Teach Knowledge Not Mental Skills Analysis

Zan Crowder and Stephanie Konle claim that programs like Common Core and the No Child Left Behind Act have been instilled throughout 95% of schools in America (286). This allows students in the United States to learn and understand basic academic concepts the same way. However, this leaves little to no room for teachers to instruct students in public schools their own unique way. Instead, they are given set criteria and material that the students have to meet and understand. Crowder and Konle also agree that one of the many downsides to Common Core is that it influences students to memorize answers for tests instead of actually learn academic material (285). Common Core and the No Child Left Behind Act paves the way for students to achieve higher scores on standardized tests because students, for the most part, are taught the exact same things in schools across

Improved Assessment Literacy: Unlike the current education system that treats assessment more separated from teaching, the core teaching standards recognize that teachers need to have greater knowledge and skill on how to develop a number of assessments, how to balance use of formative and summative assessment as

Getting an education is the main goal for everyone, although it is easy to obtain there are some obstacles to it. One of the main obstacles students face at the beginning of their education is standardized tests. Schools have started to adopt this type of tests as their main way to evaluate students’ intelligence and teachers’ effectiveness to educate the students. The way students used to learn has changed, in order to get them ready for the tests they have to spend much of the school time preparing for it instead of learning something they can use in their future life. According to Bruce Jacobs in No Child Left Behind's Emphasis on 'Teaching to the Test' Undermines Quality Teaching, a 2007 study by the University of Maryland teachers were put in much pressure and had thoughts to teach the test […]. This shows that teachers have also been affected by standardized tests in a way they have more pressure to make students pass. Having teachers ‘teach the test’ means their way to educate has been corrupted. In most cases when teachers’ ability to educate has been changed leads them to practice methods not convenient for scholars. One of these methods is memorization, in Relying on High-Stakes Standardized Tests to Evaluate Schools and Teachers: A Bad Idea by Hani Morgan describes how students start to adapt to an “inferior type of learning, based on memorization and recall students gain when teachers

Additionally, Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” There are different forms of intelligence that go beyond what our school system measures. Students are not a unit to be measured, and students cannot be assigned a numerical value to identify their intelligence. Students are diverse—they learn at different speeds, and they learn in different ways. Focusing solely on test scores is hurting our students and deviating away from building our society on success and excellence. Critics are slowly realizing the problems associated with standardized tests—they create anxiety, they are extremely biased, and they do not measure the ability to think deeply.

It is important to have a successful education, but common core will not only affect the schools it will also affect how students learn. According to Applebee, “From my perspective, the CCSS offers a strong and well-intentioned vision of the knowledge and skills needed by a college-and career-ready high school graduate.” (Applebee, 2013, pg. 25-33). With the world constantly changing in order to be successful is to have the fundamental structure built up for the individual. A successful person is usually successful because of the knowledge they have gathered. However, CCSS (Common Core State Standards) focuses on the main parts of education, reading, writing, and mathematics. Teaching common core is not simple to children or teenagers. Often each individual has a different way of learning. With common core, every individual is paced at the same

One example demonstrating that grades lead to limited learning of material, can be illustrated by a study that was conducted of students, some of whom were graded. One group of students was told about being graded and the other group was not. The group who was “told they’d be graded on how well they learned a social studies lesson had more trouble understanding the main point of the text than did students who were told that no grades would be involved” (Kohn). This experiment shows how students concerned getting a good grade detracts from the students overall understanding. In my experience, students have so much homework, activities, and pressure to excel that it becomes challenging to learn topics outside of those being assigned. For example, in order to complete history worksheets, students do not always read the passages to find the answers, but rather skim the passage for keywords

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

Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” I’ve seen this today, where students are these fish, and these standardized tests that we take are the judges at how well we climb up the tree.

Teachers strive for their students to score well because the score also reflects on their teaching. Teachers seem to no longer teach for students to learn material and retain knowledge but to “ace” tests. Some learn to teach according to the test. Students learn the information that is going to be on the test but do not necessarily fully understand the material they are learning. There are certain standards that have to be met with each test. In most states part of the scores reflect the

In this portion of Sanders’s Becoming a Learner, he describes the outcomes of becoming a learner. Sanders states four outcomes of becoming a learner: creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, and better character. I consider both communication skills and depth of character to be of equal importance, but for the sake of this journal, I believe the development of communication skills is most important and will have a critical impact on my career and my life. First off, let me state that I would like to pursue a career in editing, and to have any business at all, I will need to have good communication skills so I can form a trusting relationship with my clients, otherwise they may take their business elsewhere. More importantly, I intend to become a wife and a mother, and strong relationships are

In this assignment I will explore the concept of learning and application of some learning theories within the in the vocational further education sector. I will explore the application of theories to health and social vocational topics and how this assists in developing key attributes for learners on these programmes. I will identify assessment methods and provide a critique of the validity of these in different educational programmes.

Gaining knowledge from each grade level is important. Students obtaining all of the information and resources from their twelve year education, will prepare them for college as well as success in entry-level careers. When students are not challenged beyond their limits, then they are hindered from receiving the best education possible. The complexity of texts that students are reading today does not match with what is demanded in college. For example, many college athletes lack all of the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in academic college courses. Some public universities have athletes who could read only up to an eight-grade level. Common core standards will ensure to create uniform milestones that will enhance students with the standards of being college and career ready. Students as well as people in the career field should learn knowledge and skills that are relevant to the real

Most students’ do assignments and prepare for tests only to get a good grade. They do not care about learning, as long as they are able to graduate. Learning does not come from being graded, it takes discipline and passion to learn. When trying to learn something new most people practice and or study rather than being graded.

What is common core some may ask, well according to Common Core State Standards Initiative “the common core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade” (About the Standards). The standards were created to try and ensure people who graduate from high school can succeed in life, by having the same education minimums taught to them no matter where in the nation they went to school.

Moore argues that many schools are focusing more on building self-esteem rather than education standards in students. Self-esteem comes within you. Whereas, grades emanate from, how much the students gain knowledge through classes. The author believes that through the low grades, the students can improve their performance by evaluating academic their performance. I completely agree with him, as grades help them to know how to improve their standards and also how to give their best in future.