I think Devlin has useful things to say about math education sometimes, but his argument here is terrible. The big mistake is conflating the CCSS eight basic m

I think Devlin has useful things to say about math education sometimes, but his argument here is terrible. The big mistake is conflating the CCSS eight basic mathematical principles with the actual curricula as implemented by the textbook publishers. There's a lot of crap being adopted, as publishers tack common core reference numbers on hasty edits of bad textbooks. Then there are all of non sequiturs in the article. Eric Mazur has success with IBL? Must be just the thing for first graders. Children in India with access to a computer taught themselves all kinds of interesting things without instruction? Sounds like a Common Core classroom to me.