Common Core
Several moms in NDCHEA are concerned about the Common Core educational standards that are being widely accepted across the nation. Thanks to Jen who worked to compile the following points about Common Core.
Concerns:
1) Cost -- The states will have to pay substantial amounts to implement common core. One study estimates it will cost $16 billion to implement common core nationwide. Costs include, but are not limited to technology, new textbooks, and teacher re-training.
2) Content --
English -- The study of literature is de-emphasized in common core. Some believe that CC is inadequate to prepare students for college. Massachusetts adopted CC in 2010, and the impact has been to reduce the amount of classical literature by more than half.
Math -- By moving Algebra I from 8th - 9th grade, the math standards will ensure that most students do not reach calculus in high school. Also, CC requires that geometry be taught by an experimental method that has never been used successfully anywhere in the world. One drafter of the CC math curriculum said that the CC is designed to prepare students for a non-selective two year community college, not a four year university. The only mathematician on the CC Validation Committee has said that the CC math standards will put American students two years behind students in high-performing nations.
Science --The science standards seem to have a political undertone. For example, climate science is emphasized disproportionately. Scientific reasoning is not emphasized.
General -- The Common Core is a minimum standard, and is not as academically rigorous as many previous state standards and private standards. The standards are weak on integrated learning, focusing instead on disconnected information.
3) Privacy -- States are forced to create databases with personal student and family information, which can be accessed by other states and federal agencies. There is a push to include the personal information of homeschoolers and those attending private schools in these databases, as well.
4) Abolition of local control -- The federal government is funding the creation of tests aligned with CC, which will inevitably drive what is taught in every classroom. States must accept CC standards word for word, adding no more than 15% content and deleting none. National tests will not cover that extra content.
5) Constitutionality -- The U.S. Constitution provides no role for the federal government in controlling education. Three federal statutes actually prohibit what the federal government has done with CC and its assessments.
6) Testing Alignment -- Even if homeschoolers choose not to follow CC standards, standardized tests are being aligned with it. David Coleman, president of the College Board, was involved in the development of the CC standards and has announced that the SAT will be redesigned according to CC standards. The ACT has added questions that align with CC. The latest version of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills is based on the CC. The GED has been redesigned for the first time since 2002 to incorporate aspects of CC. (The Stanford 10 achievement tests have NOT been changed to reflect CC.)
If you want to read more, check out these websites:
www.ohioansagainstcommoncore.com
www.hslda.org/commoncore
www.pioneerinstitute.org/common.core
www.whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com
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