The newest attempt at improving public education - Common Core Standards - have now been adopted by 47 of our 50 United States! These standards, some say, are yet another set of skills that already over-burdened teachers are expected to take on. Others claim that the standards are nothing new, simply a refocusing of efforts on skills that will return benefits to the widest spectrum of subjects.
It certainly doesn't help when the facilitator in a district which will remain nameless starts the common core standards information session with, "We aren't going to teach literature anymore because the majority of what kids will be tested on and therefore need to be reading is fact-based information". Not the way to win friends and influence people, that's for sure!
What is amazing is that this same person repeated the same statement prior to a training session during which the trainer pointed out that more than 50% of Kindergarten, 40% of 1st to 2nd grade, 35% of 3rd to 4th grade, and 30% of 4th to 8th grade English/language arts reading instruction will still be literature. I ceased to listen to what the facilitator said several years ago, and this only solidified my practice of putting things this person says in the "junk-mail" folder.
What I hate about the "new" common core standards (CCS's) isn't the standards themselves, but rather the reason behind them. Like many "new" education mandates, the CCS's do not spring from a desire to help children grow into well rounded, inquisitive, thoughtful, creative, caring, logical, healthy, happy adults but rather from the mandate that they PASS THE TEST!!!
And it's really not even the test I hate. After all, "The Test" has been around since before I was in grade school. I remember filling in the bubbles back in the 70's. What has changes is the emphasis on the results. If you feel like reading a tirade of sorts see this post of mine.
So, what are your thoughts on the CCS's? How do you feel about teaching reading and writing skills in Social Studies, Science, or Math? Have a great day!
I'm having quite a hard time with these CCS's as well. Since I teach an elective, Career and Tech Ed, we don't have specific common standards like the core classes, so our state is trying to adopt standards. We do have National Standards which we use, but trying to teach all of the core skills into my classroom is very challenging. I think that is why I chose to do my blog assignment on Writing in the Classroom because I find it so hard to teach all skills and need ideas from those who do teach these skills! Ah, information overload a lot of the time!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Our state, South Carolina, has also adopted the CCS's as well. I am headed to a training later this month. My frustration with standards in general is that there is no connection for the kids. We seem to chunk learning, and then we cram so much into an already short school day and year. The learning is so disconnected. As hard as I try to make the connections it is very difficult. There seems to be very little time for authentic learning. We teach wide, but not deep. There is so much great information out there. I know what to do, but finding the time to let the kids do it is such a challenge.
ReplyDeleteThe state of Nevada has also adopted the CCS's and the teachers that I have talked to have expressed some of the concerns that have been addressed. So many of the teachers verbalized the concern when will education focus more on the children vs "the test". Concerns, stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed seem to be the talk around the lunch table.
ReplyDeleteI just saw your "frustration" video. LOL! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN! The hard part is that we are limited by our standards. The standardized tests don't allow for authentic assessments.
ReplyDeleteI watched something on CNN this past Saturday. I think it was titled “Fixing American Education”. I was so angry with Bill Gates. One of the items his foundation is pushing is merit pay for teachers. One measure for merit pay would be standardized test scores. Although that is not the major emphasis, it is a piece. Now, my test scores have always been pretty good, but what if I were given and entire class of students who were academically challenged? Students who, by no fault of my own, came to me behind; is that fair to base part of my pay on those scores? It is extremely difficult to get students up to grade level and “passing” a standardized test when there is little to no support from home and when they lack the very basic skills. I know people will think that is a cop-out, but some people don’t get it. That’s what frustrates me. How can we have authentic assessments when pay is based off of standardized test scores and professional teachers are not allowed to teach what the kids what they need? It is a prescribed curriculum. I blame NCLB for this standardized test score fiasco. We don’t “teach to the test” but at the end of the day, that’s how accountability is measured. What’s authentic about that?
My other frustration with Bill Gates (and Oprah)…. he (and Oprah) hold the KIPP schools up as an example of how wonderful charter schools are. Guess what? They may serve the same students, but they don’t have to put up with behavior that public schools have to endure. I watched the founder of KIPP on Oprah tell a story of how he went to a students house and told the mom it was either the TV (he was taking it) or KIPP. Now, let me do that and I would have a formal complaint filed, the media would be contacted, I would be suspended with pay (maybe), and then eventually terminated. Sooooo frustrating. I want to do the right thing by my kids. At some point, parents, teachers, & administrators have to get on board. There has to be some accountability for parents, too. Teachers can’t do it all. I could go on, but back to the authentic assessment. I think we are headed in the wrong direction. If we want to be authentic, then teachers have to be valued (like they are in other countries) and teachers must be given the autonomy to decide what needs to be taught. I hear ya!