How do you feel about Common Core education?

by nonjwspouse 107 Replies latest social current

• 

  mrhhome

  Yes, there is some "conservative" dogma as well. Keep in mind, most of what is pushed as news and commentary is actually entertainment. True for both conservative and liberal view points.

  I will elaborate on "blindly accepted tenets" later. I am spending too much on this forum. But this topic got me fired up.

  Thank you nonjwspouse for fighting the good fight. You are making good points and standing tall in the face of intense fire. Keep it up.
• 

  mrhhome

  BizzyBee,

  (The shame of the south and much of the mid-west.)

  My kid's rural Alabama elementary school was a 2012 Blue Ribbon Lighthouse school. What about your schools?
• 

  LisaRose

  Thanks for responding. I think I have a better understanding of Common Core. It seems like many of the problems are either transition issues that teachers did not know what to expect, or sloppy mistakes in the way the tests were designed. The rest are problems in introducing above grade concepts.

  So if these problems were fixed, would you be OK with it, or are you against any kind of standardized teaching?
• 

  mrhhome

  LisaRose,

  I think that the problems are more fundamental. The underlying curriculum has flaws. The implementation is flawed. At what point do you declare it a disaster and scrap it? [A common theme in this administration.]

  As for Standardized teaching / testing, I have mixed opinions and my opinions have changed with time.

  1. Pro: I have no issues with holding people to a certain set of standards.
  2. Con: I would like to keep the federal government out of it and leave it to the states. To summarize my views on federalism, I like the fact that I can move to another state if I do not like the politics of the state in which I reside. If the federal government gets involved, there is no escaping it.
  3. Pro: There is nothing wrong teaching to the test if the test covers what you want taught.
  4. Con: Unfortunately, standardized test / teaching is forcing everyone to the same pace. Either you teach to the lowest common denominator or leave X% of your classroom behind in the dust.
  5. Con: At some point, you can only squeeze so much out of your teachers. Let's face it, most of the kids in school have serious problems at home which is impacting their performance at school. Cracking the whip over the teacher's heads isn't going to fix that.
  6. Con: Standardized teaching seems to be limiting the teacher's flexibility.

  Misc concerns with where education is going in this country: (Independent of the Common Core Issue)

  • How much of this push to put everything on the computer a consequence of standardized testing? Aren't studies now determining that kids need to limit their screen time?
  • What ever happened to "book reports"? I used to write book reports. Now, kids takes "AR" tests on the computer to prove that they read the book. People are beating on the "critical thinking" drum but abandoning a great old fashion tool which forced kids to (a) think about what they read and (b) compose something intelligent.
• 

  LisaRose

  You say you don't want the federal government involved, but it was my understanding that each state had a choice of whether to implement or not. Is that not the case?
• 

  mrhhome

  LisaRose, I believe that you are correct.

  As I stated earlier,the states which opted out were wise to do so. At minimum, they should sit back a few years and let the bugs get worked out.
• 

  LisaRose

  Well, I share some of your concerns. I remember no child left behind, and some of the problems were the same: teaching to the test and forcing everyone to the same pace, so I was surprised to see it in another program. I was interested to see what people thought of it. I will withhold judgement until I know more about it, but I appreciate you telling me your opinion.
• 

  Berengaria

  Again, nonjwspouse and mrhhome. Can you back up your assertions with evidence???
• 

  Berengaria

  You say you don't want the federal government involved, but it was my understanding that each state had a choice of whether to implement or not. Is that not the case?

  Not only that, each State/District chooses their own curriculum!!
• 

  mrhhome

  Berengaria. Go back and read my previous posts. I provided several examples.