Argumentative Essay On Common Core

The educational system in the United States was originally developed using concepts from around the world, created using ingenuitive ideas from countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. However, as the United States quickly moved into position as the leading country for state-directed educational standards, America looked less and less to the systems of other nations and more into how we could improve what was locally and currently being applied in education. Consequently, an improved type of education instruction was officially launched in 2010. These new state standards, practically titled Common Core, were declared to focus on developing a child’s skills in reasoning, problem solving, communication, and competition (Conrad, et al. 52). While the standards are professed to be an extremely practical and beneficial method of teaching today, there are issues which have recently surfaced and raised some concerns. The Common Core State Standards are emerging as the subjects of a provocative controversy in society today as they prompt discussion on global economic efficiency, nationwide academic standards, and the ultimate well-being of school-age children.

According to the National Education Association (2017) The common core state standards benefit all students because it provides equal access to the same curriculum as other students across the nation. The standards focus specifically on English Language Arts and Mathematics. The Common Core is designed to encompass a clear set of broad standards to prepare students for post-secondary opportunities. The standards were meant to be more challenging than current set of standards in each state and to provide clarity and consistency about what was expected of students at each grade level.

This means that the main focus should not be state tests. Some schools, such as in Plano, Texas and Deerfield, Illinois have “ a curriculum with extensive offerings in the arts, languages, world cultures, history, sciences, mathematics, and athletics.” Ravitch strictly points out that this is the goal for all schools is to create this diverse curriculum for the students to truly learn effectively. Instead with the test results, the grades are stored in data “warehouses” for future retrieval, inBloom, that was created by the Data Gates Foundation and Rupert Murdoch’s Amplify division. With an “almost fanatical obsession with data based on test scores,” if someone does not understand something on these tests, the confidential student information would be shared with others and could determine the student’s future success for the rest of the student’s life.

Prior to writing this response paper, I had no pre-existing knowledge revolving around Common Core other than the negative ideas and opinions I’ve only vaguely heard, often including photos of honestly outrageous equations. What exactly is Common Core, according to them, and what is the goal? By definition, the Common Core State Standards Initiative details a list of subjects for students kindergarten through twelfth grade to have learned the by the end of each specific grade. The ultimate goal is to be certain that students across all of the states receive the same education and reach the same requirements in order to be prepared for college work; or, rather, the standardized tests that will determine whether or not they are even granted access into college in the first place.

Common Core is built as an infective for education to all schools, but what it is, is a policy that all students learn the same. Common Core has been adopted in forty-three states around the nation. Common Core is designed to get students ready for college and career ready from grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. “The basic definition of what Common Core is, a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy.” (Board)“The college- and career-readiness standards were developed first and then incoporated into the K-12 standards in the final cersion of the Common Core we have today.” (Practices) The construction of Common Core was by seeing which state standards were already the best, using experienced teachers, leading-thinkers, content experts, and also public feedback about their child’s education. Common Core is currently being endorsed by the White House. “Common Core is currently costing the United States eighty billion dollars.” (Board) Common Core was created by state educational chiefs and governors from forty-eight states. Common Core states that it will get students ready for their futures, but has only hurt them by not truly completing the goals set. Common Core is developmentally inappropriate for students because the cost of Common Core, it is pushed by the government for competition between states, and the strong implantation of standardized testing.

“Nineteen countries and education systems scored higher than the United States in reading on the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, up from nine systems when the test was last administered in 2009. “While we’re standing still, other countries are making progress,” said Jack Buckley, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which issued the U.S. report on PISA.” (Heitin). From the outside the initiative, “Common Core” that President Obama and the government have been pushing since 2009 seems like it would be a great thing for education ,our children, and the future of our society, but once you look closer it is not. I believe that we definitely need serious improvement in the US

The Common Core State Standards are considered to be a high-quality group of academic standards. Before the standards were developed, it seemed as if the progress of the students in the United States was remaining stagnant and that America students were falling behind their international peers. The blame for this setback has fallen on the fact that standards are not consistent and from state-to-state students are required to know different things at different grade levels. As a result students are not graduating with the same set of skills (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014).

Common Core State Standards is being heard throughout the education world. Many cringe when the words are spoken and many fight to support what the words stand for. Common Core was introduced in 2009 by state leaders. Common Core State Standards were developed to prepare children for the business world or the reality after grade school. “The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, also known as ELA” (About the Standards, n.d.). The goals for the standards outline what students should know before leaving his or her current grade level. “The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live” (About the Standards, n.d.). This is an ambitious goal, but with much support can be accomplished. According to Common Core State Standards Initiative (n.d.) The Common Core has been adopted by forty-two states already and is accompanied by District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity. Common Core was developed to improve the academics in society’s schools. Academics in the past years have not been successful and the United States has fallen behind international education. “One root cause has been an uneven patchwork of academic standards that vary from state to state and do not agree on what students should know and be able to do at each

At New Bern High School, Charlie Bernthal, a freshman, sits in a class room instructed by Common Core standards. It will take one of Charlie’s teachers six minutes to demonstrate the various methods to complete a simple multiplication problem, such as 63 x 24. Students are taught to use arrays, lattice, partial product methods, and eventually the traditional U.S. customary method. The Common Core standards happen to be a big discussion point during this year’s election. People have many strong opinions when it comes to the Common Core State Standards, but researchers and institutions express reasons why teachers and schools should not use Common Core to instruct America’s youth. Schools and teachers should not teach by Common Core standards because these standards are detrimental to our children.

Politics and education have been intertwined since the establishment of public education in the United States. In other words, it is a well-known fact that public education is an extension of our political system. This has never been more apparent to the public than over the last three decades, beginning in 1983 with “A Nation at Risk” which is considered a significant event in modern American educational history. For the last few years, it has been the controversial topic of the Common Core State Standards Initiative in the headlines. One can hardly turn on the news or read a newspaper or web site without hearing something about Common Core State Standards (CCCS). People either seem to be adamantly for or against the standards. Educational reform and educational standards are not new and date back much further than many people realize. Furthermore, if the public understood what the standards actually encompass, there may be more support for Common Core State Standards. However, the public is being inundated with a multitude of reasons why states should not adopt Common Core by making it a political issue in order to gain votes. Regardless of what standards are adopted, common standards in education should be implemented in the United States to prepare students for college and career in order to compete and succeed in a global economy.

Anyone would be hard-pressed to find a politician in recent years who has been elected to a national office without promising to improve education and focus their efforts on the betterment of their constituents’ children. Many of these politicians have succeeded at passing legislation to do so, but the latest of these, the Common Core standards initiative, is facing a very important query right now: does it work in America? Although Common Core is very well intentioned and in selective ways could be considered a success, there are many failures to consider as well. When dealing with such education, a vital issue, these failures must be dealt with. In order to ensure not only an equal education but also one of higher quality which the citizenry

Within the last couple of years the Education system was introduced to the Common Core Standards. There are many people that still do not really understand what the Common Core Standards are and what they do. I am one of those people. As an education major, I know some about the Common Core, but there are still some things that I do not understand. The Common Core is set up for Educators to use as a plan that will help them teach and assess how their students are doing. The Common Core is set up across the country. All schools have to follow the Common Core. For each grade level, they have different standards that show the teachers what their students should be able to accomplish by that grade level. Each student will all be assessed and graded

Our country has been falling behind in the academic aspect compared to out international peers. Our remediation rates in college have grown over the past few years. The main problem is because our states vary in what they believe students should be able to do in each grading level K-12. So, technically Common Core Standards is giving students a better education. Based on my research from English Language Arts Standards, I found that the Common Core Standards are built off of these five standards:

Common Core is designed so that every school has the same national standard. Parents, states, and local communities know what's best for their students, not the federal government. The government shouldn't get to pick what students should be taught, local communities should be incharge of picking our students curriculum because they know what’s best for the community. Sometimes parents don't understand what their kids are being taught. ( Wong 1) Because Common Core brings a new way of learning, parents can’t help their own children study for a test or help them with their homework.

Great question Amanda about the what results would we see nationwide if all states chose to incorporate the Common Core Standards? To look at the big picture of the Common Core State Standards Initiavtive, the purpose is to create a standard set for all students in the United States. When talking about the Common Core State Standards and how they affect students and educators we must remember where this argument started from. In the 21st century of learning Barth (2004) reminds us that "we are not just preparting workers, we are preparing citizens. It is our interest ,then, as much our responisbility to make sure that all our young people are prepared for the furture."