Common Core Standards

As far back as the settling of the United States, individual states have held the opportunity to govern the education within their state. This was reinforced by the Constitution of the United States, granting state governments the right to set the standards and goals for education within their own state. This inevitably led to a range of standards throughout the United States. As America is contending with other nations, her school systems have begun to lag. This among other concerns resulted in the implementation in Common Core Standards that were adopted nationally by the majority of states, including New Jersey. The Common Core Standards are a step in leveling the playing field for all students within the country with the goal of competing in a world where we are no longer the top competitors. The Common Core Standards were developed to provide students with the skills necessary to be successful in both college and their careers.

Common Core Standards, like many items in education, are controversial. On many levels there are both positive and negative aspects to adopting national standards in education. It is in our nation’s best interest to keep what is best for the students at the forefront of the debate. Teachers, administrators, parents, and the community alike hold opinions on the matter at hand. While educators in America are debating over the affects of common standards, children in China and other industrialized countries are preparing to compete with our children for the jobs of the twenty first century.

To begin, common national standards will provide students with the ability to have high quality education regardless of the state they live in. The majority of states, prior to Common Core Standard adoption, had lower expectations of their students. Implementing the national standards guarantees, to the best of the government’s ability, that each student is provided with the most appropriate public education. The national standards also ensure that teachers are aware of exactly what is necessary to teach students to compete in the global economy. Furthermore, parents are also able to be aware of what their children are being held accountable for and how they can assist in the process. Common Core Standards will allow for states that have been consistently behind in education when compared to other states, to theoretically catch up. No longer will students in rural or urban areas receive lower expectations are goals than students in wealthier states or districts. This provides students and teachers with the motivation to succeed.

Although there are numerous positive aspects of Common Core Standards, there are also several negative affects. In the most basic sense, national standards remove the running of education from the state into the hands of the federal government. Where as in the past districts were run locally and by the state, the federal government would have more power with national standards. This is related to the information taught as well as funding. Local municipalities are facing the fact that they may not hold control over how their school is run as well as seen and will make the choice to accept what the national government is planning or risk losing funding. The loss of teacher creativity is also discussed as a drawback of national standards. When the standards are clearly and directly states, it takes away from the teacher’s chance to use their own experience and creativity. There is also the idea that not only teacher’s ability to be unique is being under- minded by national standards, but students as well. Parents fear that their child’s chance to be unique within the education system may be diminished by common standards. Finally, states that feel their present standards are higher than the national standards fail to realize why they should chance. If it is found that a state’s expectations exceed that of the nation, who is the federal government to insist on the implementation of Common Core Standards?