https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:50:34 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571176 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:24:58 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571176@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: I think when you ask at a basic fundamental level "What are the common core state standards" they are literally just a set of standards. Adding in those other topics (while I understand the policy and politics of how they are tied) are not standards. </p> <p>A lot of those other topics were already in motion in a lot of areas before CCSS. Some have changed and taken a new form since then. I agree they are all related in how they impact education but the standards are just the standards. For example standardized testing has been going on for a while with whatever standards a state had. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571160 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:14:14 +0000 Happygal 1571160@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: glad you enjoyed it. Ravitch is pretty bad ass. (Off topic question--are there any educational blogs that you like to follow? You seem like you may be in the know and could help me add some good ones to my list!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571158 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:12:39 +0000 Happygal 1571158@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: "But separate issues are the materials aligned to the standards, the curriculum used to teach the standards, testing on the standards, data collection on student performance, teacher evaluation based on student performance."</p> <p>But you cannot untangle CCSS and all those things you mentioned. You simply cannot. History has proven this and we're seeing it happening right now. </p> <p>We both agree that national standards could be a good thing for many of the same reasons. I'm not a total CCSS hater, despite how I may be coming across tonight! I'm passionate about the politics of education and teachers having a voice, so it's a hot topic for me. I would really love to see a well-thought out, carefully crated set of standards be implemented; I sadly don't believe CCSS is it. </p> <p>And I think the content, for the most part, of CCSS (I'm most familiar with the reading standards) builds nicely from year to year and is good. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571152 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:08:24 +0000 swedishfish 1571152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: Annual Professional Performance Review. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571136 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:03:43 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571136@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: definitely agree poor teaching is still out there. It's kinda a chicken or the egg type discussion. At least with common standards the teachers know WHAT to teach and then we need to follow up to make sure they have training and support to know HOW to teach them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571127 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:00:39 +0000 Happygal 1571127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: It's not going to change overnight, sure, but why not focus on growing the process of teacher training and certification than creating standards right now? The focus is totally out of whack. You can have outstanding materials and standards, but that's not going to make a world of a difference if you don't have the best of the best teachers out there. Part of my job is going to schools around the country and observing materials being used in the classroom. I can tell you that even in schools where CCSS aligned standards are in place, poor teaching is taking still happening.</p> <p>And yes, the article is one side. But Ravitch is extremely well respected in education, and her points are not merely her own opinion. She has no dog in this fight, so to speak. She addresses why people cannot speak about the process of the CCSS: "From the outset, the Common Core standards were marked by the absence of public participation, transparency, or educator participation." That's a problem. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571114 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:56:39 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swedishfish: sorry what is APPR? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571110 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:55:24 +0000 swedishfish 1571110@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: true, Common Core and APPR have become intertwined here though as they were implemented at the same time. APPR is related to Common Core though because New York received RTTP money for its implementation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571106 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:52:38 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571106@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swedishfish: but testing is not something new. Again, I feel there are often too many issues tied up under "common core". I believe the standards themselves are good. </p> <p>But separate issues are the materials aligned to the standards, the curriculum used to teach the standards, testing on the standards, data collection on student performance, teacher evaluation based on student performance. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571103 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:49:51 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571103@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swedishfish: you are right. The standards are not raising the bar that much in many states. But in other states they will have to make a huge jump. There was a grade given to each state on prior standards and their alignment to the common core. I will see if I can find links. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571101 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:48:43 +0000 Anagram 1571101@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: great article </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571099 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:48:26 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571099@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: I absolutely agree common standards is just a drop in the bucket. Things mentioned like better pay and respect for teachers and respect for an education is a huge culture shift we need. But that's not going to happen overnight. </p> <p>@Happygal: not a bad read but obviously one sided. It significantly glances over the actual development, review, and adoption process of the standards. I agree that the timeline and story includes a significant piece on the testing component, I do believe the standards were developed, reviewed and adopted separately from a test in mind. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571091 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:45:44 +0000 swedishfish 1571091@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: I took calculus in high school so these standards aren't raising the bar THAT much in New York anyway. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571086 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:43:41 +0000 swedishfish 1571086@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: New York is pretty much all about Common Core testing as our teaching evaluations are now partially based on how the students perform on the Pearson-developed Common Core exams. I proctored the ELA for an elementary grade this year and I couldn't come up with appropriate answers for a few questions. The standards themselves aren't the glaring issue. We SHOULD have national standards but the focus on testing is absurd...at least in New York. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571072 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:37:23 +0000 Happygal 1571072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U: This is a long, but very well-written, article about CCSS and why things like the history of their development and testing are an integral part of the discussion of these standards. </p> <p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/01/18/everything-you-need-to-know-about-common-core-ravitch/" rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/01/18/everything-you-need-to-know-about-common-core-ravitch/</a></p> <p>By the way, one of my jobs is working for a company that is a big player in publishing and creating curriculum materials. I like the reading standards (although there are a few things I would like to change), but I cannot ignore the politics of it all. I love talking education--it's my life! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core/page/2#post-1571069 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:36:56 +0000 Anagram 1571069@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: I agree with your points about why common core is good. </p> <p>But I think for it to work and be successful, the American public would need a gigantic cultural shift--- if people want longer school hours or more school days in a year, they would need to be okay with higher taxes (property, state, federal, somewhere) to pay for the added hours and days. The average joe on the street with no educational training would have to realize that they aren't experts on what works in teaching just because they attended school themselves, just as I am not a doctor just because I go to a yearly checkup-- and they would have to be okay with letting teachers do their job.</p> <p>Parents would have to stop grade grubbing on behalf of their kids and start accepting that not everyone is going to make an A. If the parents in my current school district are indicative of the rest of the US, I can tell you that parents don't want a challenging curriculum, they just want their child to have an A. Not from earning it, but from "extra credit" and silly projects and makeups and redos.</p> <p>If the US wants to compete with South Korea and Denmark, our entire society would have to radically change how we think about students and teachers. And I just don't see that happening right now when I read articles about education or talk to people that are not in education. In Korea, high school students stay at school till 10 pm studying. Can you imagine the outrage if a teacher in the US assigned enough work that it would take all night?</p> <p>Having a set of national standards is nice but just a drop in the bucket of everything we need to do to make our kids globally competitive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571066 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:36:07 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571066@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swedishfish: I don't disagree that the publishing companies (Pearson for example) has their hand in a lot of things. But I don't understand how that ties to issues with the standards. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571065 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:35:04 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: ok yes I think you're right. It's 15% supplemented. This was to help allow for room for states to still teach local topics and anything else they wanted. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571054 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:31:04 +0000 swedishfish 1571054@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: Pearson has their hands in EVERYTHING related to education in New York State. They make our teaching certification exams, our administrative certification exams (I had to go through as much security as an airport basically), our students' textbooks....and our students' exams. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571053 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:30:27 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: I don't believe how they were developed was wrong. What part are you not happy with? Do you have specific standard examples? </p> <p>And yes I realize publishing companies don't literally recreate material for each state but the books published were in the past special for each state. Now they are trying to slap an "aligned with common core" onto it and sell it to every state. Unfortunately a lot of these "aligned" materials are really just old materials relabeled </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571049 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:26:51 +0000 Happygal 1571049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: Publishing companies do not create materials unique for each state. Even if you believe the content of the standards is age appropriate and rigorous, I don't believe you can or should divorce the fact that how they were developed was wrong. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571039 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:23:42 +0000 Anagram 1571039@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: actually, the 15% rule, as I understand it, means that states can add 15% more standards to the common core but that they have to adhere to the rest of the common core. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571011 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:13:48 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571011@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Here are the two main arguments for why I think these are needed</p> <p>1) This improves our education system as a whole to align us with practices of other countries to have common standards. For military kids who move state to state this is huge. Third grade will have the same topics across the country. Also it helps standardize what a high school diploma means and this helps students for college and the workforce. Now a diploma from West Virgina should be comparable to a diploma earned at a high performing big city school. </p> <p>2) These standards were developed starting from the top (aka graduation college and career readiness levels) and developed backwards. Even in high performing states there is a big disconnect between students graduating high school and knowing what they need to know to be gainfully employed or enter college without remediation. So if we are going to get graduates to be where they need to be to succeed after school we know what they need along the way to get them there. Obviously there are still exceptions for students with disabilities etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1571002 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:06:46 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1571002@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: I think we have to be open for change for our kids though. If you talk to our grandparents they will be shocked that we even were taking algebra and geometry in school. But we stepped up to the plate and learned those topics. Now we are asking our children to be able to step it up again (calculus?) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1570997 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:03:53 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1570997@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: yes publishing companies (like Pearson) saw a huge chance to make money with common core. In the past they had to develop materials and tests unique for each states standards. Now they have a unified set of standards that they can sell to all 50 states. But that doesn't make the common core standards bad.</p> <p>@Mrs Green Grass: I would also disagree that this is just another way to "test". The content of the standards and the tests to test the standards are two separate topics. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1570993 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:00:39 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1570993@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: just to clarify two points:</p> <p>- states could "adopt" common core and change (or add/delete) up to 15-20% (I forget the percent exactly).<br /> - secondly the common core assessment is a second part that states where not required to adopt or participate in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1570704 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:32:50 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1570704@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: .@Torchwood: I agree. Most of the people I know, yes. I can't speak for all homeschoolers. But I know that for many some of the main reaons they homeschool is because they aren't happy with the school system. Many states have pretty strict laws regarding homeschoolers too, and so it defintiely affect thems! </p> <p>@Torchwood: Ahh I didn't know homeschool! Although that's not our plan for our family, I have a softspot in my heart for it. It can be such a great thing! </p> <p>@blackbird: YES. definitely agree. That is one reason I'm thankful for the way I was educated - my mom catered to each of our individual learning styles! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1570654 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:13:52 +0000 Torchwood 1570654@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: Further googling confirms that. The principal of the school in question defended it as conforming to CC's encouraging "real world texts." So not directly CC, just an unfortunate consequence. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1570643 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:07:49 +0000 sunny 1570643@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: thanks for the great explanations! I also think it would be a great blog post :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-exactly-is-common-core#post-1570640 Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:06:56 +0000 Happygal 1570640@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: I promise that CCSS has nothing about pimps in it! They encourage reading real-world texts, so perhaps that how a teacher decided to do that? I did read the the test by Pearson basically had product placement in it and weird scenarios like a talking pineapple. </p>