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If you have had an experience with some aspect of Common Core illustrating a loss of local control, please share it here. If you want to share positive experiences with using the standards, please don’t go to the trouble. We know there are people who like the standards and feel an emotional attachment to them. This page is for those who have seen real issues with what the standards, assessments, curriculum, and database tracking are doing to our schools and children.
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In Block F, select Utahns Against Common Core. 
We used to have really neat field trips which give students a great experience they may not otherwise get. These included Antelope Island, Bees baseball game, symphony, museums, etc. Now we only get one field trip per year. Most field trips are good experiences and not that hard to tie to the core. However we are treated as if it would never occur to us to do this. We have to write about it and document how it is tied to the core using criteria from our community counsel.
As a teacher I feel so overwhelmed with having to document so much data that may or may not be accurate. The attitude is not about doing the right thing but rather doing what we are being mandated to do. When our principal was asked why we have so many data meetings she answered, “the purpose of data is so that we have something to show the parents when we go to community council meetings.”
I do NOT want ANY child to be “common”; I believe they are FAR better than that. To even think that ANY member of government let alone a parent would want their child to be “common” is ridiculous. I have two grandsons who are in Kindergarten and ALREADY read above the Third grade level but they cannot be advanced because it is against policy. This is utterly stupid and damaging to BOTH them and our society! No wonder so many kids cannot read or write well by the time they graduate from High School and, educators, stop making excuses! The teacher should be teaching and allowing kids to rise up! And stop holding them back.
Kill this entire Common Core bunk NOW!!!
Trying to make everyone equal goes against God’s design of us- each one being unique. For students who are ahead of the academic achievement timeline or want to be, you can ask for credit for independent work. Ask the teacher if he or she will give credit for extra book reports or projects. Then ask the school administration to offer credit for additional studies. Finally demand that the local school board develop a policy that grants credit on permanent record for independent studies. Start a Beyonder’s Program in your school. It is simple, cost-efficient and highly motivating for students and parents who still look at education and rich learning as an opportunity that will provide a more successful future. Remember we have been created with the potential to do so much more.
If your school says no. Provide rewards and choices at home for additional learning and self-direction with responsibility. Make your child, your grandchild capable of standing strong against the wave of mediocrity.
I am here if you want further information.
Ms. Mac
Jeanine McGregor
Educational Researcher
Certified Teacher Pre-K Through 12
msmac@wcc.net
Thank you for this comment. I’m going to look into this.
Try to remember that not every kid in your classroom is going to be a Christian. Unless you teach at a private religious school, God has nothing to do with this.
It is interesting to plug all the synonyms for “common” into “Common Core” using the many varied definitions for the word. It is all – in one word – pathetic.
As educators it is important that we consider the whole child. While your grandsons maybe academically ready for 3rd grade there is indeed a dramatic difference in the maturity of a 5 year old and a 9 year old. It is likely that they are not being moved up because they aren’t developmentally ready to function in a 3rd grade classroom.
My son thoroughly enjoyed going to a third grade class for reading when he was in the first grade. He then went to fourth grade for reading when he was in the second grade and proceeded to the fifth grade reading class when he was in the third grade. Many problems arose when we moved to a district that would not allow him to advance or skip a grade. Maturity is not always an issue!
Maturity is an issue. You just don’t see it yet. What you gonna do with a fifteen yr. old that wants to hang out with his classmates that are 17 and they are not accepting of him? Growing up too fast is not a good thing. Don’t worry, your child will grow up so why rush that process. If you have resources to enhance your child’s experiences then do so by exposing them to Culture; The Arts, Music, things they won’t necessarily get in school. Take them to a program outside of school where they can perform. Their reading can be even more proficient at home by challenging them with more advanced books and having them read to you. Make them available. If your child has the love of reading instilled then he will find books his friends forever. You are limited in what you will get for your child in a public school. But unless your child has a genius mentality, they really do belong with kids in their own age group. If your kid is a good reader and has that edge then most likely he will do well in school and be tops in classes. Don’t push too hard, kids can have burnouts.
According to public school system, yes. But children of all ages can effectively learn together, and it’s a more natural and realistic situation to be in. My kindergarten daughter did the online preschool, UPSTART, offered by Waterford Institute, plus she observed her older sisters being educated at home. Before she even entered kindergarten, she was tested to read on a 3rd grade level. It would’ve been a disservice to her to send her to public school kindergarten, where there is no upward mobility and only mediocrity. The best the school could do is have her be a helper to her classmates. So we homeschool her. I do think that children who are advanced academically can do well if the principal has a presence of mind to allow them to advance grades. But of course it can depend on the maturity levels of the children in the older grades–if they can accept these younger children and not feel threatened by them.
I’ve made many comments on this wonderful site. Our family has been doing online charter school, and more recently homeschool. But we’re taking a 180 degree turn and are thinking of sending our kids to local neighborhood elementary next year. The school is very low ranked among Utah elementary schools. Crazy time to do it too, with the looming CC. My kids are only thinking of the glamorous side of it– the fun during the last week of school, playing with crowds of kids, and the little rewards school gives out for good marks or behavior. I thought I’d let them try it out again so they won’t grow up with any regrets. If they don’t want to do homeschool, we won’t be able to, because they need to want to do it for homeschool to be successful. But it will be very sad to not spend very much time with them and to see them doing assignments below their level. They ate above level in some things, but am not sure about the rest. I’m afraid of the teachers being critical of them as they will find some skills lacking that are not required for life, but are required to have to be successful in public school model. I think that more parents will be pulling their kids out of conventional public schools and will be enrolling in online charter schools (that are supposed to also follow CC, but they will have more leeway, focusing more on test prep within CC standards, while the curriculum is privatized for the most part. And also we’ll be seeing more independent homeschoolers.
With overcrowded classrooms, large chunks of time spent testing, wide gaps in student abilities, and a host of discipline issues, it is quite a challenge for above grade level students to advance.
The COMMON CORE is not about making all students common….it’s about setting the same minimum standards for all American students. Do you really want to know if how your local schools and students are doing? THen compare them to others that are teaching/learning the same educational curriculum.
Your stipulations are inaccurate and cause unjustified emotional uprisings in readers.
It’s not just minimum standards. It’s control of testing, of teachers, of our future. Did you know there is NO amendment process for the standards? Did you know the testing groups have already written “model curriculum” and that Bill Gates is creating curriculum to align to the tests and standards? Did you know the federal government put a 15% cap on the standards and that nothing beyond that will ever be tested in the national tests? We already have tests that compare kids state to state; we didn’t need Common Core for that. What we’re doing is giving away local control of education. With standards that are copyrighted by unelected organizations that are located in D.C., with no amendment process, where is our local control? It is gone. We must get rid of common core. The emotional uprisings are absolutely justified. They are based on the attack on our rights.
Kamry, the “minimum standards” thing is a myth. Common Core standards are actually *maximum* standards (Common Core +15%). Ask anyone at the USOE, or do your own research, and you will find that Utah cannot add to the standards by more than 15%. Is that what we want?
Plus, consider the fact that the new Common Core “accelerated” math track is the same as last year’s “average student” math track. That means we’re actually sliding backward (again) in math, this time with a commitment NOT to improve the standards more than 15%. Peachy.
Teachers know my student better than the feds do. Stop Common Core in Utah.
I am most concerned about what is going on with the common core that is being forced upon us by my school district and the state of Utah. At a faculty meeting at our school, we were told that we were going to have a meeting with the parents to present the new common core. We were told that “this is coming, no matter what, so don’t express any concerns, and that we needed to just be positive no matter what our feelings.” What we were being told was to shut up. I chose not to attend the parent meeting rather than lie. I have huge concerns. Another concern: one of the things that I have liked about the educational system is that even if the students didn’t do well all through school, they still had options as they continued on the educational process to do better, and even go to college if they wanted to. As our principal explained how children were going to have their education channeled, I became more convinced that children could possibly be pushed into certain classes and training along the way much like they do in other parts of the world and not be allowed to continue to work towards a college degree if they so choose later on. I don’t even know if this could happen or not, and I have been educated about this more than most of our patrons; but I really think we need more time to look at this huge change in public education. If it is good, it will still be good in a few years after we have had a chance to really study it. I dislike any attempt at nationalizing (federalizing) our public education system. Let’s slow things down and really take a good look at what all of this means.
I am a veteran public school educator with 27 years of secondary classroom experience teaching science. I have an additional five years of experience as an instructional coach, which puts me into classrooms in my district to work with teachers in their first three years of teaching, and with teachers at any stage of their career who are struggling. I also do professional development training with new teachers, specifically for the purpose of assisting them in writing quality lesson plans that are tied directly and explicitly to the approved core curriculum (either the Utah Core or the Common Core) for their subject area. As a result, I have become very familiar with the Utah Core Curriculum K-12, and with the Math Common Core curriculum. Additionally, I am an adjunct instructor at the college level, working with pre-service teachers, with whom I also focus on standards-based lesson planning.
I certainly understand concerns about the process by which the Common Core standards were developed and I do not have experience or expertise with the institutions, agencies, or groups which wrote the Common Core which would make me in way authoritative on that process. My experience, and I want to be clear about this, is that I have been actively involved with the classroom teachers in my district who have been implementing the Common Core in Mathematics this year.
I am worried about the nature of public concern with the standards. As I read the article above, it seemed to me that there was a desire to imply that there is a conspiracy of some sort. The process may be flawed, but I don’t think it was a conspiracy. Furthermore, I see the implication that the Common Core Standards are somehow less rigorous than the Utah Core Curriculum. It has been my experience that, with the Mathematics Common Core, this is simply not the case.
Much of my work for the past year has been with teachers who are beginning to implement the Common Core in Math. The process has been a bit of a struggle for some of them, because the Common Core standards are significantly more rigorous and introduce mathematical concepts at much earlier grades than the Utah Core Curriculum. The Common Core standards are high. Teaching them requires from some teachers a level of understanding of math concepts that is more broad and deep than they’ve been expected to have before now. We wouldn’t be seeing that kind of struggle if the Math Common Core was easier or less rigorous than the Utah Core.
The Utah Core focused on calculation. If you could memorize a formula and a bunch of vocabulary, you could understand a math problem that was handed to you and use a method or formula you had memorized to calculate an answer. But you might not understand why that method worked, or when it might not work, or what other methods work as well. You probably wouldn’t be able to set up a problem for yourself in a real world situation. You might not be able to explain it to someone else. And most importantly, you might very well not be able to answer this question: “When am I ever gonna use this?”
The Common Core requires that you “get it” at a much deeper level. The Common Core requires that students be able to understand WHY the method works, and WHAT OTHER ways the method could be expressed, and HOW ELSE you can arrive at a solution through logical reasoning, and how can you PROVE that your solution makes sense in a real world application. And most of all, students who master the Common Core will be able to tell you exactly where and when they will this use this.
My background, my college degrees, and my teaching experience, were in science. I can tell you with complete confidence that I believe students who are now learning the curriculum required by the Common Core in Math will be better prepared to understand the application of math in the sciences. The way students are learning math is changing significantly and for the better. To me, it is not a problem that elementary teachers and secondary teachers are going to have to understand math themselves better than they ever have. Good. We all need to understand math better!
This first year is a struggle for both kids and teachers. The group of kids in upper elementary moving into junior high are the group most significantly affected with the difference between the Utah Core and the Common Core. The teachers are worried because they see “holes” between what the Utah Core assumes fifth and sixth graders will have mastered and what the Common Core expects that they will have mastered as incoming sixth and seventh graders. Some districts are doing a better job than others at providing supportive “bridge” curriculum to those groups of students.
But given a couple of years, the kids will have filled in the holes with help from their parents and teachers and they will better off and will understand higher level math at an earlier age. Nobody is conspiring against your children. Nobody wants your children to understand less math or understand it less well.
*****
SITE ADMIN COMMENT: This site isn’t primarily about the quality of the standards but about the process through which we have adopted them, and the contractual obligations we have toward them. If CC was really good, we could have adopted it without signing ourselves into a host of agreements we are now obligated to.
Thanks for clarifying. I didn’t notice the statement at the top asking people with positive experiences not to bother posting until after I had already posted. I know people have issues with the way the Common Core was implemented. But I have difficulty understanding why people who were concerned about that process (legitimately) would turn around and use the same process – and tell people with dissenting voices to not bother commenting. I didn’t really know about the process at the federal level until I read the links here. I might have been willing to add my voice to yours in concern, but I’m not so sure I want to participate in using the same process in reverse.
Thanks your Jill for you well thought out response. I am so happy someone said this. I thought is was going to have to be me!!!
What you said does not “add up” to me. My son is in 10th grade and is finishing his SECOND year of honors common core math. The process is NOT getting better. By the time it does he will have graduated and lost four years of decent math instruction. I absolutely resent making him the guinea pig for the new program. I don’t even care if the program will be really fantastic when it is fully implemented. It should have never been started before textbooks were made. For two years now he has had no textbook. The program materials consist of worksheets of problems with no instructional materials and no chapter instruction. Whatever he learns is from the teacher’s instruction and the notes he takes in class. If he misses something in class, there is no way to figure it out. There is no way parents can help by reviewing the textbook. There are no answers at the back of the book to check yourself to see if you are doing the problems correctly. From what I have seen, the teachers do not even know what they are doing. So, they are no help either. I have complained and been told, “there are a lot of materials to help your son on the web.” Really? If you could learn upper level math by yourself on the web then why would you even need a class to teach you. If the rest of the common core program is as bad as the high school math program, then we our kids are in a lot of trouble.
Is there wisdom in adopting such a sweeping and revolutionary educational curriculum and pedagogy without any independent scientific studies that test each component of the plan? Is is wise for our legislature, executive branch and school board to buy into anything that is untested? We require high scientific testing standards for drugs before they are released. It would seem reasonable for our governor, legislature and school board to require the same high testing standards for curriculum and pedagogy that will instill morals and knowledge into the minds of our youth.
The solution? Don’t rush into such a high cost program that has not been tested. Let other states implement the program. Hire an independent testing firm to study the states who implement the program. Five years after the full program is implemented in theses states, analyize the results and the costs. If it is a stellar success and we have the funding, let’s adopt it. But from the point of view of this teacher, rushing into an untested educational program lacks could very will lead to disastrous and very expensive results. Let’s do what we advise our children to do when they want to rush intro something dangerous, “Johnny, slow down, take a breath and give some real thought to what you are about to do.”
School is either fun and a student truly learns how to learn or it is a prison and they do not complete High school. Raising standards for teachers is good, but oops, then we would have to pay them more. So who gets the money. The organization that is implementing Common Core. The standards should be made available at a cost and those teachers who truly choose to be successful should be able to choose and succeed. As it is all the money is going to somebody and some organization and the teachers are still getting blamed with no opportunity to truly advance, only ADOPT BY FORCE and PAY THE PRICE. Now school has become a prison for the teachers.
Dear Governor.
As a Utah citizen concerned about “Godless” government involvement in the sacred education of our children I will remind you of your constitutional mandate to protect our state against federal tyranny, in this case, by stopping common core in it’s tracks. Now.
I will remind you of what men far smarter than yourself have instructed you regarding this matter specifically.
“There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution which authorizes the federal government to enter into the field of education. Furthermore, the Tenth Amendment says: “The powers not delegated to the United States Government are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Nothing could be more clear. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to exercise any powers over education.” Ezra T Benson.
“The Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”But the godless government schools preach doctrines in contradiction with those expressed in the Declaration. Thus they are illegal, unconstitutional institutions. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for atheist government schools that violate the principles of the nation’s founding.
Americans deserve schools that respect the individual student as a child of God, made in His image, capable of using the brains God gave to all of His children to lead productive, creative lives, in pursuit of their own happiness. Without the love and protection of God, children can easily get lost in the bewildering maze of the nihilistic moral chaos which plagues the godless schools. American children deserve better.” Sam Blumenfeld.
“The public schools, maintained as they are by public taxation, are by law forbidden teaching religion in those schools. The result is an exclusively secular education, an education Godless in its character; and such an education is most imperfect.” George F Richards.
Conduct yourself in these matters accordingly and begin now in constructing the barrier necessary to PROTECT our families from the evils of tyrannical federal forces set to overtake us.
If you fail to act decisively now you will suffer the fate promised to those of authority who fail to act or who act in defiance of Gods council, upon your realization of improper action, “their hearts will fail them”.
The responsibility of your position requires that you correct the decades of accepting federal funds, securing our enslavement to it, resulting destruction of the family. There is much work to do if you turn around now. If you do not, the burden of reconciliation will surpass what is left of your strength in that day which will surely come.
Gary Sorrells
Lindon, Utah 84042
801-358-3716
Gary Sorrells,
Thank you for writing such an exquisite letter to the governor. I hope he ponders it and takes it seriously. I, too, believe that all of us will be held accountable for our actions in this life, but especially those who hold power over others’ lives to make decisions which affect so many of us, especially our innocent children.
I teach 1/2 day Kindergarten in Davis School District. We implemented the writing core last year. This year we are going to implement the math core. Last year, I had to spend 1 1/2 hour,each day, teaching language arts. The students had a 15 min. recess and 25 minutes of either PE, computer, music, or library once a week. I then had 20 minutes each day to teach everything else:,math; science, health, social studies, art. With Kindergarten only being half-day in Utah, it’s impossible to teach all of the subjects. I don’t like all of the pressure teaching the core brings to me and to the students. Five-year olds need to be allowed to be five.
Amen. We should not have state sponsored pre-school or full-day kindergarten. Children that young need to be children and have parental bonding, not peer & teacher bonding.
I just want to say I disagree with most of the things said.
As a teacher who has been teaching common core: we aren’t being told exactly how to teach, the standards aren’t much different (more complex but still developmentally appropriate), and if you are creative you can teach all the language arts skills while teaching science/social studies/health/etc. It is not a huge trial on us. I’ve loved teaching it, and I realize each year I’ll get better at integrating subjects to make the most of my time.
As a parent: I am grateful that my son will be held to a standard every year that will progressively increase and prepare him for a career and success. The word “common” does not refer to our students, but to the fact that many states have standards in common.
As a citizen: what is wrong with the federal government being interested and caring about the education of it’s citizens as long as the states are still in control of creating/accepting/adapting/assessing and improving the standards (which they are. Nobody forced Utah to accept the CC. Fed’s don’t control the CC).
Thank you.
Hi Kim,
Thanks for commenting. Do you believe in the rule of law? Do you believe the Constitution is the supreme law of the land as it states? If so, the federal government has no say in education because it’s a created entity of the states. The federal government is barred from being “interested” in education. It’s a violation of law and state sovereignty. If you don’t think the feds forced states onto Common Core, you’re right. They dangled Race to the Top funds in front of them if they adopted Common Core. The feds are ultimately controlling the core. I invite you to review this site’s post on Arne Duncan’s Comments, and the article entitled “The Common Core Lie”. You can find them if you hover over blog and click the All Site Posts link. I also encourage you to read the other teacher comments and the blatant dumbing down that is happening with the USOE preaching constructivism to teachers in their trainings. Our children are going to be well behind high achieving countries.
The only thing dragging our students down in this state is Luddite parents like you and your tin foil hat brigade running around scaring everyone. Please stop this!! Common Core will raise the bar here in Utah not your fear mongering and backward notions!
Dear A Parent, can you show us the report comparing our old standards to the Common Core standards that they will actually raise the bar? Did you know that in math, most kids will be set back a year from where our 2007 math standards had them, and Dr. James Milgram said Common Core math standards leave us 2 years behind the Asian nations by 7th grade. In ELA, Dr. Sandra Stotsky who implemented the best ELA standards in the nation in Massachusetts said Common Core will not prepare students for college. Please look for facts instead of name calling.
Thank you for so politely addressing my argument. I think we are interpreting the constitution differently. I feel that the federal government has a right to use it’s funds in anyway that serves it’s people as long as the choices not granted to them are in the hands of the states, which they are. Race to the Top funds are based on many many different points, not just adopting Common Core. The federal government is not in control there. You said “our children are going to be well behind high achieving countries.” Let’s face it…our children ARE far behind. The point of the Common Core is to close this gap. It is not written in stone and will evolve as people push it to be better. If you feel like it isn’t improved enough, try supporting it and pushing for improvement instead of tearing it down. I agree that as is, the Common Core is not enough, but I have studied and found that the standards are clearer and better than they were previously at my grade level. I will admit I have not done a side-by-side comparison of each set of standards (I am a mother and teacher after-all. Time is limited). If you feel that the “USOE (is) preaching constructivism” and I feel that the arguments you mentioned are doing their own form of preaching, it’s not likely we’ll see eye to eye, so I think I’ll let this go and continue on my way happily teaching the standards asked of me by my state.
Kim, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land (Article 6). If we don’t honor the original intent of the Constitution we are a lawless nation. The Constitution specifically says in the 10th amendment that anything not specifically mentioned as a federal issue, is specifically reserved to the states. Education is not mentioned and is specifically reserved to the states.
It seems you are uninformed about my own actions the last several years. I have always been working toward better education for our children. Can you imagine being told by your child’s teacher that the school doesn’t teach the times tables or long division any more? Then when you ask how the kids will learn those skills being told, “well, the smart kids will just pick it up as they go.” I invite you to read this post which shows the USOE doesn’t care one whit about the quality of standards in Utah, they only care about getting more money from the feds.
http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/a-recent-history-of-utahs-math-standards/
As for the standards, Fordham Foundation has already said that Utah’s 2007 standards which we were using before adopting Common Core, were clearer and had a better path than the new Common Core standards. Further, there were several states with clearly superior standards to Common Core. Why didn’t we just adopt the best if we were really concerned with quality standards? Common Core will not close any gaps. It leaves us 2 years behind high-achieving countries.
http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/milgram-on-cc-vs-in-math-standards/
As for constructivism, it’s totally destructive of education. Wouldn’t you speak out if children were being harmed? I encourage you to look at Project Follow Through. The largest education study ever completed in this country and it proved constructivism a total failure.
http://www.oaknorton.com/imathresults34.cfm
From Alliance for Childhood
http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/standards
Common Core Standards
Why we object to the K–3 Core Standards
The core standards address the fact that students are graduating from high school ill prepared for college or careers. Even in the best universities a shockingly large number of students need remedial help with basic language arts and math skills. We support the idea of a national effort to address this problem, but to let that concern shape kindergarten and early elementary education is short-sighted.
Young children are entering their school years, not exiting them. They need support and encouragement to become strong, motivated learners for their whole lives—in school and beyond. That strength begins with active hands-on learning. Current state standards have already led to long hours of didactic instruction, scripted teaching, a narrowing of the curriculum, and overuse of standardized tests with young children. The new standards will almost certainly intensify those inappropriate practices. (See Crisis in the Kindergarten for data on current practices in public kindergarten education.)
The new standards call for kindergarten children to master over 90 skills related to literacy and mathmatics. Is this necessary for children to succeed in school? Experts know of no research showing that children who read at age five do better in the long run than children who learn at six or seven. The proposed standards will almost certainly add to the stress already afflicting many children in kindergarten and the early grades—stress associated by clinicians with growing problems of aggressive behavior in young children and with burnout by third or fourth grade.
An added burden for children and teachers is the extensive testing required to assess mastery of these skills. Alliance research indicates that kindergartens already devote 20 to 30 minutes per day for testing or test preparation. A Milwaukee teacher reported having to give over 150 tests to her kindergarten children last year.
Effective learning in the early years requires a very different starting point than the one presumed in the core standards. The federal Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services are working together to develop a fresh look at how children learn best from birth through age eight. New research points to the indivisibility of physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. The core standards are based on a narrow and flawed focus on subject matter in isolation, overemphasizing cognitive skills at the expense of all others.
The writers of these new standards did get one thing right in relation to young children. They use the word ‘play’—something that most other standards writers have scrupulously avoided. In the section called “What is not covered by the Standards,” the document says, “[T]he use of play with young children is not specified by the Standards, but it is welcome as a valuable activity in its own right and as a way to help students meet the expectations in this document.”
The core standards do not provide for ongoing research or review of the outcomes of their adoption. The entire K–12 standards initiative is flawed by this omission, which is especially egregious in relation to the youngest students. It is urgent that the federal goverment require research of the long-term effects of the standards and related testing on children in K-3.
What you can do: The standards were finalized in June. Each state will need to decide if it will adopt them. Tell your own governor, chief state school officer, and state early childhood specialists about the need to promote play and play-based learning in Kindergarten and the need to protect young children from testing. Click on the links in this section to find the addresses of your state officials. Let your voice be heard.
For more information: Read our press release, our statement on the standards, signed by hundreds of leading educators and health professionals, and signers’ comments. Also see public comments by Alliance Senior Researcher Ed Miller presented at an April 23 meeting on early learning at the U.S. Department of Education. You can read commentaries by early childhood educators, Eric Gidseg and Carla Horwitz, on the likely effects of the core kindergarten standards.
California has agreed to adopt the Common Core beginning with the 2014-2015 school year; however, the California Department of Education will not adopt text books for English Language Arts until 2018.
Furthermore, the state has not provided any money for teacher training. The school districts are on their own.
As a teacher of 16 years, I am more than baffled by the state’s decision-making process. What possible reason could they have?
Sending teachers into the classroom without proper curriculum is like sending a soldier into a
machine-gun battle with a pocket knife.
It was once stated that if California were a country it would be the 6th richest in the world. So how did it become one of the most bankrupt states in America? Obviously, it’s because of the geniuses who run this great state.
Terry McCullough
I am a 6th grader at the ELP program at Hawthorne Elem. in SLC and I disagree with Common Core. Even though on the common core site in the myth section there is a message that says Common Core will not hurt higher performing students (me) it does. I feel like I’m learning the same stuff I learned in 4th grade right now. I’m learning ratios. I’m supposed to be learning calculus, advanced algebra, ect. Let me correct my self – I’m not learning ratios, I’m reviewing for the third time this year. Common Core is in my opinion a terrible idea even though it is intended to have good roots. Apparently being smart is not a good thing and instead we should all be run of the mill robots. Say goodbye to the USA having new Nobel prize wineers in a few decades. However I feel bad for my teacher because she knows that everyone in my class is supposed to be learning 7th grade -at minimum- but instead because of Common Core we are learning stuff we’ve learned already. She’s an amazing teacher, too. I don’t care if it will stop the educational gap… because I don’t see whats so bad about having good performing students. I think the Common Core initiative should be thrown down a hole and everybody should go at their own pace. I went to a math competition already this year and out of almost 300 students I got 18th place. I’m also going to a district Math Counts competition in a few days, so I’m obviously not happy with learning ratios and basic volume and other garbage again. It might be just me, but i feel like CC applies to science… We’ve done little science this year and instead when I was in 3rd grade and there was no CC, I was learning advanced biology and physics with two professors, and a bit of computer science with a 3rd professor (they were all parents of kids in my class) and that was fun and challenging. But science isn’t fun and challenging for me anymore. Maybe the people who made CC should have considered the intelligent kind before they thought of proposing their idea, because obviously they aren’t. I want to be challenged in school. I don’t want the easy way out, at all, because its like I go back and do the same thing. I even have a really fun school and my teachers are amazing. It’s not their faults. Last note: does CC underfund field trips? In past years I went on about 15 each year… I’ve been on 2 this year. My point is, I want to be challenged in school and I think every trace of CC should be put in an incinerator to burn in a fiery death… no doubt about this.
Unfortunately, liberal progressive indoctrination is in over 2,000 schools nationwide now — even before Common Core kicks in. Common Core will take it to a whole new level and likely more than double the number of schools that will indoctrinate our children. Please let me know if you want info on which schools are already indoctrinating. I have a list – by state – on my site, but I’m not here to plug my site. Just offer help – offer more info. I’m praying all of us who are concerned can create a movement – starting locally, just as you are doing. Suggestions how to do that can be found on my site as well. We can have as much influence (or more) than the tea party if we can join together. I will share your info and spread the word about your site. God Bless!
I did a little searching did find that progressive indoctrination started in some Utah schools as far back as 1999, if not earlier. Your trouble started with the Utah Principals Academy. More than one council member from Utah ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) has served as president of the Utah Principals Academy. In 1999, 43 principals with the Utah Principals Academy began training with a radical organization that is now at the center of the largest progressive indoctrination network in the country. I am looking for the names of specific schools indoctrinating in Utah now to add to my site and I can provide that to you if you’re interested. I believe we need to focus on the source of the indoctrination. Not just the curriculum itself, but the people and organizations behind it.
Thanks Danette. I would be very interested in that information. When you have it, please send it to us through the contact page at the top of the site. In 1983, BYU partnered with John Goodlad, a progressive/humanist to set up a public school partnership. Since that time, there’s been a lot of indoctrination in schools of education in Utah.
http://www.utahsrepublic.org/daily-herald-what-social-democracy-means-to-utah-county-educators/
These standards were created in isolation from the real world of schools, students, and teachers and they operate in isolation from one another. They read like prescriptions for scripted teacher presentations and scripted student responses as if the only thing that matters in an educational environment is assessment, assessment, assessment (of students and teachers, often at the same time). There have been a multitude of criticisms of the standards, and it’s just possible that at some point in the future, public education will settle into a way of presenting them to students so that real learning takes place. Even supporters of CC will admit that a period of “adjustment” is inevitable, but this period entails that: students and teachers will experience stress and anxiety; that all students will be “assessed” based on the standards irregardless of their potential abilities; that administrators will push for implementation and make demands on outcomes (test scores); and that good teachers and students, good classrooms and classes, good lessons and projects will be pushed aside so that CC lessons can be taught–and in this “testing” period, perhaps not taught well–to the exclusion of all of the old ways of constructing experiences for students in a classroom. What this means for public education is unknowable at this point. But already, the stress signs are showing in classrooms all over the nation. I’m a public school teacher with 27 years in the classroom and I see this as a turning point for public schools where acceptance is uncertain and resistance is building. But the major concern is how resources will be allotted, what will be cut, and how will our students–our children–come out at the end of the process. Will they continue to see benefit in the education that is supposed to be serving their needs? Or are we, in the end, shortchanging our students by inundating them with the types of “lessons” that school districts believe the CC requires?
You are right – Goodlad and Theodore Sizer touted each other and collaborated on education reform. Several progressive reforms have been tried — some stuck, some didn’t. The one that has spead like a disease is Ted Sizer’s Coalition of Essential Schools, mostly because it is flexible and schools can choose incorporate Goodlad methods, Paideia, Montessori, etc. As long as they adhere to a particular “democratic” pedagogy (basically, as long as they are progressive/humanist/anti-God/anti-American). I am posting a link to my list for you on your contact page now. Please consider sharing after reviewing. I just want parents who have kids in these schools to know so they can act now. Common Core is just another step to pull even more schools in. They already have control of approx 3,000 schools now. Thanks and good luck to all of you in Utah!!
One more thing, my list is still being updated. I have several hundred more schools to add and more research to do. But I will remind anyone interested once it is completely updated. 4 years of research to add –takes some time.
I need help! I just started learning about Common Core this week. Tonite I attended my sons elementary school Common Core Math Book selection meeting. I was one of three parents to turn out. Three!! The principal who I do respect and up until now have had no complaints with this fine lady, proceeded to cheer for Common Core with all the pat arguments….”We are going to raise our standards! Wont it be great to have this money for education here in Utah”, etc.
Meanwhile one of the parents and myself kept trying to ask questions about the changes and expressed our concern and were just treated to more “rah rah Common Core” and circular logic. I gave the other two parents this websites address. One was appreciative and the other rolled his eyes at me and acted like “oh boy another conspiracy nut!”
How can I help other parents in my neighborhood get informed and get them fired up and involved? I see Common Core as a seriously bad thing for my son and the other students at his school in Saratoga.
Help!
Paul, talk with your friends and neighbors. Get them informed and have them sign the petition. See our flier page and pass some out to your neighborhood. Also call your school board member. If you don’t know who it is, contact the school district.
Paul,
We would also be happy to come and do a presentation to your friends and your neighbors. If you’d like to host a cottage meeting, please let us know.
I do not have any children. My only child, Rebecca Raye, was murdered by a drug dealer. Nevertheless, I am concerned enough about the future of our country, which by definition is OUR CHILDREN, that I had to get involved in this fight.
I live in Louisiana, and we, too, are in the fight against Common Core. I want the people of Utah to know that We stand with You!
I will send you our successes, and will attempt to copy your methods that succeed!
Keep the Faith!
That is very touching and inspiring Ralph. Thank you for your kind words and thank you for being willing to stand and join this important fight.
Common Core is set to usurp its way into science as well, yet most of the great no-to-Common Core websites such as yours pretty much have not said a word about it. It is early with regard to the new science standards, so don’t take this as a complaint, but I hope someone within your organization has taken a look at this and is planning on doing expose’s on it soon.
These people pushing Common Core are lying about _everything_.
Thank you for what you are doing here to advance the cause of liberty and protect posterity.
Actually we did about a year ago.
http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/say-no-to-common-core-science-standards/
Norton,
Thanks! May I make a contribution toward a next possible entry?
http://newhavenscience.org/NGSSSuppJanDraft.pdf
As part of the Next Generation Science Standards, these people would like to infuse “racism” into the “scientific teaching”. The above document states:
“the definition of science in terms of Western science while ignoring historical contributions from other cultures presented a limited or distorted view of science. Furthermore, such view was disrespectful of other cultures and could be regarded as racism. NGSS, by emphasizing engineering, recognizes contributions of other cultures historically. This redefines the epistemology of science or what counts as science, which, in turn, defines or determines school science curriculum.”
Not only the “racist” view, but their use of the word “redefine” makes it plain that they know full well that they have full control over the curriculum while they are doing everything they possibly can to tell people that they only want to determine what is on the tests.
Hope this helps!
It also states this:
“Through social activism, students develop critical consciousness of social inequities, especially as such iniquities exist in their communities.”
So the new science teaches kids the value of wealth redistribution and the necessity of becoming an alinsky organizer. Gone are the days when science was about gravity, chemical compositions, grams and pounds and measurements, skeletons, hearts, livers, life in the sea, birds, animals, and more.
Before you go blaming Obama, remember that Bush signed NCLB in 2001, effectively shifting the power from the states to the government. So don’t blame Obama. He had nothing to do with this. Republicans are trying to privatize public education beyond vouchers. Who’s going to be able to afford it then?
There are deep flaws in our educational system, but the data doesn’t paint a realistic picture. The U.S. tests every student, whereas other countries (Japan for instance), only tests their top students. Why? Because once they reach high school age, many have the choice of going to a trade school. I wish researchers would finally clue in on this. Everyone else knows it.
Either way, if you’re an educator, get used to the idea of not having control. If you don’t like it, it might be time to consider a career change, because you won’t have power over the curriculum any time soon.
Anonymous, Bush is certainly to blame for NCLB. Common Core is on Obama’s watch and if you do your homework on this site, you’ll find loads of statements from Sec. Duncan that they are excited to make Common Core part of a global education system. How successful have republicans been with vouchers? Not at all, and we still can’t afford the education system because it just keeps growing. It’s the definition of insanity to keep increasing spending and expecting a different result.
On international tests, you are mistaken. The TIMSS exam is a cross section of the entire population in countries that take the tests, such as Japan, Singapore, and the U.S.
If you’re an educator, don’t you want to have a measure of control over what and how you teach? You can’t be a teacher and saying this. If you are, it’s certainly time for a career change.
A veteran teacher of 38 years, I feel so grateful and happy that there are people out there taking action on the most critical issue facing our education system and our kids that has ever come about. GO! GO!
Thank you Heidi. So many teachers don’t understand what’s coming. They thought NCLB was bad and don’t realize CC is NCLB on steroids.
Anyone know if there will be meetings in SLC School District and Canyons SD? I did not see them on the state list.
Any news on a state rally?
Thank you for any info!
As a parent of elementary school children, I have to say that the common core has been very good for my kids. It challenges them to think beyond the typical boxes of algebra, trigonometry, geometry etc. In today’s interdisciplinary world it has become essential that children be taught the type of curriculum that the common core standards offers.
Qualified educators from different states got together to come up with this curriculum that in their opinion is good for the students. Qualified educators from our state’s Department of Education approved it’s use in our state.
Let’s leave it at that and not bring politics into our already underfunded education system. If anyone still has any doubts, they should talk to college professors of incoming freshman classes at Utah universities and they will mention how under-prepared most students are with our state’s old curriculum. They will also tell you that almost all research projects and technology jobs require interdisciplinary background which is what the common core strives to achieve.
CC standards may work well for your kids, but what if they don’t work for mine? What if my child learns a different way? Where, as a parent, can I go to lobby for standards that are better for my child?
You are right but that could be a problem with any curriculum. In my experience, teachers in Utah have been wonderful working with kids that learn in different ways. The districts continue to provide choice with charter schools and open classrooms for students to pursue their individual learning interests and parents to be involved in their child’s learning.
CC standards are an attempt at designing a curriculum that will better prepare as many students as possible for college and the jobs that await them after college. Educators from more than 40 states recognized a problem and went through a long and deliberate process to arrive at the standards. They are by no means perfect and they do have checks in place to improve, going forward.
Pages 1-4 of the following document list the process that educators and legislators in Utah went through before approving common core standards.
http://www.schools.utah.gov/core/Utah-Core-Standards/CommonCoreResourceGuide.aspx
Morgan,
For more relevant information addressing your specific concern about individualized learning, please refer to page 13 and 14 of the same document I mentioned above. I checked with the teachers and they did say that they have flexibility in adjusting instruction for students and that nothing is set in stone.
Each of those answers in the FAQ questions can be confirmed for accuracy by talking to the principal or teachers of your local school. Here is a link to that again.
http://www.schools.utah.gov/core/Utah-Core-Standards/CommonCoreResourceGuide.aspx
Thanks, anonymous, for linking to the Common Core Resource Guide. After reading through some of it, it only further solidified my stance against common core.
I found page 24 and 25 particularly horrifying. Talking about the English Language Standards it states, “The effect of implementing standards cannot be researched before they have been implemented. They must be implemented first before we can conduct research on their effectiveness.”
WHAT??? So all kids in the state get to be guinea pigs for the program? Couldn’t we try a small pilot program first? Those who support common core can sign up their children to be the test subjects (but I really wouldn’t recommend it). If the program proves to be successful, then I’d be willing to sign up my children (well, it will be my grandchildren by then, but whatever.)
And then there’s this:
“We, along with other major experts in the reading and literacy field, argue that all students need to be reading more and more informational texts than they currently do. Classroom-based observation research has revealed over the past decade that children read almost no informational texts at all.”
Who are these experts? And why do kids need to read more info text? Where is the proof that this will help them? They read plenty of info texts in math, science, and history. They don’t need to read them in English, as well.
It goes on, “more than 85% of adult reading time is spent reading informational texts. Only 15% of adult reading is literary texts.”
This is proof that MORE ADULTS should be reading MORE LITERARY TEXTS than that STUDENTS should read LESS. And if adults aren’t reading literature, they sure better read it in school or they will never be exposed to it.
But wait. There’s more:
“Our schools have given precious little attention to the reading and learning from informational text. That is precisely the point of the CCS Standards’ increased attention on informational text. Consider for a moment the demands an auto mechanic now has in using diagnostic computer technology to work on your car engine. The manual to be read by today’s auto mechanic is nearly four inches thick of informational text!”
Then let kids read informational text in auto mechanic school. Not English.
Reading info text will only bore them and make them hate reading, not give them a love for great literature.
Literature enriches our lives. It makes us better people. Helps us to think and examine and be aware.
Informational text teaches how to work on a car engine. Not an unimportant skill, but quite limited in its scope and power.
Which do you want for your kids?
Tricia, I agree that it would be a shame to not expose kids to English literature. Life would be very boring indeed without literature to enrich our lives.
But I don’t think CC is going to eliminate literature, it is just going to replace some of the literature with learning to read informational text needed in today’s work environment. They will learn to read it in English and then use it in their Math, Science and History. They used an example of a car mechanic but that same thing could apply to a pilot, astronaut, doctor, nurse, medical assistant or an engineer.
Thanks for the excerpts. The guide itself does not provide all the information on CC. It mainly provides information on the process that Utah went through before signing on and responses to common questions and specific ones brought up by Dr. Stotsky.
It was helpful for me to read the Resource guide put out by the Utah State Office Of Education along with the Common Curriculum itself which provides more context and is available here:
http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards
Here is an excerpt from the CC language arts description.
“As a natural outgrowth of meeting the charge to define college and career readiness, the Standards also lay out a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the twenty-first century. Indeed, the skills and understandings students are expected to demonstrate have wide applicability outside the classroom or workplace. Students who meet the Standards readily undertake the close, attentive reading that is at the heart of understanding and enjoying complex works of literature. They habitually perform the critical reading necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of information available today in print and digitally. They actively seek the wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with high-quality literary and informational texts that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens worldviews. They reflexively demonstrate the cogent reasoning and use of evidence that is essential to both private deliberation and responsible citizenship in a democratic republic. In short, students who meet the Standards develop the skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are the foundation for any creative and purposeful expression in language.”
Surprise, surprise. As of May 7th, this link does not work. What are they hiding and why are they hiding it from us?
It is not just the the link to that document, but their whole website, http://www.schools.utah.gov, seems to be down. Hopefully, it will be back up soon.
M Wiley, the schools.utah.gov website is up and the link to the document is functioning again.
Qualified educators from different states did not “get together” to come up with this curriculum. That’s just re-writing history. The list of the people on the committee that created the standards is well documented, they were hand-picked, and the lead writers were neither educators nor content experts. Some are incredulous that in preparing “college readiness” standards, no college level content experts were included either. Only 1 in 60 on the committee was a teacher. In fact, there was quite a bit of outrage over that, and the fact that the meetings would be closed, at the time… http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2009/07/national_standards_process_ign.html Indeed there are qualified educators in Utah that approve this scope and sequence, and there are those who do not. That’s just a reality in education. There is no consensus on what theories work best which is why we usually rely on pilot studies before rolling something out to the whole state, or the whole country. The fact that a handful of people in the state got to decide whose opinions would carry the most weight (with a lot of financial incentives) without the input of the parents, teachers, or other taxpayers IS POLITICS at its worst. If we had left politics out of this, we’d be piloting a shift to integrated math or considering whether a greater emphasis on informational text improves reading comprehension or college preparedness, especially when there is academic evidence that it will not… or at least be discussing standards in meetings that are open to the public according to law. All disagreements about the standards themselves aside, there are serious issues with the process legally that, left unchallenged, will erode the principles of government that were designed to preserve individual liberty. No standards, no matter how great, are good enough to justify that. http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2012/03/03/report-common-core-poses-legal-questions
Alyson,
You are right, they were handpicked. But that was done with the approval of elected governors and the process was supervised by elected state legislators along the way. The “National Governors Association” and the “Council of Chief State School Officers” were mainly responsible for this initiative. It was encouraged at times by the Federal Government but with no specific input on the material. At other times the US department of Education falsely appeared to take credit for the output from the committee. Governors from 45 states were involved in this which speaks to the bipartisan push to solve a problem.
Please share which state legislators supervised the process. I don’t believe that is an accurate statement, but if it is, the people of Utah deserve to know for accountability purposes. The NGA and CCSSO are private trade organizations who receive their funding from the federal government and private companies. They are not elected representative bodies and their meetings are not open to the public. This extragovernmental collusion is not compatible with our state or federal constitutions (not an enumerated power) and is even worse in my mind than a blatant federal takeover of education because it uses and directs tax payer money and systems without direct representation or transparency. http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/04/24/state-led-common-core-pushed-federally-funded-nonprofit
One more thing. The Governors did not come up with this idea. This document was given to all of the Governors at the time of a summit in Chicago in April 2009: http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/files/GatesBroadARRAFinal.pdf It was prepared with the participation of a number of education reformers (see Participants) and outlines how the recently passed stimulus money ($100 Billion for education reform) should be spent. The list of participants in meetings they say were held in early April 2009 (after stimulus and just before NGA/CCSSO summit) includes Sir Michael Barber (before Pearson), Michelle Rhee, David Coleman, Chester Finn (Fordham), several reps from Gates etc. The timing of this meeting and the MOU to participate in the CCSS Initiative really makes the Governors look like a bunch of stooges for these conspiring reformers. This document describes the Common Core standards (yet to be written) with the same praise that our school board parrots today… “internationally benchmarked, and rigorous.” It includes a section on data and how states should meet national data standards. It also outlines and ties together the other reforms we are seeing of state managed early childhood ed, closing schools and bringing in private partners to establish charters (across the US), teacher accountability by tests, longer school days… and end with a complete breakdown of how the money from the Stimulus will be spent.
Ask yourself why private interests are meeting to create this outline which the Department of Ed, Governors and Superintendents just happened to follow with such exactness. If we are okay with government like this in the US, it doesn’t matter what standards we adopt for our students, because they will never know the America that our founders intended.
According to the Utah Constitution, the only people who approve and set standards that the Governor has the authority to help pick are the ones that go on the ballot for State School Board elections. Furthermore, State School Board members are elected to represent the people of the state and any work they do on standards setting has to be done in view of the public. Their elected commission does not give them Power of Attorney to act in behalf of the citizens of Utah in turning over this process to an outside, unaccountable authority.
It is deceptive to say that states (via Governors) chose Common Core. Governors have authority within our state. They are not elected to represent us on the national stage; our D.C. Congressmen and Senators do that. Besides that, the NGA is a “nonprofit” trade group, not an elected, constitutionally recognized organization. Legislators did not even know the Common Core agenda was going on. Teachers didn’t. Taxpayers didn’t. Common Core slid past the state watchdogs because of school board dollar signs outweighing the vetting process; the proper channels were circumvented; this is truly education without representation.
As a parent of college age students, I can attest that you can not tell the damage a math program has done until your children get to advanced math classes. My two oldest went through the horrid Investigations Math program. We didn’t realize how bad Investigations was until they got to junior high algebra and began struggling. It was then that we realized they had never learned how to properly multiply or divide. They didn’t have the basic foundations to do algebra.
Those students who were subjected to Investigations Math are now in college and most likely the under-prepared students you are referring to.
Investigations had been thrown out by the time my third son was in elementary school, and he breezed through algebra, pre-calc, and took AP calc his senior year of high school and was able to advance right to the only math required for his associates degree in college.
And just so you know, it was these same “qualified educators” who approved Investigations Math.
Also, I’m not trying to be argumentative. I’m just hoping to save your kids (and all our kids) from the suffering that can be imposed when we trust that those in charge are always looking out for the best interests of our children. That’s our job.
I think the adoption process as documented in the recorded minutes of the State School Board meetings is a more accurate version of what was really going on at the time.
Anonymous,
I didn’t elect a bunch of governors. The NGA is a tax-expempt.. not-for-profit which in no way reflects representative government from Utah or any other state. Not all of the states who signed on to CC even have governors who belong to the NGA. It costs states $16,000 per year in dues and each meeting has an additional tab attached. Idaho adopted the CC, but their Gov. is not a member of NGA.
I can’t seem to find any information about teachers being allowed to use the “review” tests for the CRT for end of the year grades…It doesn’t seem fair to me if she can count the review tests as their grades. Does anyone know where I can look for information on this please? Thanks
For those who might have missed it, a recent story on KSL about the debate on Common Core.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=960&sid=25114114&fm=most_popular
For those who want to read for themselves what the Common Core is all about instead of relying on the interpretation of action groups, blogs and news reports, here is a link to the official website of Common Core:
http://www.corestandards.org/
Come on Anonymous,
Be brave enough to at least sign your first name. If you feel so strongly about this issue, stand up for it. Of course the official website is pro Common Core and full of half truths and downright falsehoods. Do your own homework, read up on the issues. The people fighting this are very forthright and have all of the data to back up what they say. You can’t say the same for the “OFFICIAL COMMON CORE WEBSITE”. Try to get answers from the USOE and you can forget it too.
If this is such a great, wonderful amazing thing, then why was it bought into in virtual secrecy and never once presented to the parents in any way, shape or form. It is criminal. Plain and simple.
There was no secrecy about it. They had the usual round of public meetings and hearings as a government agency does. As is common with most parents, all of us were busy with other activities and it did not register to go to these just as we did not go to the previous round of curriculum update meetings.
I am not saying the official website or USOE should have the final say. All I am saying is that if we are willing to be so swayed by the sometimes inflammatory remarks and “research” by action groups and blog posts, the least we should do to get a balanced view before making up our own mind is to look at the other side’s official view.
Signing my name has nothing to do with bravery. I am just a concerned parent and would like the focus to be just on the message.
So when the official Common Core website declares the standards were “internationally benchmarked” and then it’s discovered that’s a lie, what then anonymous?
I don’t think they meant to lie. With a work of this magnitude, everything is not going to be perfect. The benchmarking is a step in the right direction. Before this, I don’t think Utah even thought of the international benchmarks. Of course, there might be some experts who disagree but that doesn’t mean the whole thing should be abandoned. Looking at the official document below from the core standards website, it looks like it was not a flip decision or a trivial process in their decision making.
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/0812BENCHMARKING.pdf
I am willing to accept it for what it is now. A step in the right direction with room to improve.
Actually anonymous, Utah does know what international benchmarking is. I was one of the people involved in the 2007 math standards process and we got the legislature to direct the USOE to create world class math standards on par with Singapore and Japan. The USOE ignored that recommendation of course, because they never wanted to change the D-rated standards, so they resisted all change. You can read all about it on these links.
http://www.oaknorton.com/mathupdates/20070811.cfm
http://www.oaknorton.com/mathupdates/20070926.cfm
When Common Core came around, Utah jumped on those standards because there was the notion of getting free federal money. The USOE proved they aren’t interested in standards, they proved they have a gambling addiction.
Oak, while there are many good things about the Singapore and Japan Math standards and methods, as someone who has some first hand experience of being through those types of standards and the US educational stabdards, I have to say that the Japanese and Singapore methods do come up short on some important fronts. They are not as amenable to individual learning needs and they overemphasize test performance. But that is a whole different discussion altogether.
The current CC standards recognize our lagging performance at the international level and while not perfect, attempt to move our students towards better international standards. They are doing that while attempting to preserve the creative nature of our educational system which is what makes us the world leaders in science and technology. We have some of the most creative minds in this country because of our educational system. The CC standards will hopefully generate more of those by making more students college ready so they can hit the ground running.
We can tie ourselves up in picking apart the process and doubting the perceived financial / idealogical profiteers for a very long time.
Or, we can take CC for what it is, a long overdue attempt at righting the wrong of having too many underprepared kids getting to college. It is not perfect. The teachers say it is not perfect but they all like the flexibility they have been given to work with the district and states to improve it as they go along.
You can’t have it both ways Anonymous. You can’t say the CC standards were internationally benchmarked and then when I bring up Japan and Singapore as examples of countries who have high standards say they aren’t that great. Separate standards from pedagogy and curriculum. Common Core made no attempt to benchmark with international standards. That’s obvious to anyone who looks into the standards. You say you think we’ve got creativity and hope that CC expands on that. How? By standardizing ALL American children onto the same standards and essentially the same curriculum? Nice.
No, I am not trying to have it both ways. Just goes to show that an argument can be more nuanced than “Right vs. Wrong” and that there is no simple answer when it comes to Education. If there was a model to follow, I would personally follow Finland’s.
Regarding creativity…the standards are just that, Standards. The specific curriculum and methods of teaching are left up to the teachers, principals and school districts. CC standards set some goals and creativity is free to co-exist while students work towards standards that are more clearly defined than in the past.
I have 6 boys, consisting of 3 high-achievers, a couple that are right in the middle, and 1 that has struggled this year, thanks to Common Core. Obviously, even kids from the same family are not “one size fits all.”
My 6th grader is really struggling with the Common Core math. In the past, there have been 2 or 3 different levels of math, now all kids are taught exactly the same curriculum. I am terrified that if he can’t handle or keep up with the math in 6th grade (despite me sitting with him for an hour each day helping him with his math homework) then what is going to happen to him in high school? Each year the math curriculum will continue to build on what’s been taught previously. If he doesn’t understand it now with a one-on-one personal math tutor, how on earth will he succeed in high school? I was hoping to get him in a “Basic Math 7″ class at middle school next year, but have just learned that it has been done away with, there is only the one level being offered, with an honors option. I am so afraid we are setting him up to fail academically without a slower, lower level option offered. This has affected his entire attitude towards school and homework, he is lacking now lacking confidence in his ability to succeed.
And what about my high-achievers? They will be held back from advancing at a much quicker pace than the rest of their peers.
Anonymous,
I read the story on KSL and the author needs to look into to how our state school board is elected. They are not elected by the people. The people who are placed on the ballot for us to vote for are actually chosen by our governor not by the people of our state. Therefore they have no accountability to us! They are a power unto themselves and treat anyone who believes different from them as if they are a bunch of idiots. They behave like kings and queens and anyone who dares question them are wasting their time. The time we as tax payers pay for. We are their bosses and it is time things change in how they are elected. We need to remind our school board who we are. We are the parents and the people for whom they work! How about you do some research yourself into how they are elected. Also I choose not to believe what they have written about cc blindly, just because they put it out as truth does not make it so. They will not share with you the facts that have been uncovered by these so called action groups because it does not support there position. How about you spend some time researching the truth rather than just automatically trusting what they say. And about these action groups, blogs and news reports was it not a news report you just used to support your thoughts and your idea of what is true about CC? In the words action groups I think the word action is very important because it means they take action not just rely on what someone says to be truth,They have spent countless hours researching this issue and speaking out against it because they have found out the truth! This is about so much more than most Utahans understand and if the federal government is not removed from our education in Utah it will eventually cost Americans their freedom. Our founders never intended the Federal government to be in education for a reason. You can call those who appose common core what ever you want, but I promise you they have truly done their research, how much have you researched the origins of CC? Do you know who the big players really are? Do you know it is more about money and power than anything else? You can call me a conspiracy theorist if you and others want to I guarantee our founders were called that also, and had they not stood their ground we would not have our beautiful and free country. So I will wear it as a badge of honor. I will always question our elected officials because this is how we keep them in check as our founders intended. I am tired of hearing from those who do not have time be be involved call us the crazy ones, when you care enough to be involved to find out the truth and protect our freedoms then maybe I will care what you think. It will be those who stand against the lies and corruption that you will thank someday just as we thank our founders today. In God we trust not government.
Yes. But the governor is elected by us and he represents our interests. So democracy is still at work. Politicizing the appointment of board members any more runs the risk of letting politics and religious beliefs enter public education. The board has done reasonably good job so far in spite of our legislature setting aside so little money per student. Please talk to them if you get a chance and you will see that they have the best interests of our children at heart. They are not the heartless, brainwashing people as the action groups and blog post opinions make them out to be. Please talk to your local school teachers and they will tell you that while they disagree somewhat with the board, they generally support them. Confusing religion with education and letting religion solely drive education will take us back to the dark ages.
Anonymous, if that’s the case, then change things so there isn’t even an election so we have someone clear to blame. The elections are a farce right now because they eliminate anyone against Common Core who runs. The committee then forwards 3 names to the governor and he picks 2 to run. It’s taxation without representation. We should either eliminate the board elections or make them partisan to ensure the people get a say in who is going to allocate their money.
I feel there are two totally different issues here. The first is the constitutionality of the federal government leading the CC charge. I have not completely researched this issue but I will say that I believe the federal government is way too big for it’s britches. In my opinion, there are VERY few things the federal government should be involved in. Second, is the common core better or worse for our students/children? My children have been taught the common core in Math for three years. I agree the first year the teachers were floundering because there were no books and really very few resources. I felt like that was almost a wasted year for both my children in math. Now my daughter is in the third year of common core and is learning more advanced math than the geometry class she would have been in. I’m not convinced that the common core teaching is any better or worse than what we have had.
Anonymous,
Not all of us voted for him because it seems he as well as many previous governors have forgotten what state sovereignty is.They continue to sell our freedom to the federal government ,our money is sent to the federal government and then returned to us with strings attached, strings that tie our hands as a state and a free people. We are so dependent on federal dollars our governor and state school board took the bate that was dangled in front of them before even seeing any curriculum. This is what happens when we as a people and state start depending on government and they know it, and use it against us. Our state has sold our children to the highest bidder. I am sorry but as for me and my children our freedom is not for sale. As for the election of the state school board those who want to run fill out a questionnaire and I have recently found out one of the questions on it is,( Do you support common core?) I wonder why? I do not think it is right that our governor is the one who chooses who goes on the ballot, it is not a true election by the people. We should be able to question and vet these people after all they are over the education of our most precious stewardship and the future leaders of our country. I wonder if that is why they are so determined to control it. What is this about politicizing it, politics should be involved so the people are involved, so the people can decide. We believe in government for the people, of the people and by the people. What do these people have to hide? why shouldn’t they come before the people? As far as religion in school our founders intended God to be in our school as we are a nation under God . The progressives or liberals have lied for so long about what separation of church and state means people have forgotten its true meaning, it really means our government shall not impose one religion on all Americans.You do not want religion in our schools yet our teachers are forced to teach environmentalism, socialism, and political ideologies this does not belong in our schools! It belongs there even less than God yet we are forced to accept it is ok to teach to all children! Progressives seem to confuse education with teaching a political agenda. Many of us do not believe in man made global warming yet our children are forced to learn about it ,I have been told it is taught as a theory, ok so if we can teach that theory how about we give the other theory that God is in control of the elements and it is arrogant of us to assume otherwise! Every decision I make in my life is guided by my belief in God who I know to be good and merciful, heaven forbid we all live our lives this way.I never said religion should be the sole driver of education,I am not sure where that came from. The dark ages happened because men forgot who God is and wickedness was so rampant he took his church from the earth. Then the governments imposed one religion and the people were not allowed to believe as they chose. As I see it we are headed in this direction. As far as talking to the state school board I am sure they are very pleasant when you agree with them, but when you do not it is a whole different story, much the same as the very tolerant and kind progressives. I have also spoken with teachers who do not feel they have any say with the state school board and would like the federal government out of education. As for the money not going to the teachers I wonder if getting rid of the feds involvement would help and the six figure incomes of superintendents and other hire ups. I learned at a very young age that is is about the head count hence the money per child in attendance. I suffered severe migraines and missed a lot of school and I was told by my principle even if I had to be in the nurses room laying down I was expected to be there. Now tell me how would I be learning anything in the sick room? Was this about my education or the money? Also he told me that there was a class mate dying of cancer and she was expected to be in school to. I lost all respect for that man that day. I know it is about the money for many of these people and I know common core is about money and power and changing our country into something it was never meant to be and I will do all I can to protect our children and our freedom.
I have to respectfully disagree regarding God in Schools. It is the churches and parents responsibility to teach about God at home and it is up to the schools to teach Science in class. They both have separate but very significant role to play in a child’s life.
Article in the Deseret News about the Common Core:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765629526/GOP-should-embrace-Utah-Core.html
Anonymous,
Man made global warming and all this environmental stuff is not scientific fact. If you say the teaching of our belief in God should only come from the home and churches. Why is it ok to teach about social justice, environmentalism,political ideologies ect. in our schools these are personal opinion or beliefs. If people believe in this stuff teach it to your children at home do not force it on all of our children. Go to places with people who believe all this stuff and learn about it to your hearts content it does not belong in public schools! Reading, writing, arithmetic,history ect. are all they should be teaching and not laced with a bunch of leftist ideologies. They also should be teaching the truth about our country and its founding, our children should leave school with a love of this country and the truth about how our political system works. Our children should know we live in a constitutional republic. They would be learning these things if we had local control, no federal government involved.
Ms. Aagard
The schools do teach about our country and it’s founding. As with any scientific fact, there are some that disagree. The schools teach what the majority of the scientific community agrees on. The majority of the scientists in the field of global warming agree on it.
Could you please share what you feel are social justice and ideological aspects that schools are teaching currently, and what is offensive about them ?
Before anyone misunderstands my position I do want to state that I do want my kids in school and I want them to graduate and be successful. that being said, I am a mother of 3, which 2 of them are still in school. For the past year we have been facing the courts because of truancy. It started because my children struggle with seasonal depression and had some absences and tardies. Instead of working with my kids they get teachers, school administration, state agencies, court representatives, etc… to publically humiliate them on a constant basis, telling them what they are doing wrong, never what they are doing right. My children face ridicule from missing school, not only from the teachers and staff but because the teachers say all of these remarks in front of other students, it gets doubled. I don’t want my kids to have a significant amount of absences or tardies but I can see why they don’t want to go to school anymore. So what are the courts and schools doing now to help? Well, we have court-ordered therapy, pill management, mandatory bedtime, mandatory weekly family workshop, besides all of the other hoops we have to jump through to make sure none of us get thrown in jail. On more than one occasion my freedom has been threatened if I did not do all that was ordered of me. I HAVE to work full time and I am also in jeopardy of losing my job and the people who are implementing this on my family seem to have no sympathy. I also was trying to re-activate my kids in church by having family home evening with the missionaries, but they (the courts, etc…) wouldn’t hear of it. My kids do have a few things that make it difficult to be in a classroom and all the people involved know this. In my opinion, they will have more success if they work with my children and have compassion on their situation. The answer to helping our family is NOT found in a textbook, it is in the kindness fairness that used to exist in the schools not too long ago. All they had to do is talk to my kids like they were human and show that they cared. Would anyone who had to face this want to go to school? It isn’t just the students who bully students, it is also those who are supposed to be in charge. My intention is not to condemn but to inform. I’m posting this in hopes that someone who can make a change, will. Please, don’t just read…LISTEN! Thank you
What school district is this taking place in or is this kind of thing taking place state wide?
Rand, this is happening around the state. Truancy and compulsory education laws strip parents of their rights. I encourage you to watch my video here:
http://www.agencybasededucation.org/ending-compulsory-education/
I’m just wondering if other parents are being asked to fundraise to provide mini I-pads for classrooms??? This is absolutely absurd to me when my child is currently in a 34 person classroom!!! Are the I-pads just another way that ensures parents won’t be able to review textbooks, materials, etc. being used by teachers? Please let me know if anyone has had any experience with schools wanting to use mini I-pads. Thank you!
I just realized that I forgot to say that the principal wants EACH STUDENT to have a mini I-pad for use in the school. Sorry, if it made it sound like it was only just for the teacher. Thanks!
I find it interesting that we don’t look at what the educational standards were in the years when the US was leading the world in math, science, etc. Why don’t we consider much of the program that has a proven track record?
I am against constantly throwing more money at education just to prove that we care about our children and we get no improvement for our dollars.
We also need to look at merit pay for teachers. We have examples of teachers who don’t know their subjects. It appears to me that common core is great for the lazy teacher. The reports from parents that homework is not corrected and returned for the student to see what they are missing. Students often have no idea what their grade is based on. When you have been involved in a school for a few years it generally becomes quite clear who the effective teachers are.
Home schooling looks more and more attractive.
Rand,
This sort of thing has been happening since I was in school. I began suffering from severe migraines when I was very young. It caused me to miss a lot of school. Since the public schools get paid by how many students show up in class they are very aggressive in going after these students and families. They tried holding me back but had no cause because my grades were to high. I was eventually sent to truancy court
when I was in high school, even though my parents always new why I was not in school,since I was home sick. I will never forget going to court they made me feel like a criminal. I had never just sluffed or been in any trouble at school I was just very sick. In court we supplied the judge a letter from my Dr. and he did not even read it he glanced at it as if it meant nothing and ignored it. Then the attorneys representing the school proceeded to speak about me as if I was some kind of criminal. The judge told my mother if I missed a certain amount more of days they would remove me from my home. I came from a very good and stable home. Yet just because I missed to much school they were going to take me from my parents. Previous to all of this happening they kicked me off drill team even though I held the grade point average it required to stay on the team. My parents battle with the school was long and caused them much stress. After they threatened to take me from my parents my father had had enough and he wrote them a letter and pulled me out of school(this was in my junior year) he could no longer watch them destroy his daughters self esteem over something I could not control. My father passed away in November and I still have his letter. I took the GED and passed the first time with out even studying the huge book they gave me, so I now I was learning when I was in class, but this is not what they cared about. It was and still is the money and control. I will never forget the principle telling me that a class mate who was dying of cancer was expected to be there and so was I even if I had to lay in the sick room. Tell me how much would I be learning in the sick room? This has been going on for a long long time we have just been lead to believe they have a right legally to do this to us and not enough of us have stood to challenge this. I pray CC is the final straw that will cause us to stand against this abuse of power. I have three children all of whom have been home schooled and in private on line school. We must remove our children out of this corrupt system. We must get the federal government out of our schools.