Community Chat

[Lila Belle]

In the previous state where we were living the big objection to Common Core came from those counties where there were many home schoolers and Evangelicals who objected to evolution being taught, social studies, and the health education.

[Disneylandfan]

I don't know if they used them for a spring board but they are too many difference to the California State standards. I think the California standards were much better. Teachers, classroom teachers, actually had input on the CA standards. Common core standards were written by professors and governors -not elementary and high school teachers.

Some common core standards are inappropriate for the grade level they have been placed in. I teach the standards since that is my job but then I teach what I also know they will need to be successful at the next grade level. I think common core may fade away and states will go back to writing their own standards.

I'm not a fan of the CC standards at this point because I think our students were better off with our previous standards. It is going to be a huge money maker for publishers. When districts were saving money by not purchasing new materials every 7 years they will now have to buy new curriculum. Lots of money to be made.

[wildcat fan]

As an English teacher, I probably look at Common Core through a different lens than others who have posted here. I do have some major concerns:

1) My district's idea of training is to send teachers an email including a couple of links to websites. We're on our own!

2) My district hired one consultant to train the English department. She was a former elementary school math teacher who hasn't been in the classroom in several years. I've learned Common Core by researching, purchasing books, and attending out-of-town workshops. I don't think my colleagues have invested much of their time on this.

3) Local social studies and science teachers act like they're off the hook. All Common Core tests being considered by our state only test reading and math. Students may have to continue to take a state test for those subjects, but let's face it: The state test must be incredibly easy when kids who can't read or do basic math are scoring exemplary on science and social studies assessments. Common Core includes a shift to informational texts, but these two content areas at my school are watching more movies than ever.

4) Proposed state regulations do not require students to pass the Common Core assessments. No more passing the graduation exam in order to graduate! Yet teachers will be held accountable for those scores. How much effort do you think students will put into a test that really doesn't matter to them?

I could go on and on. Overall, I applaud the rigor of Common Core as opposed to my state's standards. However, I'm under the impression that my local officials are giving Common Core a short shelf life. Otherwise, wouldn't they be doing a better job training the staff? There's no way the majority of our students will pass Common Core assessments. Officials will not tolerate failing students, so the classroom assessments will merely be a watered down version of Common Core.

[Lila Belle]

In my state 60% of a teacher's evaluation is based on test scores. Is that the same where you teach, wildcat fan ?

That hardly seems fair to me.

[maryebrown_1]

I don't really give a rat's pattoot how kids are learning math, as long as they are learning it. I think they need to learn English! They know how to text, using shorthand, but most of them can't spell or form a cohesive thought let alone a sentence. They graduate from high school, with honors, yet when they go to college, they have to take remedial English (3 classes) before they get to the first College English credit course. They have to rely on grammar check/spell check on their computers to do the work for them. Thus, we are churning out illiterates in this country, and that is a sad waste of taxpayers money.

[Disneylandfan]

California kindergarten standards had patterning (a very important skill for reading and math), telling time using morning, afternoon, evening, graphing, naming days of the week, -just off the top of my head. Common core removed all those standards.

[skuggles]

On 4/19/2014 Burnsite said:

Phonics was up there with fluoride in the water during the 1950s as a controversial topic. I lived one summer in a beach rental owned by a conservative older lady, and half the books she had on the bookshelf were devoted to the evils of phonics and its connection to the Communist party and teacher's labor unions.

Nice to see it is more accepted now.

I knew how to read when I was very little, so phonics was a bit puzzling for me when I got to first grade. It came in handy, though, as I was able to take on complex reading a lot earlier. I was a very good reader from age three. I got into trouble at school for having a messy phonics workbook.

I've known a lot of people from that time just like that, but not about phonics.

[wildcat fan]

On 4/19/2014 Lila Belle said:

In my state 60% of a teacher's evaluation is based on test scores. Is that the same where you teach, wildcat fan ?

That hardly seems fair to me.

Yes. As a middle school teacher, our MAP scores may also be included in that 60%. It's difficult to prepare students for MAP. Most students are getting questions below or above grade level. There are rumors that some teachers are actually telling kids to bomb the fall assessment so that they will show growth by the end of the year!

[Buck-i-Nana]

On 4/19/2014 terrier3 said:

On 4/19/2014 Buck-i-Nana said:

On 4/19/2014 terrier3 said:

There was a big Common Core test boycott here in upstate NY.

Parents are pulling their kids out of testing - they say it's too stressful and difficult.

Is this happening in other parts of the country?

I grew up in New York state and they had the state wide regents exams at the end of every year. They were stressful, but it was part of the educational requirements to graduate and get your diploma. How much more stressful could the common core test be, or do they not do the regents exams anymore?

They still have Regents tests for High School.

My son is 30, so it has been a long time since he was in grammar school.

People were literally FREAKING OUT over these tests for grammar school students. They compared boycotting the tests to the Founding Fathers revolution against Britain. I'm not kidding.

One wrote in to the paper that they told their children that refusing the test was like Rosa Parks refusing to sit in the back of the bus.

Some school superintendents said that kids who opted out of testing had to sit and quietly read the test (nothing else) while the other students were being tested. A parents group is suing - they say this is child abuse to expect a 3rd grader to sit quietly for test time.

I wondered if this was just an upstate NY phenomenon.

I'm in Ohio now and all my grandchildren have had to sit for state wide tests in grade school since I think 2nd grade. These state wide tests were in place before common core. I wonder how many of the parents freaking out about these tests are even really aware of what the testing is comprised of or if they are simply reacting because it's coming down from the federal level?

[Marienkaefer2]

On 4/19/2014 maryebrown said:

I don't really give a rat's pattoot how kids are learning math, as long as they are learning it. I think they need to learn English! They know how to text, using shorthand, but most of them can't spell or form a cohesive thought let alone a sentence. They graduate from high school, with honors, yet when they go to college, they have to take remedial English (3 classes) before they get to the first College English credit course. They have to rely on grammar check/spell check on their computers to do the work for them. Thus, we are churning out illiterates in this country, and that is a sad waste of taxpayers money.

I agree with your first sentence.

But I disagree with the rest of your post; at least, that's not been my experience.

The students graduating with honors are getting scholarships, and many are applying to four year institutions. They have to write admissions and scholarship essays. It is some of the best writing I have ever seen.

The students who need the remedial classes are those who come from lower income schools and did not have a good foundation to begin with. In other words, maybe they just went to a c r a p p y school and didn't get the opportunity to learn well. Does that mean they should be denied access to postsecondary education if they have the drive to pursue it?

Maybe they have a learning disability, but that does not mean they can succeed in college. They just need extra help.

Or, many times they are returning adults. These are people who graduated high school, or maybe got their GED. They are now returning after several years working low income jobs/low skill jobs, entering into career/technical programs or degree transfer programs. They need the remedial help because maybe they never did well in those classes to begin with, or maybe after being out of school for so long they need a refresher on certain concepts.

I don't think money is ever wasted in this situation. Whatever the reasons, if providing a remedial class means these students can succeed, get better jobs, and become taxpayers themselves, then it is all worth it. Imo.

Now, on the other hand, we do need to look at elementary and secondary education, and how to improve the outcomes. But we haven't (as a country) been able to agree on that yet.