Hellobee Boards

@Mrs. Pen: I'll try to be succinct. *Try*

The Common Core is basically the first attempt our country has made at a standardized, nation-wide set of curricular goals. Basically, they are guidelines for what should be taught/learned in each subject at each grade level. Previously, each state has basically been a lone wolf, making up their own set of grade-level curriculum standards.

The biggest pro of the old state-led method was that each state could make appropriate goals for the student population they were working with. So a state like say...Texas, with it's super-high ratio of English Language Learners and huge, populous urban centers and "low income, inner-city" schools could make different standards than say....Vermont, a tiny state without any huge cities and with much fewer English language learners.

But that's also a con, in many people's eyes, because for the past few decades, the North east and north west have consistently outscored the Southern states and a lot of people in this country believe *all* students regardless of socioeconomic level, first language, etc should be held to the same standards.

Personally, I have nothing against the Common Core in theory--most other countries have a national set of curriculum goals. But as an educator, I really object to a lot of practices that have been rolled out along with the Common Core.

Maybe I'll make a Part 2. haha

All I know is that people are in a huff about the new math

And Part 3:

Our schools was chosen as a "test school" and got to do trial runs of the Common Core test that our state will be rolling out next year. I was a monitor in the test--6th grade language arts. I am not exaggerating at all when I tell you that some of the questions on the test were the level I was doing my freshman year in college.

For example, they had to read 2 non fiction articles about types of rocks. Then they had to watch a short video (the whole test is on the computer) about rocks. Then they had an essay prompt that said, "Using textual evidence, explain why the authors of articles 1 and 2 had different opinions from the scientists in Video 1. Address each author's motivation in writing the article and compare it to the motivation of the scientist in the video. Don't forget to use evidence from the text."

And it was timed. They had 45 minutes. Seriously...WTF. These are 6th graders. I was an english major in college and I wrote a million papers talking about an author's motivations and using textual evidence but I was 18-22! Not 11-12.

And that just happened last week.

@Anagram: ?!?! That is def NOT for 6th graders! And in 45 min!?

@Anagram: Well said!

I hope the pendulum swings back toward progressive education, but bottom line (the way I see it) is the teacher is the single most important factor, and until we value them more and make teaching a more prestigious field, I don't see our educational system making the progress it needs. I know that's a little off topic!

You know who is making a filthy amount of money from Common Core? Publishing companies. People saw the writing on the wall and began creating materials to show how their programs align with Common Core.

The standards are ok, but the politics and all the other garbage surrounding them makes them hard for me to swallow. I'm proud that Virginia has opted out.

@googly-eyes: preach it, sister!

@Anagram: you explain this well and make great points. Can I just point out a few things?

--States didn't really opt out as much as they opted in. The federal $$ part involved the Race to the Top funds. It was made clear that states that had adopted CCSS would be favored for Race to the Top money.

--Pearson stinks and their history is shady. They do hire teachers though to develop materials, but in regards to the test, I know teachers in pilot testing schools weren't allowed to use or even discuss the questions or results to inform their teaching.

Diane Ravitch is my hero about CCSS and its problems. If you're interested in reading more about it, just look her up!

@Anagram: We're giving it next week... And I am as frustrated with College Board as I am with Pearson and any other company that is making a profit from public education. Even copier companies make a killing from us. So frustrating! What state are you in?

@mrs. pen, yeah i don't know the whole scoop, but it was followed up with an anti-government anti-common core rant, so I just kind tuned it out..... I can't help but think that maybe if your child is behind in a few categories, it might be a good idea to implement or try out a new learning technique. People learn in all different ways and problem solving is often done outside the box in the real world.

It's not just the politics of it making people mad. The things I've seen with how they recommend teaching math are just bizarre. I genuinely can't even figure some of them out. The difficulty levels are causing issues too. It came up recently on a thread (http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/6th-grade-science-teachers-or-bees-with-6th-graders-pls-look) where a 6th grader is being asked to do things that I didn't do till at LEAST high school, and I was at a magnet school and pretty far ahead of most of my peers.

Also, some of the recommended materials mention topics that conservative parents (and in some cases all parents) find very age inappropriate/offensive. I know there was one that I saw that mentioned pimps in a 4th grade assignment, and parents were very angry that they were having to explain to their 4th graders what a pimp was.

The more I read about it, the more I think we'll homeschool longer than we originally planned, or try to go for a Montessori or something similar. Though since LO isn't even here yet, maybe things will settle down more by then.

@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.

@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.

@Anagram: just to clarify two points:

- states could "adopt" common core and change (or add/delete) up to 15-20% (I forget the percent exactly).
- secondly the common core assessment is a second part that states where not required to adopt or participate in.

@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?)

@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.

@Happygal: I don't believe how they were developed was wrong. What part are you not happy with? Do you have specific standard examples?

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

@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.