Common Core Curriculum

Ever since it was implemented, the Common Core curriculum has been a very controversial topic among students, teachers and parents nationwide. Opposers believe it is a method of government control over the nation's education system. Supporters think it will enhance education by giving everyone the same standards to meet or overcome. During my research I discovered what the government intended with Common Core and how it actually worked.
The purpose of the Common Core is to better develop a student's critical thinking skills, analytical skills and problem solving. They tried doing this by making a set of guidelines across the country so that teachers can compare and measure student’s progress. Even though it is a nationwide program, it is up
to state and local authorities to adopt. 45 out of 50 states have adopted common core standards and taken standardized tests to measure progression. Common Core is better preparation for college level work than the previous system which means it is technically more successful.
The curriculum was designed by governors and education experts across the nation. They used the feedback from teachers, parents and administrators to create the standards. The cost to each state to adopt this standard varies from state to state, however there are many resources available to cheapen the cost through technology and state to state sharing that is made possible by a uniformed system.
Supporters of this program feel that common core takes the best of the nations programs and then delivers it to areas that need more.
By handing teachers a step by step guide of what a student should know at exactly what time; teachers can now catch students that are struggling earlier and help them to stay with the whole. They state that Common Core does not tell the teacher what and how to teach as the teacher knows this better than anyone; it instead is a tool to establish what the student should be learning. The common core curriculum does not mandate the use of any particular curriculum and still grants teachers the ability to create their own lesson plans and teach their classes as they have in the past.
The opposition focuses on the loss of the arts. Many against the common core feel that the focus of the curriculum will be math and science, thus downplaying the need for creative writing and art programs such as music. They also stress the potential cost that will come with moving into a uniform school structure; many schools that had recently purchased textbooks will have to throw them out and acquire the new core curriculum books. Many of the opposition believe that teachers and parents were not properly consorted when common core was designed and therefore believe that is another method of government
control.
“We don’t believe that schools should be evaluated and graded solely on the basis of reading and math scores. We don’t believe that the current test-based accountability regimen will ultimately produce either equity or excellence. We believe in the importance of preparing students to live and succeed in a global economy.” (Hess) This statement tells us that schools should not solely base students learning no mastering test taking skills but it should also focus on preparing them to success in a global economy. Teachers should be teaching student’s quality thinking skills, the values of creativity and originality with the schools offering a vast curriculum in arts and science with a full range of subjects to all the students.
While Common Core increases test taking skills, the United States of America should remove it from their schools because parents are starting to blame teachers for failures which is increasing the size of classes, and it’s starting to make children dislike school. In “Arguments for and Against the Common Core State Standards,” Joyce VanTassel-Baska argues “CCSS in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics present a daunting challenge to our schools at a time when they may be least prepared to take it on, especially given lack of funding for teacher salaries, declining morale, and competing agendas” (as cited in VanTassel-Baska, 2015, p. 62). VanTassel-Baska feels that many teachers are not being properly trained to teach higher level skills in math and ELA. School districts will be forced to spend more money on technology to ensure that all students have access to the tools they need since Common Core assessments are online. Common Core has started parents to feel that children are being tested too much and many are started to homeschool their children. States have decided to implement Common Core without weighing what the effects will be on the budgets for their schools. So many school districts are struggling with their budgets before Common Core was implemented so trying to provide the proper training for educators would be very hard for those districts.
My personal experiences with the core curriculum have proven both sides of the argument, while test scores have begun to rise there is a growing neglect of the arts.
Another concern is that in order to encourage the common core some schools have instituted certain measures when score goals are not met; this has led to teachers teaching the test. It has become a growing trend of classes become too focused on hitting each benchmark on time rather than nurturing and developing a student’s mind based upon their individual strengths. The concept of a uniform system is potentially one of the best decisions made in the education system; the down fall is the way this program has been implemented in rigorous form. There is no “cookie cutter” design when it comes to the development of our children. While uniformity leads to equality, foregoing creativity and individualism destroys not only the dreams of children but the foundation of our country as a
whole.
While my research has shown that many of the arguments made by the opposition of common core curriculum to be explained away by supporters, one conflict of interest stands firm; the manner this program is applied. The children of America deserve the best we can offer them. A uniform system offers this to our students but the implementation currently used needs to be reconsidered. I recommend that we urge our teachers to remember who is to be considered to priority in our schools, the students. By keeping that in mind we can move away from “teaching the test” and resume pushing students to find their full potential whether that be Mathematics, English, or Artistic creativity.
Common Core State Standards were implemented to help students to be college and/or career ready regardless of what state they live in. Students should face challenges when they are being education in order for them to retain information and be able to put it to everyday use. Regardless if a student decides to go to college or not they still should be offered the best education that they can receive so they will be able to accomplish whatever they set out to do.