measurement skills should be included as well as an understanding of area, perimeter, and volume of basic shapes. Formulas for area, perimeter and volume of basic shapes wouldn’t need to learned if these topics were understood. In addition to learning the basic facts I agree that the ability to mentally multiply by .1, 10, 100, 1000 is essential. If this were true, students would be able to mentally figure out the savings when an item was 10% off when shopping.

I believe we can’t stress enough the development of number sense and the ability to estimate flexibly.  I often talk to my students about the “gong” that should be going off in their heads when they get an answer that makes no sense, particularly when using a calculator or even an algorithm.  I’m thrilled when kids say “huh???” when they get an answer like that and try again.  Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

I also like the idea of a quick cumulative daily review to keep these important skills sharp.  

Lisa Russell wrote:

In a college level class, one day we were in groups comprised of K-12 math teachers and were discussing fractions. Within the discussion it was recognized that at the elementary and middle school levels fraction skills are sometimes given up on, because it's just to hard for some students. As a high school teacher I had the opportunity to share with the others why a solid foundation in fraction skills are critical to high school mathematics. Not only do they need the background knowledge of fractions for slope, proportions, and reasoning processes, they also need them for upper level coursework as well. Without a solid foundation of number sense, algebraic processes are much more difficult for students.

I do think teachers need more professional development to allow us to bring changing practices into our classrooms. We need support from each other and administration. We need to develop reasoning, communication, and a common vocabulary throughout our K-16 curriculum.