Core Content Standards (Cons)

As a nation, we are unifying our educational system and coming together with our state standards. Core Content Standards are bringing together the states that have adopted them so that, as a country, we can educate our children with the same curriculum across grades, across states. While this sounds great for people that move from state to state, there are some cons that go along with this unified curriculum plan.
If states adopt these Core Content Standards, we are giving control to the federal government of our education. In history, we have fought between church and state, but now there will no longer be that “state” component. We will be allowing the educational system to be governed by one group. By doing this, we are restricting teachers on adding their individual creativity and inventiveness through their lessons. In a way, we will be robbing educators on their individuality to implement uniqueness. With the federal government having control, more people will be trying to agree on standards and curriculum than just the state government. With this many people, are there ever going to be agreements among them? The more hands in the pot, the harder it is to come to conclusions together.
The CCS are for Kindergarten through twelfth grades, but what about pre-K? Preschool is the basis for the rest of our grades, and this is where they have that chance to learn to socialize, play, and explore. If we add rigor to these preschool children, when can kids just be kids? Some of the standards for the elementary grades are asking too much from the students. Children eight and nine years old are going to be expected “describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect”, as per the Language Arts CCS. I am not quite sure I know what they are asking of these third graders. Are some of the standards too strong and even unrealistic? Will there be an increase in referrals to special services if we are not getting our students to these levels? How are we prepared financially as a country to support those services?
However, states like Massachusetts and California are saying that the CCS are “lower” than their state standards. These states are essentially going backwards in their education if they are lowering them. Why would these states adopt? Money! The incentive for these states to adopt is the “Race for the Top” which had a monetary reward for states that adopted the content standards this year. They will be sharing 3.4 billion dollars, but where’s the incentive to participate and implement these curriculum standards if certain states aren’t getting a piece of money? Those states that aren’t awarded could potentially cause the CCS to look badly for the students and teachers when test score results appear. It’s not necessarily the standards, but rather the lack of money as an incentive for participating after they have adopted the Core Standards.
Finally, there is currently little research for these standards. There is little research from pilot programs and schools that have implemented these standards for their effectiveness on education. If we don’t know or have research-based evidence that shows direct success, then how do we know they are for the best interest for our students? In our attempt to complete school reform in so many ways, let’s hope this is not a three-year wasted plan.