Calculators

[Bill McCallum]

Responding to mmazzucco’s question, my understanding is that the common assessments will allow selective calculator use. If the current plans hold to have the assessments be at least partly online, then it would be possible to have an online calculator available or not question by question.

[Eric]

When looking at the standards in K-5 (more specifically 3-5), it seems that calculator use is not recommended at all. The standards focus so much on number sense, fluency, and computing based on base ten understanding and properties of operations that it really seems backwards to then hand a student a calculator on an assessment. Not that students in these grades should not have ANY experience with calculators, but calculator use seems more appropriate for middle school and high school when students are computing larger numbers and with radicals, and graphing. Do you foresee the PARCC assessment limiting calculator use to only 6th grade and up?

[Bill McCallum]

I don’t have any inside info on this, but your conjecture that they will limit calculator use to Grades 6 and up seems reasonable to me. I also agree that in the K–5 classroom calculators might find a place even if they are not on the assessments. Of course it depends a bit on what you mean by a calculator. My guess is that the online assessments will provide various tools, possibly including number line tools in Grades K–5 that could be seen as calculators of sorts.

[Leandra]

This link might be helpful:

Calculator policy from PARCC

http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCApprovedCalculatorPolicy-July%202012.pdf

[Eric]

Thank you, Leandra.  I have been looking for a definitive answer, and there it is.  They don’t make that file that easy to find on their web site.  At least I haven’t been able to find it.

[MLorimer]

Okay…so I’m wondering if there’s any further “news” on using calculators. I’m helping some teachers plan for next year, and they’re pretty fixated on this issue. My thought is that since CCSSM is aimed at college/career/workforce readiness, we should be asking ourselves if a calculator would be a likely tool if the problem being solved were a real world situation. For example, I do my financial figuring with a calculator because it makes a lot more sense than scribbling on scrap paper.

Thanks, y’all.

[Bill McCallum]

Nothing new that I know of, but I think you can sign up for news updates from both PARCC and SBAC.

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