In 2009, governors and state commissioners alike came together to formulate the development and implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Through membership organizations such as the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) (http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/), they were able to create a system that represented a clear-cut caliber of expectations meant for students in kindergarten to grade 12. Over the past several years, new amendments have been added to keep up with the standard that 48 states have adopted into their school systems, although the adoption of the policy was voluntary (http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/). Despite majority of the states in the U.S. having decided on the policy already, there has been conflict amongst the parents of the children who are subject to the rigorous and exhausting amount of tests they must take to keep up with what is fixed into their school systems. The argument against test-taking is a controversy in itself as many believe …show more content…
With over one million signatures and comments from parents against the program, there has been little progress with the disputes they have made. Some claim that education should be left entirely out of the hands of the government, with little to no interference in how classrooms are run or taught. The belief that the education of a child is best left in the hands of those closest are the best to make the decisions, rather than federal acts. The Common Core is a substandard arrangement of benchmarks which negatively affect instructor assessments, school responsibility measures, instructional procedures, educational modules, subsidizing, intercessions for low-performing schools, and school tests
In the article, “Quarrel over Common Core: A Pennsylvania Primer” by Randy Kraft (2014), Common Core and the controversy surrounding it are discussed heavily. Kraft’s thesis is to inform the audience about Common Core and explain, impartially, the arguments for and against it. In 2010, Pennsylvania took on the Common Core Standards. These standards were put in place to ensure that students of Pennsylvania were on the same academic level by graduation, and enable them to be better equipped to compete in a global marketplace (p. 1).
“The Common Core: Far from Home” is an article that discusses the discrepancies of the common core standards, which is one of the most significant changes in our educational system. One of the reasons is that the shift to move to common core was so quiet that 79% of American voters knew nothing about it. The author states that saying that common core is based off of standards is true but can be misleading because the standards are not a curriculum and it is left up to school districts to figure out the details. However, the standards come with a testing program that is more rigorous than the NCLB act of 2001.
Many school districts and teachers have openly stated they do not agree with the Common Core standards and wish they did not have to implement them, but to get the funding the school needs they do. With curriculum changes currently happening all around the country, wherever the reader is have heard about the upcoming changes and have formed their own opinion on it. This is the closest anyone could get to the Colorado situation without actually being there. Common Core is such a controversial topic that many people think over reaches the federal governments grasp on education (CBS, 2014, para. 22). The states hold the power of education, which is why, up until now in history, there have been no national standards.
Explanation: This important because the backers of CCSS believe if that the general public could understand exactly what the standards are, there might be more support for them. Only seventeen percent of Americans who supported Common Core and the remainder was either confused or thought it was an umbrella for many topics other than education (Simon) This all connects back to my argument that the debate has spun out of control fueled by both sides, with the public stuck in the middle trying to grasp some understanding of CCSS. Analysis to compare of what is driving the resistance Politics, money, power
Sawchuk discusses the massive task of getting all the public school K-12 teachers ready for the standards. Professional development and the roles of the states and school districts are reviewed. This article is clearly demonstrates the amount of work it will involve to make the Common Core Standards a reality across the United States. Wilhoit, G. (2012). Make-or-break state action.
Why Common Core Standards Should Be More Common Why would students not want to be on a level playing field in their education? Why would they not want to be able to move seamlessly between states? These opportunities are given to students by Common Core. Although many opponents may say that these standards are a barrier of creativity, the Common Core Standards being accepted in all fifty states would help America, because it would have teachers across state borders instructing similar lesson plans, it would decrease the achievement gap, and it would better prepare students for college and the workforce by teaching them the needed materials for their futures.
“When the Common Core first caught public attention in early 2010, it seemed like an unstoppable locomotive… As I write in the summer of 2014, the prospect is a bit different. That locomotive is nowhere to be seen and may be lying on its side in a dry gulch”(Wood 29). Common Core started off strong however, after uncovering all of the problems that lie within it, it has become more of a problem than a
Nevertheless, schools are facing hard times and taking the loss right where it hurts, the pocketbook. Many states signed up for the new curriculum within only two months, which was not nearly long enough to make sure that the new learning standard was fit for them. By signing up, these states agreed to buy tests and upgrade their technology to administer the tests. All of this added up to thirty dollars per student, more than what half the states can afford. “Common Core Causes Collateral Damage” reveals, “Just last month, Maryland announced it would need $100 million to get schools up to speed to administer the tests”(McShane, 2).
Opt Out is a movement that is addressing the option of not having a child participate in standardized testing. This is part of the No Child Left Behind program and addresses the way standardized testing distorts and corrupts K-12 classrooms perception. A growing numbers of parents, teachers and students are questioning the value of federal, state and district testing. Opt Out is stating that standardized testing results have shown that it is not having a positive effect on preparing students for college. This subject is important not only because our group is comprised of a soon to be mother and a mother of a teenager but the overall effect on the educational system.
In my opinion, public educational curriculums and accountability guidelines should be established at the state and local levels where parents/guardians play an integral role in the decision making process. I do not believe standardized tests alone are an accurate measure of a student’s knowledge; their classwork, projects, and literary works also represent a student’s talent and capabilities. In agreement with Robert Schaeffer, a representative for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, that federal mandated programs such as the No Child Left Behind and The Race to The Top high-stakes tests foster the temptation to cheat because they serve as means to both punish and reward students, teachers, and principals based solely upon test scores (Schaeffer,
Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas
Constitution of 1791,” could give an examples of as to why certain people think that this is a federal interference. First, the “Common Core Octopus” shows the life being suck out of the people who are running the different sections in the U.S. Department of Education, and this is happening because the U.S. Department of Education is allowing the state and local communities to have all the power, to control the testing, data, etc. In Senator Lamar Alexander’s excerpts “Remarks before the National Education Association upon Receiving the National Association Friend of Education Award,” he says, “...the classroom teachers of America, who helped pass the law to fix No Child Left Behind, who helped reverse the trend toward a national school board, and who helped restore responsibility for children in 100,000 public schools to the states, to the communities, and to the classroom teacher where it belongs... For 15 years, your classrooms have been ruled from Washington, D.C…”.
Standardize testing has come under a great deal of scrutiny with regarding to correctness and fairness but are still widely used today. The United States have been the most criticized nation as it pertain to the school system. However, several programs sprouted out of the dirt such as physical fitness, core programs and programs for the gifted and not very gifted. The government added the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) which is designed to help less fortunate students improve their education
Recently, the Common Core State Standards were developed and kids were going to be tested more than ever. However, all of this education reform has been a failure because our testing scores have not improved, the testing makes children suffer, and it doesn’t improve how teachers teach. Education reforms has had little effect on our testing scores. The average score for a 17 year old student doing a reading test in the beginning of school is 285 and over 40
Nearly every student both in Cedar Park as well as across the country can relate to the nag of the upcoming testing season at the end of every school year. Standardized testing, typically in the form of state testing, college admission tests, and AP testing, “is designed to measure the extent to which a student has learned and their ability to apply that knowledge and skill” (Texas Educational Agency). My initial research on this topic brought me to the quote “[standardized testing has] created a definition of success and achievement using very limited metrics” (Camhi). As a student myself this raised many questions but most importantly the question that will be guiding this essay; how can standardized testing be improved and what alternatives