Common Core Not for the Common Good

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.

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

There are many approaches that can be taken in order to develop a school’s curriculum, or the material that the students will learn. If there were no federal regulation of curriculum, then it would not be possible to compare student achievement across districts or even states. The federal program, Common Core State Standards, assists in equaling education across the nation. The Common Core has reinvented the perception of student learning which, in turn, has caused American education to become a corporate institution. As a result, there has been a threat to states’ rights for education as more rigorous content has been implemented into classrooms by the government, which ultimately changes the role of the teacher.

The National Review in May of this year in an article titled, Two Moms vs. Common Core explains: “Common Core is a set of math and English standards developed largely with Gates Foundation money and pushed by the Obama administration and the National Governors Association. The standards define what every schoolchild should learn each year, from first grade through twelfth, and the package includes teacher evaluations tied to federally funded tests designed to ensure that schools teach to Common Core. Over 40 states hurriedly adopted Common Core, some before the standards were even written, in response to the Obama administration’s making more than $4 billion in federal grants conditional on their doing so. Only Texas, Alaska, Virginia, and Nebraska declined. (Minnesota adopted the English but not the math standards.)”

Education in the United States is in an abysmal state. It continues to spiral downward as students and educators fail to meet standards. The standards are then altered on a patchwork basis throughout the states. The goal is no longer to have a high standard educational system. The goal now is to maintain the status quo, allowing students and educators to strive for the minimum. There is no common approach to achieve success. Incipit Tragoedia, in comes the Common Core, agreed upon by educators, politicians, and

The lack of educational benchmarks and standardization in the United States of America, USA is disjointed and subpar leaving students ill prepared to enter the workforce and college. As evidenced by the persistent problem of students graduating and passing required exit exams in high school; yet, they still needed remediation upon entry to college. The Common Core is good because it provides a set of age appropriate learning goals and sets a national high-quality academic standard for Math and English to prepare students for college and career readiness. In essence, the Common Core defines what a student should know and be able to do at different grade levels.

“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 test centers.

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

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.

For starters, Common Core is defined as an academic outline that specializes in Math and the English Language that every student should know before moving on to higher grades. Common Core has various downsides. In order for states to recieve funding from the government they must adhere to the system guidlines. A brief note on Education and the government: education is a state right and not a federal right. Education has no right to be regulated by the government; in fact, it underminds the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment states that any power not delegated by the Constitution is delegated to the states or to the people.

Today, 43 states have voluntarily adopted and are working to implement the standards, which are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to take credit bearing introductory courses in two- or four-year college programs or enter the workforce.” Common Core provides a benchmark for each grade which shows teachers what areas they need to work on with their students. Common Core advocates learning and implementing concepts using real world experience rather than memorizing facts. There are separate standards for both K-12 grade and high school graduates. Another main idea of Common Core is that all state will be have the same standards, which should level the playing field by making sure that every student that graduates is on the same page regarding academics. The website also gives a concise list of the characteristics they want Common Core to achieve: “The standards

While in theory having a national standard for education sounds like a progressive scheme full of possibilities, it has actually lowered our betterment as a society. Reality is not every nation should be taught CCS, studies show that not every nation with Common Core Standards do well at testing - Canada does not have standardized testing and as a nation does very well. This proving that standardized testing cannot be tailored to the diverse nation we have today. The challenge that the Federal government cannot seem to grasp on is that states have a firmer idea on what is needed for their individual

Common-Core is steadily on the rise in the K-12 public school setting across the nation. Oftentimes when teachers hear the term “common-core”, they dread what will follow. This is because we do not fully understand the purpose of common-core. Florida has its own state standards, which were created through the adoption of common-core standards and adapted to better fit our students’ needs. While numerous states have adopted the Common Core State Standards, not all states have. Nevertheless, there's some evidence that the new benchmarks have snuck their way into classrooms in all of the fifty states! Four states in particular, which have firmly refused to adopt the standards, are Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia. Though these

The outcome of this could be extremely positive and should be enforced by the federal government. However rather recently, our current President Barak Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act turning all of the decision making power on education back in to the states hands. This new law will supposedly end more than, “A decade of what critics have derided as one-size-fits-all federal policies dictating accountability and improvement for the nations 100,000 or so public schools.” (Associated Press, NBCNews) What many people believe might be good thing could possibly have a very negative outcome in the future. By examining Texas, a state that had originally rejected Common Core, we can almost exactly how this might turn out and the consequences that it might have for the rest of United States. “Texas combines a rigidly thematic and theory-based social studies structure with a politicized distortion of history”(excellencemedia) The result of such structured curriculum, avoiding clear historical explanations while offering misrepresentations throughly in this way is unwieldy troubling and dangerous.

Common core works for the benefit of some students but does it truly work for all? Does it work for students at risk, requiring extra assistance, or academically inclined? Common Core is not personalized, cost of the materials, and removing educated teachers’ importance to education (Rakow). Equally important, is Common Core truly helpful to students? Despite states meeting their standards set for Common Core, there is a drawback. “Each state establishes its own tests and profiency bar” (Peterson, et al). The standards that are met by each state are originally set by the state which becomes problematic. Standards of Common Core are set by the same legislation that receives funding for meeting the criterion (Peterson, et al). States are receiving funding for meeting whatever standards they set for the students. It is possible that state education legislations are purposefully setting low standards to receive federal funding as their reward for satisfying or surpassing their standards. The personalized nature of education has fabricated due to the newly accepted method. Gifted and less academically acclimated children are both subject to the standard Common Core work (Rakow). The lessons included in Common Core are “High-Priced, one size fits all programming” (Rakow). Also, Common Core is a “teacher proof” method (Rakow). Resulting in the necessity of the required materials, making educated teachers no longer necessary for learning the processes produced by Common