The Wonder of Math

DID YOU KNOW?

State Standards are the most important guideposts for K-12 math instruction in America's schools. State standards describe what should be taught in public schools, although they usually leave school districts and individual teachers significant leeway in how to teach. They also provide private schools, charter schools, and home schools with a set of guidelines to promote quality math education for all students.

The Problem:

A Monopoly of poor math performance

The need for new k-12 math standards...

The US Spends the most on education, yet US 15-year-old students rank 34th in math performance globally.

Of US states are heavily influenced by a single set of math standards that are unclear, highly politicized, and lack rigor

is the average national 8th grade math proficency rate in the United States according to the 2024 NAEP assessments.

America's most used math standards, the Common Core Math State Standards (CCMSS), fail students. The report cited below, from April 2021, details how the popular curriculum omits basic tenets of science, including the scientific method, and provides recommendations to correct deficiencies in the CCMS.

https://www.nas.org/reports/climbing-down/full-report

Roadmap to restore math literacy

Clear Standards with content

Better professional development

Teachers become Content Experts

Better student learning

FREEDOM IN EDUCATION PARTNERS WITH NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS TO CREATE NEW MATH STANDARDS

Freedom in Education, with the National Association of Scholars, is proud to introduce the Archimedes Math Standards. Freedom in Education, through our Teacher Coalition, has co-authored standards, created a corresponding framework, and has begun the creation of aligned lesson plans. The standards, framework and lesson plans are all available, at no charge, to public school districts, private schools and homeschools.

The standards, framework and lesson plans are all available, at no charge, to the public.

The Solution

The Archimedes Math Standards

A model for K-12 State Math Standards

Rigorous, Content-rich Standards

Provides full Prek-12 foundational scope and sequence.

Teaches mental math in K-6 to build number sense.

Allows for teacher flexibility in pedagogy.

Appropriate scaffolding that cultivates math literacy beginning in kindergarten.

Focuses on standard algorithims for efficiency and understanding.

Provides students with interdisciplinary connections.

Download the Franklin Science Standards PDF

Why the name?

Archimedes, the great mathematician of antiquity, perfectly embodied this dual nature of mathematics. He was deeply committed to mathematical discovery, deriving an early approximation of π and developing methods that would later influence calculus. Yet he also applied these abstract principles to practical challenges, designing machines like the Archimedes' screw and creating ingenious defensive systems for his city of Syracuse. He understood that mathematics was both a worthy subject of contemplation and a powerful tool for solving real-world problems.

A teacher and parent's perspective

"The clarity of the Franklin Standards will lead to clarity in teacher training and professional development. They will become confident content experts capable of confidently transferring knowledge to their students"
- Kentucky Teacher

"The objective for an activity is critical. The Franklin Standards solves that problem by focusing on the content that students should acquire upon completing a lesson or unit. As a result, assessing a student's understanding of the content is much more feasible and measurable"
- Tennessee Teacher

"The content is great and the rationale is fantastic"
- Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Professor, University of Florida College of Medicine and Surgeon General of Florida

A Comparison of Clarity

2.NBTB.7. Add and subtract within 100, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method. Understand that in adding or subtracting three-digit numbers, one adds or subtracts hundreds and hundreds, tens and tens, ones and ones; and sometimes it is necessary to compose or decompose tens or hundreds.
- Common Core Math State Standards

3.1 Add three-digit whole numbers to 1,000 with regrouping using the
standard algorithm.
3.2 Subtract three-digit whole numbers within 1,000 with regrouping using
the standard algorithm.
- Archimedes Math Standards

The Common Core standard overcomplicates basic addition and subtraction of three-digit numbers by using 67 words to describe vague and inconsistent methods and strategies. As a result, it confuses teachers and makes it difficult for parents to hold them accountable for their children's math education.