Improving Public Education Through Common Core State Standards

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

The Common Core has been developed as a nationwide measurement for student progress. Officially launched in 2009 as a federal funding bill, the standards identify skills that every student residing in the United States should master in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics from kindergarten through 12th grade (Gewertz, 2015). The Common Core itself is not a curriculum, however, it identifies rigorous objectives that must be met by a school’s curriculum. The purpose is to initiate a deeper focus on developmental learning by using interdisciplinary instruction. This redefines the way that students learn because their progress is no longer assessed on the outcome of their performance, but by the process that has allowed them to reach the

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.

In 2009, states around the country began adopting the Common Core State Standards. These standards were put in place to ensure that each child was on the same academic level by high school graduation. As the global marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive, the United States hopes that Common Core will enable the coming generations to be better prepared. As of right now, my working thesis is Common Core is overall unsuccessful in its effort, and discontinuing or, at the least, replacing it would improve the testing scores /academic progresses, mental health, and attitude towards school of the children in the United States. My two articles, “Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys (Yet!): Motivating boys in the age of the Common Core,” by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith (2014), and “Why Massachusetts Gave Up on Common Core,” by Mary Clare Reim (2015), both provide evidence on Common Core to support my thesis.

requires students to develop higher critical thinking skills. Jobs may be on the line if students do

The new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics bring a new opportunity to the classrooms of the United States that many people view as a controversial. According to the NCTM (2013) “The Common Core State Standards offer a foundation for the development of more rigorous, focused, and coherent mathematics curricula, instruction, and assessments that promote conceptual understanding and reasoning as well as skill fluency” (par. 1). While some people believe that the Common Core State Standards may hinder progress in the classroom for many reasons including too much government control, teaching to the test, an excessive focus on language arts and math, and wasted resources, others agree with the NCTM statement about that claims the standards help increase conceptual understanding, reasoning, and skill fluency.

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

When many people think of elementary education, they think of reading small passages and learning the difference between addition and subtraction in easy, creative ways. Now, with the new Common Core State Standards implemented, today’s kids will have more things to worry about. They are asked more challenging questions and expected to have more rigorous answers. This does not set a steady learning pace for the average child.

In the past few years, educators everywhere have been hearing and forming opinions about the phenomenon known as Common Core. For my research paper I will be writing about this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is simply to inform about different aspects and characteristics of Common Core. I will discuss the following points: what Common Core is, where and how Common Core is being applied, changes from the former system, how Common Core affects teachers, cost of applying Common Core, changes in the subjects of mathematics and English language arts/literacy, what research has been conducted on Common Core and arguments for and against Common Core. Common Core has become an extremely important part

In education field, it is hard to know if all claims are credible and it is not so easy to assess good research. Curiosity and expertise will be helpful to to decide if you can trust the educational change that has been offered. Science can answer many questions, but not all of them.

Desks are aligned individually in rows facing a chalkboard. A red-shiny apple is sitting on the teachers table. Along the multi-color walls are students work. In the back corner of the room there are a few computers. Students are prepped to take an online test. No paper, no pencil. The work is all done on a computer. What was the “old” technique of learning has transition into a “new” way. This new tool is a way to improve a students’ education. It has been voluntary adopted by over 40 states. The standards serve as one of the most promising learning method in years in effort to improve our country’s school system. The question is whether the Common Core standard should be implemented as a nation-wide requirement

As our society develops and evolves over time many aspects of our lives change and we find ourselves trying to adapt to new changes. One of the major changes that we have seen over the course of the years is the advancement in technology. We have come along way in many aspects of technology such as wireless internet and we now find ourselves using modern smartphones rather the flip phones. In addition to our technology evolving over time so has the education system in the United States. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has been one of the biggest changes in the United States education system in recent

Common Core is a hassle throughout the nation. In Florida, changing from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) to the upcoming Common Core test means introducing new, more complex assessment state wide in schools. Common Core implements more rigorous standards, even though students are already having trouble with previous standards. Common Core state standards are an attempt to make American schools compete with the best education systems worldwide (Avoid). Implementing the use of more technology, incorporating more critical thinking questions, and having to apply the knowledge to tasks in the tests shows a change students aren’t ready for. The change happened too quickly when Florida signed in 2010 with the company AIR,

According to Manley & Hawkins (2013) the Common Core State Standards “have been created on the world stage in mind” (Pg. 20, Ch. 1); however, I must humbly disagree with this claim. Although the Common Core State Standards goals are mainly abstract and schematic in structure, they are at its foundation a “one-size-fits-all approach,” which has severely impacted those students identified as having “special needs” or those who have an Individual Education Plan (I.E.P.) – these are the students eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Common Core State Standards were implemented since 2009, and I have been a Special Education teacher since 2007 for the New York City Department of Education, and I have seen