Is Common Core Bad?
The short answer is (a very enthusiastic) no!
As parents, you have probably gotten some disturbing mixed-messages about the Common Core State Standards, and I would like a chance to offer a veteran teacher's perspective. If you haven't heard about the controversy, I would invite you to view Slate's article Common What?. Though it was published several months ago, it still provides a fairly unbiased overview of the information. Let's go over the basics and hit some myths about Common Core.
What is the Common Core?
"The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA)." Standard are simply a list of what a student should know at the end of each grade. For example, my I Can statements are paraphrases of Georgia's standards. While the Common Core standards are used across the nation, in Georgia we chose to renamed them CCGPS (Common Core Georgia Performance Standards).
The Common Core website has offered some basic FAQ and some Myths vs Facts as well. This article by US News also lays to rest many of the myths circulating about the Common Core.
Why did the standards need to change?
Reason 1: People Move
Imagine that you live in South Carolina. Your child has been in school there and is halfway through his/her third grade year. Your job offers you a promotion, but you have to move to Georgia, so you pack up and move. Your child enrolls and continues third grade in Georgia, but comes home very confused. His (or her) teacher gave the class a homework assignment on division and all of his/her classmates seem to undersand, but he/she didn't learn division yet.
That was one problem with the old standards. As a part of life, people move - often to other states. Children would risk finding themselves in situation where a skill was taught in one grade in one state and a different grade in another state, making it difficult for students to transition smooth and do well in their new schools. Common Core sought to remedy this by encouraging all states to teach the same basic skills at the same time. For example, if you lived in South Carolina today and moved to Georgia, your child would learn division in both states as a part of the Common Core.
Reason 2: To Improve
In addition, the Common Core standards are written more clearly and are, in my opinion, better focused on what students really need to be able to do. For example, in the old 6th grade standards, students were required to master all 8 parts of speech in addition to reading and writing tasks. This meant teachers had to cover the topics quickly and did not have time to ensure long-term mastery. With the new standards, 6th graders would focus on mastering pronouns. Other parts of speech are focused on in other grades.
For example, the previous 3rd grade ELA standards (GPS) had this as a requirement:
ELA3W2 The student writes in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. The student produces a narrative that:
a. Captures a reader’s interest by writing both personal and fantasy/imaginary stories, setting a purpose, and developing a point of view.
b. Sustains a focus.
c. Includes the appropriate purpose, expectations, and length for the audience and genre.
d. Uses sensory details and other literary language to communicate setting, characters, and plot.
e. Uses appropriate organizational structures to ensure coherence (well developed beginning, middle, and end, and sequence of events) and strategies (transition words/phrases, time cue words, and sequence of events).
The CCGPS rewrote that requirement as this:
ELACC3W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally
The CCGPS standard is more to the point and avoids repeating information to create an easier to understand requirement. You can see more comparisons to the old 3rd grade ELA Standards here - including how standards were regrouped or shifted to other grade levels.
Reason 3: To Compete
Each state is responsible for creating and supporting its schools. Whole this gives states the freedom to act in their best interests, it also creates disparity between the educational requirements across the nation. As a result, some states rank higher or lower on national education tests. A common requirment will help ensure that all students across our nation are ready with the skills they need to succeed in the modern world.
Was the Common Core created by the federal government?
No. The Common Core was not created by the federal government, but rather by a team made up of state governers, representatives, teachers, and parents. Governor Deal was heavily involved in the initial creation of the standards to ensure that they would meet the needs of our students. Ths group, which includes te National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of the Chief State Schools Offices, continues to lead the improvement and use of the Common Core.
One of the major concerns relating to the Common Core is the belief that the federal government is overstepping its bounds and trying to run state education. I do not believe this to be the case because of how the standards were created (by a group of state representatives working together).
In fact, each state has the freedom to change the standards (up to 15% of all standards) to meet its individual needs and still be considered Common Core. For example, in eighth grade, students learn about authors from Georgia. It is a skill unique to Georgia and still considered a Common Core standard.
Within each teacher's classroom, that teacher has the freedom to choose how to teach the skills. Teachers select which books to read, which games to play, and each school district can decide when during the year to teach each skill. Education is still very much a state responsibility; states have just decided to work together to benefit their students.
Scholastic's article Common Core Under Attack also addresses some of these concerns.
How did they decide what skills to include?
This, I believe, is the real gem of the Common Core. To design the standards, the creators began by making a list of what skills students had to have once they graduated high school if they intended to go to go to college. Once they had that basic list, the creators worked backwards, figuring out how to strategically build these skills, starting in kindergarden. This means that the skills your child learns in third grade will be built upon each year with a clear purpose to ensure that your child is ready to go to college (if he/she chooses) after graduation.
Why did Georgia create its own test?
The official reason was that "the new test would be too costly".
Common testing is an important element of the Common Core. Unlike the CRCT, this test could show how Georgia students performed in comparison with students in other states. Historically (according to Fulton County Schools Superintendent Robert Avossa), Georgia has set its standards on the lower end, so a test with high expectations would likely result in lower - but more accurate - scores and encourage students and teachers to raise the bar and better compete both nationally and internationally. As Georgia schools rose to the challenge, the temporary low scores would improve within a few years. While 22 states have decided to continue with a Common Core test, Georgia decided to create its own state test.
A recent update from the Georgia DOE stated that Georgia will develop the Georgia Milestones test and will begin using it instead of the CRCT this year (2014-2015).
Gwinette Daily's article Georgia Drops CRCT, EOCT for New Testing System offers additional insight.
I want you to feel comfortable that your child is getting a quality education. Please feel free to ask me any other questions you have.