Common Core State Standards

                                                Common Core Standards
                                                               By: Angela Gwathney

As the 2013-2014 school year has recently commenced there has been great debate in the recent curriculum changes across the country as a result of participating states adjusting their curriculum to meet the Common Core Standards. The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) led the development and continue the initiative of the Common Core State Standards. So far forty-five states have adopted the Common Core Standards. Such standards emplace uniform measures for grade levels k-12 in English language arts and mathematics. These standards that have recently come into effect do not tell teachers how to teach and or what specific lessons they should be teaching. Rather these standards guide schools to develop their curriculums in a unified manner. Common Core Standards also give teachers, students, and parents an idea of the state’s educational expectation at each grade level.

One of the incentives behind the Common Core Standards is due to American falling behind academically on an international scale. For example, in 2008 on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), American students placed 25^th in math and 24^th in problem solving out of thirty industrialized counties (www.nlmusd.k12.ca.us). The intent behind these standards being emplaced is so that graduates from high school poses the tools to successfully enter any two-four year college as well as the workforce. The Common Core Standards ensure that not only our students be prepared for their future but also that our communities be put in the best position to compete successfully in the global economy.

You may be wondering how such drastic changes will be assessed. Fear not, in the coming 2014-2015 school year assessments will be administered within educational systems of participating states. Next year all districts will have to partake in the one of the common assessments. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium are the two state-led consortia developed to assess the Common Core Standards. Although such drastic changes lay a game plan for school districts, teachers, and administrative personnel, these modifications have generated large concerns.

Due to the curriculums being made more rigorous, much feedback to these reforms has been made. Those who are in favor for the reforms feel that this only adds to their curriculums and is beneficial in giving their teachers specific direction with their lessons (www.sheboyganpress.com). Schools who already hold their students to relatively high standards seem to be unaffected by the recent curriculum changes. Some parents of children experiencing the teaching reforms feel that it is a positive attribute to the current curriculums emplace and want their children to be able to compete in a global market.

Questions also have been raised in regards to special needs students. In reading about the Common Core Standards and how it will affect those with special needs and ESL students, it remains unclear. The Core Standards cite states that, “the standards include information on application of the standards to these groups of students (National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State, 2010).” One grandparent went as far to say they felt there grandchild was potentially being tortured and traumatized to be taught to meet a test that may fail (www.courant.com).

In reading the Huffington Post, critics of the new reforms have reciprocated some harsh responses. One comment made stated that, “allowing the federal government at the throats of our young people is to disallow children the opportunity to know the unique American experience of liberty in a freewill republic (huffingtonpost.com).” Some people that have posted on the cite have gone as far to equate Obama administration to Hitler and dictatorship! Are these comments exceedingly harsh or spoken truths?

Personally I feel as though the Common Core Standards is a step in some sort of direction but as many people are, I am skeptical. The reality of it is that we need to take action in creating change. Remaining stagnant is doing nothing in making intellectual progression as a county. In these reforms coming about, I fear that the purpose of teaching and ensuring that student’s best interest be taken into account will be overshadowed by districts working to meet Common Standards. These reforms accompanied with recent tenure changes (in New Jersey particularly) have created strenuous school year for teachers. Will students continue to acquire knowledge or learn specific material that enables them to pass a standardized test? In solving one problem have we created another? I’m not sure. I think that we won’t no if any of the steps taken actually prove to be beneficial to our educational system. I hope that in that time, these Common Core Standards prove to be everything they say they are. If they fail, the younger generation may suffer. We as a nation may actually be making counter productive strides as opposed to constructing a globally competitive generation.

N.A., Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, The Common Core State Standards Initiative [The Rationale]. Retrieved from http://www.nlmusd.k12.ca.us/cms/lib3/CA01001758/Centricity/Domain/2892/112712_Rationale%20for%20the%20Common%20Core%20State%20Standards.pdf

Hertel, N., (2013, September 10).  Common Core standards becoming more common [News Article]. Retrieved from http://www.sheboyganpress.com.

National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State, (2010). Frequently Asked Questions [Informative Article]. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/resources/frequently-asked-questions

Megan, K., (2013, September 21). Common Core Standards To Change State’s Educational Landscape [News Article]. Retrieved from http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-common-core-0922-20130921,0,7892931.story?page=1.

Klein,R., (2013, September 11). 13 Extreme Statements Made About The Common Core Standards [News Article]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/common-core-extreme-statements_n_3908402.html