A Christian Worldview of Common Core Standards
Christal Klinger
EDU 520: Bishop
Current Issues WebQuest: Session 4
A Christian Worldview of Common Core Standards
The national Common Core standards assist in education by the use of a system of academic expectations students across the country must satisfy in order to move to the next grade level or graduate from high school. Consistency can occur because all students’ basic skills in English and math standards are evident. Why, therefore, are there concerns about the implementation and use of Common Core standards? To discern this question, assessment of concerns Christians and parents have related to the issue of the implementation and use of the standards are discussed first. Then an analysis
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They claim teachers will have to teach to a national standardized test that when given assesses the Common Core benchmarks, and the teacher’s ability to teach the expected information (Avramovich, 2014). One argument, suggests that an English teacher no longer teaches literacy and appreciation of knowledge from various classical texts, which contain religious references or potentially offensive material or cultural components. Instead, the English teacher must focus on the development of student’s skills regarding reading nonfiction texts (2014). These classic texts, Schultz (2016) states, guide learning towards a deeper understanding of the “truths of the human condition.” Furthermore, for teachers of Christian schools or those in secular education environments and homeschoolers, fear the standards will force them to follow these Common Core baselines so that students may continue to the next grade (Christianity today.com, 2014) without any flexibility or …show more content…
First of all, many individuals from diverse areas of expertise were involved in the development of these standards. The government did not create them in a vacuum as some critics would imply. For example, the state of Colorado had similar standards, aka Colorado Academic Standards, in place before the national Common Core began implementation. Thus, Colorado educators and standard makers assisted in advising and providing feedback during the development of national standards (Colorado Department of Education, 2014).(Should have a second example) There are numerous other examples, but the focus here is that there are contributions made by many skilled individuals in the formation of these standards. Now, from a Christian perspective, one may wonder how this is relevant. It is important to point out that in Hebrews 13:17 (New International Version), guides believers to “have confidence in...leaders and submit to their authority because they watch over you as those who must give an account.” The leaders referred to in Hebrews 13:17 can be applied to the context of Common Core, providing a set of standards, when used as a guide for education, becoming accountable to themselves “and to God” (Romans 14:2). This knowledge of leadership and the standards is essential to discern by Christian