Common Core Education Standards (1 Viewer)

[cstu]

California still a backwards state when it comes to cursive.

 

[saintfool]

The testing is the piece that I find more interesting and debatable than the standards. Ultimately, if there are standard tests in place that determine school ranking, teacher rating, student achievement, then the tests are what matters not the standards.

This is what my company does in a manner of speaking. When I speak with principals and district level administration, the message is pretty clear. The data reporting is critical. It determines funding at its most basic level. Teachers, however, are concerned that these assessments essentially serve as performance evaluation tools. That's why many teacher contracts only use the state or national assessments as a partial metric. Chicago, for example, uses a couple of different metrics in determining teacher effectiveness and job security as a result.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I'm a fairly new teacher and wouldn't begin to profess the same amount of knowledge on this as others. That said, the teachers know at the beginning of the year what needs to be taught and what CCES are needed for the student in the grade they are teaching. I find teachers get into a rut or don't like to be dictated what they need to teach and what order. It really is not that tough. You teach what they require and try to stay out in front so that by Jan/Feb you have taught all the principles that are going to be needed for these tests. Review in March, test in April, you still have 4-6 weeks before the end of the school year to teach anything you feel is important but not in the CCES.

There has to be benchmarks of some kind. I also find teachers that don't have control of their classrooms will run out of time and probably are afraid with good reason that the results will fall back on them, they should. I hate to be a doosh about it but running a public classroom similar to what private schools do and giving the kid almost the same education they would get at a private school is a good goal to strive for.

Example...the science teacher for the 8th and 9th graders at my school always has them doing art projects with glitter and glue and strays far away from book, paper, and pen. I understand wanting to be able to reach certain kids but I really feel based on my short experience that students crave structure. And giving them a lot to read, write, and think critically for themselves goes a long way. I understand some subjects and topics are dry but that is part of a teacher's job to liven it up. Just making art projects doesn't cut it.

 

[Mario Kart]

I'm a fairly new teacher and wouldn't begin to profess the same amount of knowledge on this as others. That said, the teachers know at the beginning of the year what needs to be taught and what CCES are needed for the student in the grade they are teaching. I find teachers get into a rut or don't like to be dictated what they need to teach and what order. It really is not that tough. You teach what they require and try to stay out in front so that by Jan/Feb you have taught all the principles that are going to be needed for these tests. Review in March, test in April, you still have 4-6 weeks before the end of the school year to teach anything you feel is important but not in the CCES.

There has to be benchmarks of some kind. I also find teachers that don't have control of their classrooms will run out of time and probably are afraid with good reason that the results will fall back on them, they should. I hate to be a doosh about it but running a public classroom similar to what private schools do and giving the kid almost the same education they would get at a private school is a good goal to strive for.

Example...the science teacher for the 8th and 9th graders at my school always has them doing art projects with glitter and glue and strays far away from book, paper, and pen. I understand wanting to be able to reach certain kids but I really feel based on my short experience that students crave structure. And giving them a lot to read, write, and think critically for themselves goes a long way. I understand some subjects and topics are dry but that is part of a teacher's job to liven it up. Just making art projects doesn't cut it.

 

[Ilov80s]

The testing is the piece that I find more interesting and debatable than the standards. Ultimately, if there are standard tests in place that determine school ranking, teacher rating, student achievement, then the tests are what matters not the standards.

This is what my company does in a manner of speaking. When I speak with principals and district level administration, the message is pretty clear. The data reporting is critical. It determines funding at its most basic level. Teachers, however, are concerned that these assessments essentially serve as performance evaluation tools. That's why many teacher contracts only use the state or national assessments as a partial metric. Chicago, for example, uses a couple of different metrics in determining teacher effectiveness and job security as a result.

I am even talking from a fundamental perspective of teaching. The standards can be taught so many ways and proponents highlight that fact often. It irrelevant though if we have standard tests. What needs to be taught is what matches and is most similar to the tests.

 

[saintfool]

The testing is the piece that I find more interesting and debatable than the standards. Ultimately, if there are standard tests in place that determine school ranking, teacher rating, student achievement, then the tests are what matters not the standards.

This is what my company does in a manner of speaking. When I speak with principals and district level administration, the message is pretty clear. The data reporting is critical. It determines funding at its most basic level.Teachers, however, are concerned that these assessments essentially serve as performance evaluation tools. That's why many teacher contracts only use the state or national assessments as a partial metric. Chicago, for example, uses a couple of different metrics in determining teacher effectiveness and job security as a result.

I am even talking from a fundamental perspective of teaching. The standards can be taught so many ways and proponents highlight that fact often. It irrelevant though if we have standard tests. What needs to be taught is what matches and is most similar to the tests.

A standardized test is more than Scantron and multiple choice though. An assessment can easily - and often does - accommodate more than things that can are shaded with a #2 pencil. Schools and districts just have to allow for it and provide a rubric to support it. Portfolio assessment, exit project, short answer, essay, technology enhanced items, etc are all available to use today. The public conflates "standardized test" with bubblesheets and that connotation is killing the standards/mastery movement in education. What the standards are intended to do is show comprehension. Smart educators incorporate assessment - short, formative - as part of their everday time in class to see the effectiveness of the lesson and inform instruction accordingly. Smart schools and districts deploy those very limited student support services - tutoring, guidance, small group instruction, etc - to those students as the data begins to roll up. REALLY smart schools and districts take the data to support the teachers - increased professional development, mentoring, etc - that are struggling too.

 

[Ilov80s]

The testing is the piece that I find more interesting and debatable than the standards. Ultimately, if there are standard tests in place that determine school ranking, teacher rating, student achievement, then the tests are what matters not the standards.

This is what my company does in a manner of speaking. When I speak with principals and district level administration, the message is pretty clear. The data reporting is critical. It determines funding at its most basic level.Teachers, however, are concerned that these assessments essentially serve as performance evaluation tools. That's why many teacher contracts only use the state or national assessments as a partial metric. Chicago, for example, uses a couple of different metrics in determining teacher effectiveness and job security as a result.

I am even talking from a fundamental perspective of teaching. The standards can be taught so many ways and proponents highlight that fact often. It irrelevant though if we have standard tests. What needs to be taught is what matches and is most similar to the tests.

A standardized test is more than Scantron and multiple choice though. An assessment can easily - and often does - accommodate more than things that can are shaded with a #2 pencil. Schools and districts just have to allow for it and provide a rubric to support it. Portfolio assessment, exit project, short answer, essay, technology enhanced items, etc are all available to use today. The public conflates "standardized test" with bubblesheets and that connotation is killing the standards/mastery movement in education. What the standards are intended to do is show comprehension. Smart educators incorporate assessment - short, formative - as part of their everday time in class to see the effectiveness of the lesson and inform instruction accordingly. Smart schools and districts deploy those very limited student support services - tutoring, guidance, small group instruction, etc - to those students as the data begins to roll up. REALLY smart schools and districts take the data to support the teachers - increased professional development, mentoring, etc - that are struggling too.

I agree with everything you said, but it isn't related to the point I am making: Teachers and districts don't choose the tests that Smarter Balanced or a State choose to use. Teachers have to make their teaching and assessments match the tests given to them.

 

[Lutherman2112]

I'm a fairly new teacher and wouldn't begin to profess the same amount of knowledge on this as others. That said, the teachers know at the beginning of the year what needs to be taught and what CCES are needed for the student in the grade they are teaching. I find teachers get into a rut or don't like to be dictated what they need to teach and what order. It really is not that tough. You teach what they require and try to stay out in front so that by Jan/Feb you have taught all the principles that are going to be needed for these tests. Review in March, test in April, you still have 4-6 weeks before the end of the school year to teach anything you feel is important but not in the CCES.

There has to be benchmarks of some kind. I also find teachers that don't have control of their classrooms will run out of time and probably are afraid with good reason that the results will fall back on them, they should. I hate to be a doosh about it but running a public classroom similar to what private schools do and giving the kid almost the same education they would get at a private school is a good goal to strive for.

Example...the science teacher for the 8th and 9th graders at my school always has them doing art projects with glitter and glue and strays far away from book, paper, and pen. I understand wanting to be able to reach certain kids but I really feel based on my short experience that students crave structure. And giving them a lot to read, write, and think critically for themselves goes a long way. I understand some subjects and topics are dry but that is part of a teacher's job to liven it up. Just making art projects doesn't cut it.

"I hate to be a doosh about it but running a public classroom similar to what private schools do and giving the kid almost the same education they would get at a private school is a good goal to strive for. "

You should probably S T F U and leave the heavy lifting to those that can construct coherent sentences.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I'm a fairly new teacher and wouldn't begin to profess the same amount of knowledge on this as others. That said, the teachers know at the beginning of the year what needs to be taught and what CCES are needed for the student in the grade they are teaching. I find teachers get into a rut or don't like to be dictated what they need to teach and what order. It really is not that tough. You teach what they require and try to stay out in front so that by Jan/Feb you have taught all the principles that are going to be needed for these tests. Review in March, test in April, you still have 4-6 weeks before the end of the school year to teach anything you feel is important but not in the CCES.

There has to be benchmarks of some kind. I also find teachers that don't have control of their classrooms will run out of time and probably are afraid with good reason that the results will fall back on them, they should. I hate to be a doosh about it but running a public classroom similar to what private schools do and giving the kid almost the same education they would get at a private school is a good goal to strive for.

Example...the science teacher for the 8th and 9th graders at my school always has them doing art projects with glitter and glue and strays far away from book, paper, and pen. I understand wanting to be able to reach certain kids but I really feel based on my short experience that students crave structure. And giving them a lot to read, write, and think critically for themselves goes a long way. I understand some subjects and topics are dry but that is part of a teacher's job to liven it up. Just making art projects doesn't cut it.

"I hate to be a doosh about it but running a public classroom similar to what private schools do and giving the kid almost the same education they would get at a private school is a good goal to strive for. "

You should probably S T F U and leave the heavy lifting to those that can construct coherent sentences.

There's a new sheriff in town. Why so angry friendo?

 

[Hooper31]

The bits of it I've seen for my child's math homework is a disaster.

What specific standard from the CCS is a disaster?

The assignments themselves are a disaster. Whether that is the fault of common core or the fault of those in charge of implementation or the fault of the teacher, I couldn't say. I suspect it's not the teacher, as I'm pretty sure these are preprinted assignments out of the textbook.

Just to be clear, you posted in a thread about Common Core Standards complaining about your child's homework when you have little idea what the Common Core Standards really are. Is this right?

 

[Rich Conway]

The bits of it I've seen for my child's math homework is a disaster.

What specific standard from the CCS is a disaster?

The assignments themselves are a disaster. Whether that is the fault of common core or the fault of those in charge of implementation or the fault of the teacher, I couldn't say. I suspect it's not the teacher, as I'm pretty sure these are preprinted assignments out of the textbook.

Just to be clear, you posted in a thread about Common Core Standards complaining about your child's homework when you have little idea what the Common Core Standards really are. Is this right?

Seemed pretty clear. The assignments given are horrid. They are teaching the wrong things in the wrong way. The school has stressed that they are adopting Common Core. So I'm left to conclude that either Common Core sucks, the school district's implementation of Common Core sucks, or the teacher sucks. I'm ruling out "the teacher sucks" based on my knowledge of the teacher. That leaves either Common Core sucks or the district's implementation of Common Core sucks, either of which seem pretty appropriate in a thread about Common Core.

 

[Hooper31]

That leaves either Common Core sucks or the district's implementation of Common Core sucks, either of which seem pretty appropriate in a thread about Common Core.

The bolded is a distinct possibility. Other than sharing this here what are your plans to address the problem?

 

[Rich Conway]

That leaves either Common Core sucks or the district's implementation of Common Core sucks, either of which seem pretty appropriate in a thread about Common Core.

The bolded is a distinct possibility. Other than sharing this here what are your plans to address the problem?

Well, the town (and apparently the state, for that matter) as a whole is now reevaluating whether Common Core is a good idea. I think I posted earlier that the parents in general are just learning what the new curriculum entails, and for the most part, they don't like it. Again, whether that's Common Core or the implementation, I can't specifically say. If Common Core really is as simple as "by fifth grade, children should be able to divide fractions", then I'd say A) the Common Core standards aren't at fault, but also B) the Common Core standards aren't really very useful in determining actual curriculum.

I personally plan to vote against some of the existing Board of Ed members (both D and R) who I believe are simply shrill partisans, in favor of people I believe are capable of evaluating ideas on merit.

 

[Hooper31]

That leaves either Common Core sucks or the district's implementation of Common Core sucks, either of which seem pretty appropriate in a thread about Common Core.

The bolded is a distinct possibility. Other than sharing this here what are your plans to address the problem?

Well, the town (and apparently the state, for that matter) as a whole is now reevaluating whether Common Core is a good idea. I think I posted earlier that the parents in general are just learning what the new curriculum entails, and for the most part, they don't like it. Again, whether that's Common Core or the implementation, I can't specifically say. If Common Core really is as simple as "by fifth grade, children should be able to divide fractions", then I'd say A) the Common Core standards aren't at fault, but also B) the Common Core standards aren't really very useful in determining actual curriculum.

I personally plan to vote against some of the existing Board of Ed members (both D and R) who I believe are simply shrill partisans, in favor of people I believe are capable of evaluating ideas on merit.

Sounds like a good plan. If you would like to check out the standards for yourself you can check this link: CCS

Yes, the standards are only a list of things students should be able to do. Its up to local districts and states to decide how to get them there. I have some specific issues with the standards at the high school level, but not the idea behind the creation of the standards themselves.

Its been mentioned a few times in the thread, but the assessment of these standards is another issue. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Brony]

I'm not sure what the Common Core standards are, but I'm sure they're based on some mumbo-jumbo from a Washington DC fat cat. So I'm going to make a lot of noise and post many random articles on Facebook voicing my displeasure. This will demonstrate that I care about my kids to other parents so that I can guiltlessly enjoy playing Candy Crush while my kids are being raised by the school.

 

[lod01]

3 x 4 can = 11 if you explain your reasoning. LMAO! Man, if this keeps up, the USA is going to be full of drooling knuckle draggers.

Edit: Would definitely bang however.....repeatedly.

 

[tommyGunZ]

The bits of it I've seen for my child's math homework is a disaster.

What specific standard from the CCS is a disaster?

The assignments themselves are a disaster. Whether that is the fault of common core or the fault of those in charge of implementation or the fault of the teacher, I couldn't say. I suspect it's not the teacher, as I'm pretty sure these are preprinted assignments out of the textbook.

Just to be clear, you posted in a thread about Common Core Standards complaining about your child's homework when you have little idea what the Common Core Standards really are. Is this right?

Seemed pretty clear. The assignments given are horrid. They are teaching the wrong things in the wrong way. The school has stressed that they are adopting Common Core. So I'm left to conclude that either Common Core sucks, the school district's implementation of Common Core sucks, or the teacher sucks. I'm ruling out "the teacher sucks" based on my knowledge of the teacher. That leaves either Common Core sucks or the district's implementation of Common Core sucks, either of which seem pretty appropriate in a thread about Common Core.

You left out "the parent sucks" option. Not b/c I'm suggesting you are a bad parent, but perhaps you don't have enough information to properly evaluate the assignments and curriculum. Are you in education? Have you analyzed the curriculum extensively, or is this like the Facebook "I'm a college graduate and can't do this math problem" nonsense?

 

[jonessed]

The bits of it I've seen for my child's math homework is a disaster.

What specific standard from the CCS is a disaster?

The assignments themselves are a disaster. Whether that is the fault of common core or the fault of those in charge of implementation or the fault of the teacher, I couldn't say. I suspect it's not the teacher, as I'm pretty sure these are preprinted assignments out of the textbook.

Just to be clear, you posted in a thread about Common Core Standards complaining about your child's homework when you have little idea what the Common Core Standards really are. Is this right?

Seemed pretty clear. The assignments given are horrid. They are teaching the wrong things in the wrong way. The school has stressed that they are adopting Common Core. So I'm left to conclude that either Common Core sucks, the school district's implementation of Common Core sucks, or the teacher sucks. I'm ruling out "the teacher sucks" based on my knowledge of the teacher. That leaves either Common Core sucks or the district's implementation of Common Core sucks, either of which seem pretty appropriate in a thread about Common Core.

You left out "the parent sucks" option. Not b/c I'm suggesting you are a bad parent, but perhaps you don't have enough information to properly evaluate the assignments and curriculum. Are you in education? Have you analyzed the curriculum extensively, or is this like the Facebook "I'm a college graduate and can't do this math problem" nonsense?

 

[lod01]

So exactly what is the problem with doing subtraction like this?

417

-311

106

 

[Rich Conway]

The bits of it I've seen for my child's math homework is a disaster.

What specific standard from the CCS is a disaster?

The assignments themselves are a disaster. Whether that is the fault of common core or the fault of those in charge of implementation or the fault of the teacher, I couldn't say. I suspect it's not the teacher, as I'm pretty sure these are preprinted assignments out of the textbook.

Just to be clear, you posted in a thread about Common Core Standards complaining about your child's homework when you have little idea what the Common Core Standards really are. Is this right?

Seemed pretty clear. The assignments given are horrid. They are teaching the wrong things in the wrong way. The school has stressed that they are adopting Common Core. So I'm left to conclude that either Common Core sucks, the school district's implementation of Common Core sucks, or the teacher sucks. I'm ruling out "the teacher sucks" based on my knowledge of the teacher. That leaves either Common Core sucks or the district's implementation of Common Core sucks, either of which seem pretty appropriate in a thread about Common Core.

You left out "the parent sucks" option. Not b/c I'm suggesting you are a bad parent, but perhaps you don't have enough information to properly evaluate the assignments and curriculum. Are you in education? Have you analyzed the curriculum extensively, or is this like the Facebook "I'm a college graduate and can't do this math problem" nonsense?

Majored in math. I imagine I do OK.

 

[Slapdash]

So exactly what is the problem with doing subtraction like this?

417

-311

106

Too hard to make a profit selling new test and study materials using such basic exercises.

 

[Hooper31]

So exactly what is the problem with doing subtraction like this?

417

-311

106

There's nothing wrong with that method. Now go ahead and make your point. No need to be coy.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

3 x 4 can = 11 if you explain your reasoning. LMAO! Man, if this keeps up, the USA is going to be full of drooling knuckle draggers.

Edit: Would definitely bang however.....repeatedly.

Thanks for the link, Aunt Brenda!

 

[Rich Conway]

So exactly what is the problem with doing subtraction like this?

417

-311

106

Too hard to make a profit selling new test and study materials using such basic exercises.

I'm fairly convinced this is the real reason for sweeping changes in curriculum every decade.

 

[tommyGunZ]

"Public education SUCKS! Our kids are falling behind the Asians in science and math!"

"Let's do extensive analysis of teaching concepts from those areas of the world that are excelling in the areas we are struggling and implement some of their concepts into our educational system."

"Dammit - these new homework assignments are awful. Why can't they just teach multiplication memorization like I learned back in the day?!!! Common core sucks!"

 

[Rich Conway]

Sounds good, except you're no doubt aware that the sentiments you've noted aren't expressed by the same people.

Personally, I'd suggest that public education isn't awful, in general. Unfortunately, it varies greatly from district to district, for a variety of reasons. I'd further suggest that the reason public education is poor in some districts has little to do with curriculum. I'd further suggest that even in the districts where public education performs well, it would perform even better if we put more of the existing resources (money, focus, energy) into teaching, facilities, and equipment rather than administration.

What's funny is that if this was any other topic, people like tommyGunZ would be screaming "follow the money" and telling us to look at the record profits those corrupt textbook companies are making, and complaining about how teachers make less than half what the top administrators are making.

 

[Ilov80s]

Sounds good, except you're no doubt aware that the sentiments you've noted aren't expressed by the same people.

Personally, I'd suggest that public education isn't awful, in general. Unfortunately, it varies greatly from district to district, for a variety of reasons. I'd further suggest that the reason public education is poor in some districts has little to do with curriculum. I'd further suggest that even in the districts where public education performs well, it would perform even better if we put more of the existing resources (money, focus, energy) into teaching, facilities, and equipment rather than administration.

What's funny is that if this was any other topic, people like tommyGunZ would be screaming "follow the money" and telling us to look at the record profits those corrupt textbook companies are making, and complaining about how teachers make less than half what the top administrators are making.

Completely agree. If we set health and fitness standards for all kids. Imagine we said all 10th graders must have a BMI between x and y, run a mile in 8 minutes, and swim a mile in 20 minutes. The standard is nice, but for it become reality, it needs the tools and resources to be implemented. The billions of dollars spent debating and creating the standards and the annual tests to measure progress would have been better spent revamping school lunches, investing in more sports programs, and offering cooking classes to parents and students.

Also, the standards are not as important as the tests are. Across the country, most States are going with 1 of 2 tests. If the standard says perform 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication, the teachers/schools can approach it however they see fit. However, if the test questions give the students a lattice to fill out to do the multiplication, the school is locked into teaching the lattice method and ignoring other methods. You would assume the standards and tests designed to measure them would match up, but that isn't always the case. For example, my State science standards and the key science assessments. There are a lot to the standards, but a major portion is the memorization and explanation of phenomenon. "How is potential energy different from kinetic energy?" "Explain the stages meiosis and mitosis". "Define a weak force as ...." and so on. However, the test never asks kids about what they know. There is no question that says, "What is kinetic energy?" or "Which of the following is not a stage in Mitosis?" The entire test is reading and examining graphs/charts covering often new material and then analyzing it. That is fine, but then shouldn't the science standards be all about reading graphs, studies, etc. Why would a science teacher do demos or labs? Why would a teacher have a power point presentation or lecture ever? The teacher is better off turning the class into an ACT style prep course. I am not saying it is good or bad, but just that test is what will determine the education and is what we should focus on.

Here is the Smarter Balanced test that many States are adopting next year.

 

[Ilov80s]

Also, a little concerning that pilot tests are being done across the country this month and when I tried to access the student test page (https://sbacpt.tds.airast.org/student/) I got this message:

The web browser you are using was recently released and the American Institutes for Research has not finished testing its compatibility with this system. You may take tests using this browser if you choose to do so; however, there is a possibility that some features may not function correctly.

What fancy new web browser am I using? Firefox.

 

[cstu]

3 x 4 can = 11 if you explain your reasoning. LMAO! Man, if this keeps up, the USA is going to be full of drooling knuckle draggers.

Edit: Would definitely bang however.....repeatedly.

If a kid understands that 3 x 4 is the same thing as 3 + 3 + 3 +3 then I'd rather know that he/she doesn't know how to add rather that berating him/her over getting the wrong answer.

 

[jonessed]

3 x 4 can = 11 if you explain your reasoning.

I would be more concerned with not being able to add than not being able to multiply.

Either way, the correct answer is still 12 and not 11.

 

[Clifford]

Is this the new outrage for the lunatic paranoid right wingers?

I kind of love this quote from a Fox News article by a lady who founded an anti-Common Core group:

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist and I'm not some crazed woman," she added. "But we're leading our kids right into communism."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/06/clash-over-common-core-opposition-grows-as-national-education-standards/#ixzz2eA4pqF2V

Are people getting progressively dumber, or are dumb people just getting more coverage?

 

[joffer]

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/05/19/3439163/state-rep-common-core-gay/

Common Core may not be a well-intentioned set of improved educational standards, as supporters would have you believe, but instead a trojan horse designed to turn every schoolchild in Florida, if not America, gay.

This ominous warning came at an anti-Common Core event in March courtesy of Florida State Rep. Charles Van Zant ®. Speaking at the “Operation Education Conference” in Orlando, Van Zant warned that officials implementing Common Core in Florida are “promoting as hard as they can any youth that is interested in the LGBT agenda.”

Their aim, Van Zant warned, was to “attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can.” He then apologized to the crowd for having to be the bearer of bad news. “I really hate to bring you that news,” the Florida Republican said, “but you need to know.”

VAN ZANT: These people, that will now receive $220 million from the state of Florida unless this is stopped, will promote double-mindedness in state education and attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can. I’m sorry to report that to you.

Even for a Republican Party prone to hysteria, Common Core has sent grassroots conservatives into an accelerated tailspin. Right Wing Watch has a roundup of some of the most exaggerated reactions, including an Alabama Tea Party leader saying a vote for Common Core will damn lawmakers to hell, the American Family Association warning that children won’t “survive” Common Core, Eagle Forum saying it will promote homosexuality, Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) calling it “socialism,” and WorldNetDaily saying it will turn America into Nazi Germany.

The leader of this backlash is Glenn Beck, who believes the educational standards, which have been adopted in 44 states, are “evil” and designed to “train us to be a serf state” under the rule of China and Islam.

 

[ElGatoLoco]

Is this the new outrage for the lunatic paranoid right wingers?

I kind of love this quote from a Fox News article by a lady who founded an anti-Common Core group:

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist and I'm not some crazed woman," she added. "But we're leading our kids right into communism."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/06/clash-over-common-core-opposition-grows-as-national-education-standards/#ixzz2eA4pqF2V

Are people getting progressively dumber, or are dumb people just getting more coverage?

I read the linked article, and what amazes me is that much of the mainsteaming some of the parents seem to be so concerned about has already happened under No Child Left Behind over a decade ago.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/05/19/3439163/state-rep-common-core-gay/

Common Core may not be a well-intentioned set of improved educational standards, as supporters would have you believe, but instead a trojan horse designed to turn every schoolchild in Florida, if not America, gay.

This ominous warning came at an anti-Common Core event in March courtesy of Florida State Rep. Charles Van Zant ®. Speaking at the “Operation Education Conference” in Orlando, Van Zant warned that officials implementing Common Core in Florida are “promoting as hard as they can any youth that is interested in the LGBT agenda.”

Their aim, Van Zant warned, was to “attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can.” He then apologized to the crowd for having to be the bearer of bad news. “I really hate to bring you that news,” the Florida Republican said, “but you need to know.”

VAN ZANT: These people, that will now receive $220 million from the state of Florida unless this is stopped, will promote double-mindedness in state education and attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can. I’m sorry to report that to you.

Even for a Republican Party prone to hysteria, Common Core has sent grassroots conservatives into an accelerated tailspin. Right Wing Watch has a roundup of some of the most exaggerated reactions, including an Alabama Tea Party leader saying a vote for Common Core will damn lawmakers to hell, the American Family Association warning that children won’t “survive” Common Core, Eagle Forum saying it will promote homosexuality, Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) calling it “socialism,” and WorldNetDaily saying it will turn America into Nazi Germany.

The leader of this backlash is Glenn Beck, who believes the educational standards, which have been adopted in 44 states, are “evil” and designed to “train us to be a serf state” under the rule of China and Islam.

So awesome.

 

[Ilov80s]

These people are so dumb and detract from any valid complaints with education. This is why we don't have a direct democracy.

 

[Mario Kart]

http://www.kansas.com/2014/02/19/3298877/kansas-house-committee-to-hear.html

The Kansas Legislature has been addressing this recently.

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/jessica_vanegeren/bill-to-eliminate-common-core-in-wisconsin-abruptly-pulled-from/article_e48e83fc-9a55-11e3-ac72-0019bb2963f4.html

Wisconsin as well however things are going back and forth.

Wisconsin, Walker, is all but done with Common Core. At least, from today, Wisconsin is trying to move forward without it.

 

[moleculo]

sorry for coming into this late, but are there any reasonable criticisms about common core made by reasonable people?

 

[Hooper31]

sorry for coming into this late, but are there any reasonable criticisms about common core made by reasonable people?

Sure. I've taught high school mathematics for 21 years. I think most of what gets taught to students in a high school Algebra 2 course is a complete waste of time. I didn't say all, but most. I think the path for most students should lead towards statistics instead of calculus.

 

[Psychopav]

sorry for coming into this late, but are there any reasonable criticisms about common core made by reasonable people?

Sure. I've taught high school mathematics for 21 years. I think most of what gets taught to students in a high school Algebra 2 course is a complete waste of time. I didn't say all, but most. I think the path for most students should lead towards statistics instead of calculus.

This would revolutionize American math education, not to mention our global competitiveness.

 

[moleculo]

sorry for coming into this late, but are there any reasonable criticisms about common core made by reasonable people?

Sure. I've taught high school mathematics for 21 years. I think most of what gets taught to students in a high school Algebra 2 course is a complete waste of time. I didn't say all, but most. I think the path for most students should lead towards statistics instead of calculus.

are you talking about the new math (i.e. common core), or what you have been teaching for the past 2 decades?

 

[Hooper31]

sorry for coming into this late, but are there any reasonable criticisms about common core made by reasonable people?

Sure. I've taught high school mathematics for 21 years. I think most of what gets taught to students in a high school Algebra 2 course is a complete waste of time. I didn't say all, but most. I think the path for most students should lead towards statistics instead of calculus.

are you talking about the new math (i.e. common core), or what you have been teaching for the past 2 decades?

The mathematics courses I have been teaching for the past twenty years are exactly the same as the common core standards.

LINK

There's nothing "new" there.

 

[moleculo]

sorry for coming into this late, but are there any reasonable criticisms about common core made by reasonable people?

Sure. I've taught high school mathematics for 21 years. I think most of what gets taught to students in a high school Algebra 2 course is a complete waste of time. I didn't say all, but most. I think the path for most students should lead towards statistics instead of calculus.

are you talking about the new math (i.e. common core), or what you have been teaching for the past 2 decades?

The mathematics courses I have been teaching for the past twenty years are exactly the same as the common core standards.

LINK

There's nothing "new" there.

oh, ok. Then why are people so pissy about this? I honestly don't understand. I hear callers on talk radio complaining about how they can't teach their kids math (hint: that's probably more about you than the cirriculum), I see people thinking it's radical left-wing stuff, leads to communism and the gay. Just trying to understand where all of the mis-trust comes from.

My mom was the elementary mathematics coordinator for our local school district years ago. Since retirement, my parents have been completely transformed into e-mail forwarding, Obama-hating, muslim fearing, right wing nut-jobs. I asked them, and they had no beef with the common core; my mom thinks it's mostly the new, innovative teaching methods she was working to implement way back then.

If my parents, 65+ year old, extremely conservative, former education professionals, are cool with common core curriculum, I'm left struggling to find fault.

 

[Hooper31]

my mom thinks it's mostly the new, innovative teaching methods she was working to implement way back then.

This is very wrong. Common core is only a list of standards. The list makes no suggestion or demand in how you teach students to achieve these standards. Anyone that says otherwise is speaking from ignorance.

I have a problem with some of the specific standards. Here's three standards that I think are silly from the Geometry section. The ability to derive and prove each of these is a waste of time for most students. They're not all going to be civil engineers. I can list several others from various sections.

Apply trigonometry to general trianglesCCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.SRT.D.9(+) Derive the formula A = 1/2 ab sin© for the area of a triangle by drawing an auxiliary line from a vertex perpendicular to the opposite side.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.SRT.D.10(+) Prove the Laws of Sines and Cosines and use them to solve problems.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.SRT.D.11(+) Understand and apply the Law of Sines and the Law of Cosines to find unknown measurements in right and non-right triangles (e.g., surveying problems, resultant forces).

 

[Hooper31]

Here's a good example of Algebra 2 material that I believe isn't worth burning time on for most students.

Solve systems of equations.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.REI.C.5
Prove that, given a system of two equations in two variables, replacing one equation by the sum of that equation and a multiple of the other produces a system with the same solutions.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.REI.C.6
Solve systems of linear equations exactly and approximately (e.g., with graphs), focusing on pairs of linear equations in two variables.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.REI.C.7
Solve a simple system consisting of a linear equation and a quadratic equation in two variables algebraically and graphically. For example, find the points of intersection between the line y = -3x and the circle x2 + y2 = 3.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.REI.C.8
(+) Represent a system of linear equations as a single matrix equation in a vector variable.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.REI.C.9
(+) Find the inverse of a matrix if it exists and use it to solve systems of linear equations (using technology for matrices of dimension 3 × 3 or greater).

The concept that more math for everyone is a good idea makes me want to puke. Its just arbitrary. We're paying the price for Sputnik almost 60 years later. The thought that ALL STUDENTS must compete mathematically and scientifically with the rest of the world is absurd to me.

 

[moleculo]

my mom thinks it's mostly the new, innovative teaching methods she was working to implement way back then.

This is very wrong. Common core is only a list of standards. The list makes no suggestion or demand in how you teach students to achieve these standards. Anyone that says otherwise is speaking from ignorance.

I have a problem with some of the specific standards. Here's three standards that I think are silly from the Geometry section. The ability to derive and prove each of these is a waste of time for most students. They're not all going to be civil engineers. I can list several others from various sections.

Apply trigonometry to general trianglesCCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.SRT.D.9(+) Derive the formula A = 1/2 ab sin© for the area of a triangle by drawing an auxiliary line from a vertex perpendicular to the opposite side.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.SRT.D.10(+) Prove the Laws of Sines and Cosines and use them to solve problems.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.SRT.D.11(+) Understand and apply the Law of Sines and the Law of Cosines to find unknown measurements in right and non-right triangles (e.g., surveying problems, resultant forces).

interesting. I guess I need to read up on the subject a bit more. Thanks.

 

[Ilov80s]

sorry for coming into this late, but are there any reasonable criticisms about common core made by reasonable people?

Yes. You won't find it on talk radio. My biggest complaints have less to do with the standards themselves (I still think States were pressured into the standards with a financial lottery during the heart of the recession and that the standards have no research to support that they are an improvement over many States existing standards), but with the related testing that comes with it, the weight we are placing on the tests, and general education policy. Most people seem to agree NCLB was a failure and yet RTTP is in many ways a doubling down of it.

 

[Hooper31]

For ####s sake. I don't comment much on Facebook. I think I've posted about three things in the past year. That said, the criticism I saw on Common Core today just pisses me off. If you're going to criticise Common Core at least have a ####### clue what Common Core is.

Some teacher gave an assignment for their students to find a mistake in a different algorithm for subtraction. A parent went nuts writing on the paper that Common Core sucks blah blah blah and that she is wicked smart with degrees etc. Sure lady, you're but are you smart enough to have the first clue what you're criticizing? Apparently not.

LINK

Now, lets just be done with this idea and move forward.... Common Core is not a prescription of how to teach. Its a list of things that students should be able to do. You get to decide in your local state and district how they should get there.

#### #### ####. Its times like this that I think you shouldn't be allowed to post on the internet without first scoring over 100 on an IQ test.

 

[NajehHejan]

i just read hoop's older posts about Algebra2 and I am scared ####less about having to help my kid with that stuff in ten years. I always did well in math but that stuff is just plain scary. Man I hope they're able to figure it out themselves when the time comes.

 

[ghostguy123]

i just read hoop's older posts about Algebra2 and I am scared ####less about having to help my kid with that stuff in ten years. I always did well in math but that stuff is just plain scary. Man I hope they're able to figure it out themselves when the time comes.

I was helping my daughter with math the last year or two (4th/5th grade), and they way they are teaching stuff is so confusing and just flat out stupid. Literally no rational as to why they teach it this way, and why they dont just teach it the good ol fashioned EASY AS HELL way.

Basicially, she was teaching ME out to do it. I know we got the answers right, but who knows if we did the work the right way..............I have a minor in math in college by they way.

The way they are teaching it will make it absolutely impossible for these kids to be able to do quick math calculations in their heads, and also kill a billion trees in the process since a problem that should take up a couple square inches of paper now takes up an entire side of a piece of paper.

I havent contributed in this thread at all, and have barely read any of the posts yet, so maybe people touched on this.............pretty obvious common core was NOT ready to be implemented, but they jsut went ahead and did it anyway for some sort of political reasons. It's fine they want to change to something and create new standars for doing things, but some of the things they are implementing are just so beyond stupid that it's quite clear they didnt really know what they were implementing when it was voted on.

And I also remember reading that some of the people voting to implement these changes did not even READ what the changes were going to be. Sad.

But hey, what the hell, lets jack up our kids learning for some political reasons. Good idea..............idiots.

 

[Hooper31]

pretty obvious common core was NOT ready to be implemented, but they jsut went ahead and did it anyway for some sort of political reasons. It's fine they want to change to something and create new standars for doing things, but some of the things they are implementing are just so beyond stupid that it's quite clear they didnt really know what they were implementing when it was voted on.

And I also remember reading that some of the people voting to implement these changes did not even READ what the changes were going to be. Sad.

But hey, what the hell, lets jack up our kids learning for some political reasons. Good idea..............idiots.

Pretty good idea that this guy also has no clue what Common Core is.