2014 Articles

Fractions, Decimals, and the Common Core

Kreith, Kurt

At grade 7, Common Core’s content standards call for the use of long division to find the decimal representation of a rational number. With an eye to reconciling this requirement with Common Core’s call for “a balanced combination of procedure and understanding,” a more transparent form of long division is developed. This leads to the formulation of long division as a “recursive relation” and to more incisive insights into fractions and decimals than are typically developed as part of the school curriculum. The role of technology and some modern applications are explored.