Here are my thoughts...A calculator is nothing more than a tool. Tools, as with anything when used in the appropriate manner are useful. If not, they inhibit the actual progress. Both the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium and the PARCC have decided to not allow calculators up through grade 5. In grade 6 they each allow a 4-function calculator on specific questions. The TIMMS test bans calculators in grade 4 and the NAEP only allows calculators on specific questions. So, if all those assessments that have been developed by massive consortium's with all the best minds working together don't allow calculators, why do we?
Here is why we might. If we eliminate the calculator from the assessments, why would we allow one in the classroom? This in turn will force our questions to involve lower numbers for easier calculations making the problems less rigorous and far less "real." There is merit to this argument. Real, honest merit.
The compromise...we use calculators only for those problems that involve realistic problems that the size of the numbers is inhibiting the learning. For example, data analysis on a large set of numbers where the goal is the process of the analysis not the number crunching. That is, if the standard you are assessing deals with calculations...no calculator. If the standard deals with a process of understanding...calculators may be allowed if the problem is in a real-world context. Math Practice 5 states calculators as one of the tools of mathematics. We cannot ignore the importance of a calculator. However, the more calculator use we allow, the less fluency we will see. This has to be a planned implementation of the tool.
To sum everything up:
- No calculators on elementary assessments except for the SBA Collaborative Question (that is the only question that is "real" enough.
- No calculators for homework.
- Calculators can be used on the Enrichment, Projects, and the SBA Collaborative question.
I agree and would add that the use of the calculator should not come before the mastery of basic math facts. That being said, the calculator should really not be present in the primary grades. At this point, the instructional focus should be on developing an understanding of the core functions of the basic mathematical processes. Bringing the calculator in could diminish from the depth of understanding with which students walk away.
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