Spanning the Grand Canyon

Today it became clear again just exactly how wide the gap has grown.  The gap of lacking mathematical understanding that has been compounded over the years.  No Child Left Behind forced teachers to continually raise test scores...to prove that more and more students were reaching proficient levels.  And in doing so, math learning has been masked with impressive percentages.  They say numbers don't lie, but alas, in today's classrooms, those percentages of yesteryear are being  proven wrong.

Our students math understanding has not increased as the percentages indicate.  What looks good on paper does not necessary look stellar in the math classroom several years down the road.  Students are stumbling and bumbling to connect the dots as the math objectives in the past were strictly taught to pass the test.  To get to that magical percentage goal.  To make AYP.  

I believe from what I have seen is that students' understanding, true understanding, of multiplication (and division) and fractions is lacking.  Without these concepts forming a firm foundation, the math at higher grade levels are crumbling.  Students literally cringe whenever a fraction makes an appearance.  Problems involving multiplication and/or division take more time then needed as calculators are sought or fingers are counted.  

As the Common Core is introduced to our nation's classrooms, spurring students to think more in depth, to analyze to find patterns, and to justify their thinking, these lacking concepts are creating a gap, making it hard for students to take this jump.  For some it is a simple bubbling creek.  Its not as overwhelming.  They simply have to get their feet wet before wading across.  But for many others, that span is as large as the Grand Canyon.  As they look down the deep, cavernous canyon, they quit before they can even begin.  They don't have the tools to tackle those abstract concepts such as functions, slope, approximating square roots, or Pythagorean's Theorem.

So the question is this...where does the teacher go from here?  What actions can she take to ensure that her students will be successful?  Does she simply ignore all the signs and try to get her students to jump across...thus plummeting everyone to their immediate demise?  Without offering skills and the correct tools, it doesn't seem like the logical choice to forge ahead and just keep going.  Hoping that by some shear luck they can make it across.  Or do we build a bridge, board by board, nail by nail, to be able to reach those abstract concepts that is our goal on the other side?  However, building a bridge has an extreme cost that not all teachers can afford to pay...time.  Building a bridge of remedial concepts takes time away from grade level concepts, thus widening the gap even more.  Or is the answer in trying to rig up a parachute and hope that the wind is blowing just right that we can glaze over the needed concepts just enough to get us across.  It's a lifeboat, and without the teacher constantly breathing life into the lessons, the student will sink as he moves on through his math education.

I want my students to be successful.  Not only in my classroom, or the next one they step into, but also in life.  But I only have so much time.  So is it best to run and jump, construct a bridge, or hope for a breeze?

Help.