We are now 2 or more years into the Common Core in most states. We have early results of the testing done last summer. It is less than hoped for by both educators and parents. If you want to find current information on Common Core, there is plenty out there. There are many opinions on the new curriculum. Lets talk a bit about how we got Common Core.
1. Common Core was created by the National Governors Association and the Counsel of Chief State School Officers, these groups do not represent states. It is necessary to establish that Common Core is largely imposed by the Federal government. It is considered by most a one-size-fits all regime. We must always remember that all our children are unique, with different talents and different rates of learning. In Common Core, largely, all children are moved in lock-step, processing them all as if they are all the same. "The whole idea of Common Core was to bring students and schools under a common definition of what success is," quoted Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. For those of you who aren't familiar with the new testing, it is done on a tablet or computer. Instead of giving a selection of answers to choose, students must show how they got their answers. Answer correctly, and get a more difficult question. Answer incorrectly, get an easier one. Even when the results are available, it will not be possible to compare student performance across a majority of states, which was one of Common Core's fundamental goals. Unfortunately, there were technical glitches with the testing and some states that have already opted out of the testing.
2. After speaking with many parents of my students, it has become very clear that the new Common Core curriculum is very long and extensive. The problem here is that little time is spent on any concept or math topic. We all know that repetition of something usually is needed for most students to fully understand the information. I see firsthand all these poor students who rush through their homework, to learn a new kind of problem the next day. My tutoring group, standardly repeats lessons and ideas until they are clear and useable by the student. I know that all the teachers are doing their very best to educate our children, but due to the amount of learning that needs to be covered, they are rushed to present it. Parents are feeling like home teachers, as they are needing to help their children more than ever with their studies. This is of course very hard on the students and parents. Many parents have trouble understanding the homework, as quite frankly, it is difficult to know what the question is asking, or exactly what is needed to fully answer the question. It is definitely written in a different way than our earlier curriculum.
This subject has a lot of information to digest, so I will be writing part2 of this article for Sunday's post. Please let me know in "Comments" if you have any questions or comments on this article. I love feedback.
In closing, a parent of mine said to me, " Imagine that a future boss of your child asks him or her a question, and your student, doing as he or she has been taught, takes 3 or 4 minutes to answer this future boss? How is that going to play out in the field of employment for these students? Will the boss want an employee that takes THAT LONG to answer a question?
Will write again tomorrow with more on Common Core.
Please feel free to comment or write to me.