What Is Common Core Good Or Bad

Common Core, Good or Bad?
Common Core, good or bad? That seems to be the question everyone is wondering. There is a lot of controversy over whether common core should be in classrooms or not. “The state-led effort to develop the Common Core State Standards was launched in 2009 by state leaders, including governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states, two territories and the District of Columbia, through their membership in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). State school chiefs and governors recognized the value of consistent, real-world learning goals and launched this effort to ensure all students, regardless of where they live,
are graduating high school prepared for college, career, and life.” (corestandards). These standards were implemented in stages, Stage One: Lead Student and Adult learning, Stage Two: Lead Diverse Communities, Stage Three: Lead 21st century learning, Stage Four: Lead Continuous Improvements, Stage Five: Lead using Knowledge and Data, and Stage Six: Lead Parent, Family and Community Engagements. (achievethecore) People have their own opinion of Common Core, "The common core will make every graduate college and career-ready." Twenty years of research shows that all young people need a high school experience that prepares them for both post-secondary education and good jobs.
The common core standards seem to provide a good map for getting there. Whether or not we succeed, however, depends on whether schools can retool effectively, especially given the short deadline and tight budgets. It will require new curriculum and instructional materials; more robust assessments and technology to support them; professional development for teachers and administrators. It will not just involve school districts, but state departments of education, higher education and early education, too. It demands considerable resources to carry out”
(huffingtonpost) Of course there are some bad things about Common Core, “1. Common Core is a Federal Takeover of Education. The ultimate goal of Common Core is to have every school district follow the same national standards. This is a failed educational approach that will undermine educational quality and choice. States and local communities better know how to design standards based on their students and parents’ needs than Washington bureaucrats. 2. Common Core is bad for Parents. Parents will not have a say in their child’s education under Common Core. They will not be able to suggest changes to their local school’s standards or enroll their child in another public school with better standards. Common Core would limit parental choice and shut their voices out of their child’s education. 3. Common Core is bad for Teachers. Teachers would have little control over their classrooms under Common Core. They will be forced to comply with standards decided upon by federal bureaucrat. This leaves little to no room for teachers to innovate to meet the unique needs of their students. 4. Common Core is bad for Taxpayers. Common Core has a hefty price tag that will be paid by taxpayers in states. Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction estimates that Common Core will cost the state $300 million. California Department of Education estimates it will cost $759 million to implement the nationalized standards. Common Core will cost taxpayers a lot of money while not improving education quality. 5. Common Core is bad for Students. Common Core is a one-size-fits-all education policy that assumes every students learns exactly the same. A top down and centrally controlled standards will hurt students’ creativity and learning. Good education policy realizes that all students have different learning styles, preferences, and paces. 6. Common Core Violates Privacy the Race to the Top Grants associated with Common Core violates privacy by “data mining” information about students that will follow them the rest of their lives. The information collected is more than just test scores and academic progress. Common Core will track information on religious practices, political beliefs, “sex behaviors and attitudes”, and more.
7. Common Core Resembles Failed No Child Left Behind Program. A main criticism of the failed No Child Left Behind program is that teachers “teach the test.” This means that students are memorizing rather than learning and critical thinking about information. Common Core would resemble No Child Left Behind by requiring students to take national standardized tests to measure their progress. 8. Common Core is Unconstitutional. The federal government should not control education. Since education is not specifically listed in the Constitution, the authority over education should be left up to the states and the people. This allows localities from New York City to rural Alabama to design unique curriculums that are best for their students.
9. Common Core Will Require Some States to Move Backward. Some states have advanced standards that are designed with students and parents in mind. Sandra Stotsky, a professor at the University of Arkansas, who served on the committee to validate Common Core standards said, “The standards dumb American education down by about two grades worth.” Some states would have to move their standards backwards to comply with Common Core standards.
10. Common Core Is a Failed Education Approach. Washington has tried one-size-fits-all education approaches time and time again. Centralized education programs have not worked and will never work. The quality of education has only declined over the past few decades. The solution is to get the federal government out of the education business.” (freedomworks) Good things about Common Core include, “1.
Common Core Puts Creativity Back in the Classroom” I have problems and hands-on activities that I like my students to experience to help them understand a concept or relationship,” says Cambridge, Massachusetts, high school math teacher Peter Mili. One of his classic activities is taking a rectangular piece of cardboard and asking the students to cut from each corner to make a box. They learn that different sized boxes need different lengths in cuts, and then they fill the boxes with popcorn and measure how much each box can hold. 2. Common Core Gives Students a Deep Dive. When students can explore a concept and really immerse themselves in that content, they emerge with a full understanding that lasts well beyond testing season, says Kisha Davis-Caldwell, a fourth-grade teacher at a Maryland Title 1 elementary school. 3. Common Core Ratchets up Rigor. The CCSS requires students to take part in their learning and to think more critically about content, as opposed to simply regurgitating back what their teachers feed them, says Kathy Powers, who teaches fifth- and sixth-grade English Language Arts in Conway, Arkansas. 4. Common Core is Collaborative. The Common Core allows educators to take ownership of the curriculum — it puts it back into the hands of teachers, who know what information is best for students and how best to deliver that information. 5. Common Core Advances Equity. Cheryl Mosier, an Earth Science teacher from
Colorado, says she’s most excited about the Common Core because it’ll be a challenge for all students, not just the high achieving students, which Mosier and her colleagues say will go a long way to closing achievement and opportunity gaps for poor and minority children. If students from all parts of the country — affluent, rural, low-income or urban — are being held to the same rigorous standards, it promotes equity in the quality of education and the level of achievement gained.” (neatoday) In conclusion, there are multiple opinions of why the common core was adopted. “Today, 43 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) have adopted the Common Core and are implementing the standards according to their own timelines. To learn more about the standards in your state and for information on how states that adopted the Common Core are implementing them, visit the “Standards in Your State” section.” (corestandards)