COMMON CORE
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Creating a Brighter Future
COMMON CORE
IMPROVING STUDENTS EVERYWHERE
Common Core is raising standards and rigor to higher the expectations and knowledge level of all students of states who adopt the standards. These standards will better serve transient students, give teachers clearer guidelines to prepare students with rigorous standards that in turn, better prepare students for college and their future.
HISTORY OF COMMON CORE
The education system has been experiencing a shift in the very recent years. Common Core, launched in 2009, gathered state education chiefs and governors from 48 states to develop a set of clear college and career-ready standards. Now, 42 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards.
HELPING OR HINDERING THE SUCCESS OF STUDENTS
The CCSS (Common Core State Standards) are mutually agreed-upon standards that can lead to improved instruction and assessment (Rakow, 2016). With these standards, colleges are now more prepared to anticipate what students coming out of high-school know and have mastered and can or have helped bridge the college preparedness gap (Rakow, 2016; Miller, 2015). Common Core stands to build a foundation for college with tough language and reading standards (Common Core State, 2016). Valerie Strauss from The Washington Post disagrees and states that Common Core isn’t preparing students very well for college or career and that the standards are not what students really need. There are gaps, especially in writing, with the core standards and what college instructors consider important for students to succeed. Middle and high-school teachers have been emphasizing analyzing source texts and summarizing other authors’ ideas instead of working on the ability to generate sound ideas which is a more applicable skill across broader contexts. (Strauss, 2016).
STATE STANDARDS BEFORE COMMON CORE ADOPTION
The way standards were implemented in most states before the Common Core implementation was that the local school board would come together to create curriculum which now has many worried that not enough community and parent input was included in the creating of Common Core State Standards. The argument that government should not be intervening in our education persist. "Something as important as the education of America's children should not be subjected to centralization or the whims of Washington bureaucrats. What is taught in America's classrooms should be informed by parents, by principals, by teachers, and by the business community, which can provide input about the skills students need to be competitive when they leave high school". "Parental empowerment is essential and currently lacking". Fear of the lack of customization for individual students and school districts is somewhat true with Common Core prohibiting states from modifying more than 15% of the standards. The remaining 85% cannot be modified in any way by the states, school districts, teachers, or parents (Bascom, 2016). While every child in the American education system needs to have the same core set of learning standards, the argument is that while we are all American, we do not all live the same and each region of the nation may need to know and learn different things than other regions States and communities across the board are different and may need the local community to have a larger say in their children's education.
Increasing Knowledge and Success for all Students
THE STANDARDS WITH COMMON CORE:
Now, standards across the country are the same and will be ensuring all students in America will be learning and developing the same skills and hopefully this will now help level the playing field between all schools in different counties and states, along with different demographics. The gap between affluent neighborhood schools and their success compared with inner city schools or schools with high minority and poverty percentage has always been wide.
[Reporter Joanne Faryon went to two schools in San Diego. At the toney La Jolla Elementary, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, she found a parent organization that raises at least $300,000 every year. According to the Friends of La Jolla Elementary site,
The funds raised each year pay for educational enrichment such as art program, choral music program, technology in the classrooms, additional teacher for upper grades (lower class size), and instructional resources and materials. Additionally, funds are raised for school campus improvements.
This year they actually raised $450,000 so additional money could be spent installing artificial turf and beautifying the school. As you might suspect, fewer than 10% of the students at the school are economically disadvantaged, and 99% of the fifth graders scored proficient or advanced on the state reading and math tests.
Eighteen miles away, she found Horton Elementary, where more than 90% of the students come from disadvantaged households, and most are English learners. While the school gets a bit of additional funding for these reasons, it does not have any foundation to raise special funds. This school has no artificial turf, and there are holes in the playground where trees that were planted years ago have died. Here, 23% of the fifth graders scored proficient or advanced in math with less than 20% scoring proficient in English (Cody, 2009).]
With the adoption and implementation of Common Core by the states, this gap is surely to decrease. While money raised and put into a school seems to be a big part of the issue, it is not the only contributing factor. Take Eminence Independent schools from 6-12th grade that has over half the student body as economically disadvantaged yet has a higher graduation rate than the national average at 86%. Eminence also beats out the state of Kentucky in English proficiency on test scores and with the county (Henry) at an 18.1 average on the ACT, Eminence's 2015 graduating class in it's 5th year of Common Core and rigorous standards had an average of over a 23 on the ACT (USANews, 2014). This alone proves that teachers and standards are what truly drives the education of the students. One county should never differ from another just because of location and proximity to the nearest golf course. A child raised in a poverty stricken neighborhood should never suffer or lack in their education because of the local school boards not implementing rigorous standards that help improve the education of everyone. Common Core over time will smooth over these gaps in education.
Common Core
LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND
A goal in Common Core is to give every student an equal playing field in their school and across the nation. A huge issue within our education system is children moving from school to school because of external factors and not being able to keep up in school and ultimately being left behind. Common core helps eliminate that fear with that every school who adopts these standards are all on the same page and that all students meet the same expectations (Ellspermann, 2015; Rakow, 2016). The current education system for states that have not adopted the standards can be actually hurting the education and leaving behind some students. Too often children of families that move across state lines struggle with their academics because of these differences in standards imposed by each school district (Common Core State, 2013; Does Moving Hurt, 2012) Children switching schools often that struggle with their school work and trying to keep up can even lead them to have mental health problems (Park, 2014; Pinarski, 2014). With a database of nearly 14,000 children, the study followed these children until age 13 where they then asked the mothers a series of questions. The answers revealed that switching schools three or more times linked up to twice the risk of developing psychosis-like symptoms (Park, 2014)
Thom Coffee- Assistant Superintendent on CCSS benefiting moving students. With Thom Coffee's experience in the school system, he sees the benefits of helping children that are set back in the school system due to differing standards in each district, county, and state, and that Common Core is helping these students greatly.
The answer to fixing these seem to then be establishing a common set of standards across the nation to help children have the same expectations and learning implicated in every school. These standards though, may only be benefiting some, not all. Common core will make it easier to accelerate the gifted students and compact curriculum for other advanced students (Rakow, 2016). The standards are now higher than ever and promote rigor (Common Core State, 2013). These standards, however, may be too hard for the majority of children- the average (Pondiscio, 2015; Common Core Is, 2015, Innes, 2015) Common core is prompting a huge amount of testing to collect data on students. The test administered evaluates students on Common Core State Standards which includes the children in special-education classes. The English and math tests are leaving special-education students behind (Zorn, 2015). Setting the same standards for every student in every school in every state seems to be the definition of equality but not every student is the same or can learn the same. The difficulty of standards are years above the grade level. Richard Innes from the Bluegrass Institute used an online reading difficulty calculator for a 6th grade On-Demand writing prompt that came out with an average reading difficulty of 9th grade from 5 different indexes. The goal of American education is “No Child Left Behind” and Common Core may not be the best solution. Education should strive for equity not just equality (Mann, 2014; Hick, 2015). Equality is making sure all have the same opportunities. Just giving students the same opportunities does not mean it is fair. Equity the quality of being fair and impartial, extended more than just the opportunities but giving everyone a fair chance.
Common Core, when adopted by a state, should also be required to adopt Standards Based Grading. This way of grading ensures that students who do not master a skill have alternate ways to master those skills. Standards based grading will narrow down the problem a student has and concentrate on it. This way of grading does not give just a percentage grade, but actually breaks down the grading in multiple 1-4 scales. Standards with a 2 and below require extra attention. This is promoting equity. Every student does not just have the same standards, they all can have those standards personalized to the individual. Common Core does promote rigorous standards and are worrisome to some for fear of leaving some below average students out. There is, however, an explanation for the high rigor standards.
Common Core
PROMOTING RIGOR
Are the standards too rigorous? Director of Assessment at Eminence Independent Schools explains that with any implementation of new standards, the transition years are going to be hard. With persistence and patience, this period will smooth out and children will see fewer and fewer gaps in their education that will lead to students being able to better build upon the rigourous standards when starting out with these standards from 1st grade on. These standards are meant to be built upon so jumping in and adopting the standards are going to have a rough initial start.
Common Core standards are based on "anchor" standards which are expanded on with each passing year. Once the transition period of changing standards fades- students from K-12 will be able to build upon their knowledge which in theory will help more rigorous standards be completed with the correct teaching and implementation. Starting children off earlier and helping them each year with each "anchor" skill/standard could only help produce more prepared children.
Cara Puckett- Rank 1, National Board Certified Teacher on teaching these 'rigorous' standards. While the standards are rigorous, they are implemented in such a way that with a good teacher, students can handle it. She points out that with CCSS and Standards based grading, students falling behind do have chances with alternate assignments to catch up and stay caught up with all other students. With these rigorous standards, children are pushed to excel and be college ready.
Common Core
GETTING STUDENTS COLLEGE READY
Every school needs a good core set of standards to guide students on the right path to success for college and their future. Many think Common Core is doing just the opposite with not teaching students the right skills they need for college. A friend of mine, Nicholas, is still in high school and was learning the same English standard in Anderson County High School that Cara Puckett was teaching in Eminence High School at the time. The difference, though, was the teacher. While Anderson County decided 'Talladega Nights' was appropriate and fit the standard, Cara Puckett choose 'The Patriot' to fit the same standard. Thom Coffee explains that "A standard itself is never going to be the thing that makes students more prepared for college, it's what goes on in the classroom... I would put the most important factor in kids' education is the teacher in the classroom."
Common Core standards have changed the way students now think. Instead of rote memorization, students now need to know why they are writing, why what happened in the reading happened, and be able to better understand and interpret information given to them. Increasing critical thinking in grade school students will help with college level assignments as well as the needed skill in everday life to be able to critically think.
Explaining how she teaches her students standards that she did not complete or learn until college level. This can be viewed as negative but with the correct implementation from a teacher who cares, these standards can be obtainable.
Common Core State Standards are not going to be the only deciding factor in the success of a child and their education. Common Core State Standards are providing a great guide that when combined with a "rockstar" teacher will be beneficial to students.
HELPING TO CLEAR CONCERN AND CONFUSION ON CCSS
So much confusion has surrounded the Common Core State Standards. Many parents believe that CCSS (Common Core State Standards) are pushing schools to over-test students. While CCSS are actually not implementing any testing as explained by Thom Coffee in the following video. Cara Puckett in an interview then explains how CCSS are pushing more testing throughout the school year but end of the year testing is actually shrinking. In turn, the testing throughout the year is low stress and is just a means to gauge where students are and what standards they need to improve and master. This helps students that have already mastered and understood the standard to move on and progress more quickly.
IS COMMON CORE BRINGING ON TOO MANY TEST FOR STUDENTS?
Thom Coffee explains how Common Core is actually not implementing any series of test for students and that schools are tailoring their students learning towards what they are being tested on and that this is to be expected with any set of standards.
HOW TESTING NOW WORKS AND EXPLAINING GOVERNMENT CONTROL IS NOT WHAT COMMON CORE IS STRIVING FOR
While unity seems to be one of the main emphasis of Common Core, it may be too much control over education. The states and school districts can only modify the standards no more that 15% while the remaining 85% cannot be changed in anyway and eliminates local and parental control over education (Bascom, 2016). Some believe Common Core is a way to control the minds of the students, take the voice of parents out of their child’s education and is treating every child as though they are the same and learn at the same rate (Lintz, 2014). Others also go as far to say Common Core is part of an effort to train students to believe whatever might serve a pre-determined common good and may be indoctrinating the children (A “Common Core”, 2016). Cara Puckett urges people to understand that this it is not in the standards to control students, it is just a high set of standards to help push students to learn more. Dave Powell urges those who think Common Core has a secret agenda that it is truly for the good as he writes in his blog The K-12 Contrarian that this is not a government effort to control our children’s education or way of thinking; it is simply to establish good standards that will help excel the students.
CCSS HARD OR OVERWHELMING FOR TEACHERS AS WELL
Cara Puckett, who has been teaching for 23 years, explains that CCSS was a hard transition for teachers. In a private interview, she discussed that many teachers had left the school because of the overwhelming amount of work transitioning. She pushed through the work and re-writing her standards and has now discovered CCSS to be highly beneficial.
Common Core State Standards
CONCLUSION
Common Core leaves no one behind, promotes rigor, and prepares students for college. With the good teachers who care, these standards will be implemented correctly and benifit all students who apply the effort. Every set of standards is bound to be controversial but Common Core better serves transient students; Common Core is not a government effort to control students; Common Core is not too rigorous in the long run and with help; Common Core is a good guideline to get students ready for college, and Common Core will benefit this nations education system in the long run.
SOURCES:
News Feed. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2016, from http://www.eminence.kyschools.us/
A "Common Core" for a Global Community - Crossroad.to. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/0013/common-core/1-common-core- lighthouse.htm
Bascom, J. (2016, January 20). 9 Reasons Why Common Core is Bad for Education. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from https://www.tfpstudentaction.org/blog/9-reasons-why-common-core-is-bad-for-education
COMMON CORE - StudentsFirst. (2013). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from https://www.studentsfirst.org/page/-/publications/policy_brief_common_core.pdf
Common Core is too hard because it’s not for average kids. (2015, May 20). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from https://atlaseducational.wordpress.com/2015/05/20/common-core-is- too-hard-because-its-not-for-average-kids/
Does Moving Hurt Your Child’s Education? | Military Spouse. (2012). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://militaryspouse.com/career/education/does-moving-hurt-your-childs-education/
Ellspermann, J. (2015, May 21). We need Common Core standards to make sure all students meet the same expectations - The Hechinger Report. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://hechingerreport.org/we-need-common-core-standards-to-make-sure-all-students-meet-the-same-expectations/
English Language Arts Standards » Anchor Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language. (2016). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/L/
Frequently Asked Questions. (2016). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/
Heick, T. (2015, January 21). Equity in Education: Where to Begin? Retrieved November 16, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/equity-education-where-to-begin-terry-heick
Innes, R. (2015, March 12). Are Common Core tests too hard? Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.bipps.org/common-core-tests-hard/
Mann, B. (2016, March 14). Equity and Equality Are Not Equal - The Education Trust. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from https://edtrust.org/the-equity-line/equity-and-equality-are-not-equal/
Park, A. (2014, February 20). Study: Switching Schools May Give Your Kids Psychotic Symptoms. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://time.com/8854/study-switching-schools-may-make-your-kids-psychotic/
Pinaski, J. (2014, February 24). New study: Effects of moving on kids' mental health - Today's Parent. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/run-at-home-mom/effects-of-moving-kids-mental-health/
Plucker, J. (2014, December 5). The Common Core Can Be Great for Gifted Students... But That's Not Guaranteed.
Pondiscio, R. (2015, February 11). Is Common Core too hard for kindergarten? Retrieved November 16, 2016, from https://edexcellence.net/articles/is-common-core-too-hard-for-kindergarten
Pullmann, J. (2014). Top Ten Things Parents Hate About Common Core. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://thefederalist.com/2014/09/24/top-ten-things-parents-hate-about-common- core/
Strauss, V. (n.d.). Common Core isn’t preparing students very well for college or career, new report says. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/06/09/common-core-isnt-preparing-students-very-well-for-college-or-career-new-report-says/
MARISSA PUCKETT
December 12, 2016
DR. PARROTT
English 301 Extended Research Project
