Burks Adapting To Change

The modern day has brought upon many improved aspects, whether technological, medical, or even personal details, but also many defective facets, such as the topic of issue, Common Core Standards. The system that seems to not work in some places, but continues to stay. The Common Core Curriculum is a set of standards that a student has to be “proficient” in by the end of the school year, and the standards vary by state. It also tests students by having them do benchmarks, so they can show the teachers that they are where they need to be. Many claim that these standards will improve the education, career, and life of the students that are in the program, but is it truly the case? With three main flaws in the system, such as how cursive writing

Knowing the history of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is essential in order to define what these educational parameters represent in society today. In 2006, Arizona governor Janet Napolitano was elected to the chair of the National Governors Association. Napolitano’s work focused on

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was first implemented in 2010, nine years after I graduated from high school. Although I wasn’t personally affected by the new academic standards, it has a direct impact on the current and future generation of leaders, innovators, and world changers including my future children. The initial purpose of the Common Core Standards is to set high-quality learning goals designed to prepare students to be college and career ready. Given the current controversies surrounding CCSS, studies have shown that although the intent was to benefit students in the long-run it may actually be hindering their mathematical and reading skills. To further explore the arguments behind the Common Core initiative, I will

“…only twenty-two percent of those surveyed said increased testing had helped the performance of their local schools compared with twenty-eight in 2007” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). Furthermore the poll indicated an eleven percent increase, compared to last year, towards the favor of discontinuing the usage of students’ test results for teacher evaluations. William Bushaw, executive director of PDK International and co-director of PDK/Gallup Poll also stated, “Americans’ mistrust of standardized tests and their lack of confidence and understanding around new education standards is one the most surprising developments we’ve found in years” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). All in all, not only are these tests a concern for students, who are forced to sit through them, hoping to get a decent enough score to place into a class, receive their diploma, or even get accepted to the college of their dreams, but they are a concern for parents as well, who only want the best for their children and to see them succeed.

Throughout the history of education, several “fads” have made their way in and out of the schools. From whole language to phonics to No Child Left Behind, educators have modified their practices to fit with new curriculum and government mandates. Many teachers describe the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as “just another fad.” However, I believe that this is not the case.

Even though the idea of having a common set of standards is appealing to the public, and Common Core still has the support of the public majority, the intentions of the policy need to be made clearer. Public versus educator perspectives on teacher's role in education is different (Henderson

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.

“The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, A Disaster for American Education,” was written by Stephen Krashen and taken from Knowledge Quest January/February 2014 issue. Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus, University of Southern California. Krashen points out that the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS, is not relevant for students. He states there are other issues that should be addressed, such as food insecurity or lack of health care, before we put more finances into strict testing and more advanced technology. His thesis is that American Education is missing the real problems affecting education and that the Common Core will continue to turn schools into testing centers.

The original concept of Common Core appealed toward many students, as the aim of the new curriculum is to rid the school system of the classic method of teaching through repetition, and instead replace it a method where a student should learn with their own open mind and give them credit as long as their process to approaching the problem is correct. However, this no longer promotes students to apply full effort and simply just repeat a step they learned in class without having them apply the test taking skills they should be practicing to develop. This shift in curriculum has created a divide in the educational system between the government and people that actually are involved and affected by the curriculum.

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

There has been some speculation to as if the Common Core is even working for the students. Is it preparing them for College? For the Common Core Standard to be successful in the schools all rely on how it is implemented. Do the teachers implement the Standards in a good way or a bad way? The Common Core Standards are already hard to understand let alone teach. During research, on how the Common Core Standards are being implemented they found that there were teachers that undoubtedly know they are supposed to be implementing the Standards (Polikoff, 2017). This brings me back to say that there are many people that do not fully understand the Common Core. Some teachers are still confused on the fact that they have to implement it into their classrooms and everyday planning. Common Core is set up to help you, it tells you where your students should be and what they should be learning at the grade level. With not knowing anything about the Common Core, teachers are having a difficult time when it comes to implementing it into the

Though the American Common Core has slightly improved national percents in Math and English, it has many adverse effects on our state rights, economy, teachers, and children. The fundamental goal of the Common Core is to get every school, teacher, and classroom in America to follow the same national standards. This system means teachers and parents have little power over what their children learn in the classroom; it is a federal intervention in state-led affairs. Another negative point about the common core is the massive price to run and implement. For example in Washington, “{The}Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction estimates that Common Core will cost the state $300 million.” And in California, “{The} California

The Common Core State Standards are a state attempt to create strong educational standards. The standard are created to ensure that students in the country are learning and grasping the information that are given in the classrooms for them to succeed academically. The Common Core plan included governors and education commissioners form forty-eight states and the District of Columbia. They wanted to make sure the standards are relevant, logical and sequential. For content all subjects must have critical-thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. Some positive aspects of this policy is that it prepares our students for a competitive global jobs. It can provide national connections in education. Designed to shape the best standards so that all states will be taking a step ahead in education. These standards had been created after extensive research by professional educators for excellence in education. The CCS focus on what students expectations of learning, and achievements. Educators do not need to worry that the standards will make their jobs look redundant because they are in charge of creating lessons to teach their students the content and skills that the CCS demands. The teachers do not feel that the standards are one-size-fits-all. Some negative aspects of the policy are that is a program created by solely the government. The CCS is a program put together on idyllic situations in education by individuals who have subsidy and students ahead of the learning

In this week’s discussion board, I will be comparing the positives and negatives associated with the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for the middle school grades. The CCSSs were introduced to the public-school system recently and they have been topic for debate for teachers, parents, and students. I will start of by discussion the positives of having CCSSs in the middle school classrooms. Having a set of standards that are expected to be met by each student gives the teacher an idea of what they are expected to teach each semester. In the same scenario, these goals also allow the parents to see what their children should be learning in each grade level. If a student is struggling or risking being held back from advancing to the next grade level, the teacher and administrator can point out the standards that he or she was expected to learn and use these standards as evidence to why the student should possibly repeat a grade. Another positive of the CCSSs would be uniformity. Many students have to relocate to a different school in the middle of an academic year. If all schools have the same or similar standards, the student should be able to pick up where the left off and have an easier time adjusting to the new school. A study was recently conducted in a Kentucky school and the results were discussed in this week’s

Although testing has been around for a long time, I instinctively believe that testing doesn’t give a clear picture of student’s achievement. Thus, I make strong connection to the following quote: “A central question has been whether accountability policies and standardized testing helping or harming those children the polices are most often designed to serve” (Skrla, p.11). For instance, when I analyzed and interpreted the TAPR of Richard J Wilson Elementary school, I found valuable information that all teachers should know at the beginning of every school year. Specifically, when I examined the categories of testing and the students’ performance on individual TEKS. This practice would allow teachers to have a clear picture of what exact skills and content knowledge students are expected to achieve throughout the school year.