Just over a year ago, two state school board members told me Utah would never adopt Common Core science or social studies standards and we would only go as far as math and ELA. Here’s a bit of disturbing news on the science standards front…Brett Moulding, former Utah state office of education curriculum director, is the lead author on the science standards writing team. Now is Utah really going to turn down standards written by Mr. Moulding?  I’m not sure when Mr. Moulding was appointed, but there has been a review of these Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) a while back, showing that they weren’t actually going to teach science, but more of an appreciation for science. They aren’t about creating technology, but more geared toward consuming technology (link). Utah must avoid adopting these science standards, and root ourselves in solid science standards and curriculum.

The new Common Core Social Studies standards (CCSSS) have been released as well. Page 31 of the document starts off the Civics section with a catastrophic blunder.

CIVICS

IN A CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY, productive civic engagement requires knowledge of the history, principles, and foundations of our American democracy, and the ability to participate in civic and democratic processes.

Article 4, section 4 of the U.S. Constitution guarantees every state in the country a republican form of government, and protection from both foreign and domestic intrusion on that form of government. The United States is a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy. The Founding Fathers were very opposed to Democracies because they led to mob rule.

Now in all fairness, these CCSSS DO actually mention the word republic a couple times in the document (unlike Utah’s current K-12 history standards), however, the way they portray it is even more alarming. (markup by me)

INTRODUCTION

IN THE COLLEGE, CAREER, AND CIVIC LIFE (C3) FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL STUDIES STATE STANDARDS, THE CALL FOR STUDENTS TO BECOME MORE PREPARED FOR THE CHALLENGES OF COLLEGE AND CAREER IS UNITED WITH A THIRD CRITICAL ELEMENT: PREPARATION FOR CIVIC LIFE. ADVOCATES OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION CROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM, BUT THEY ARE BOUND BY A COMMON BELIEF THAT OUR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC WILL NOT SUSTAIN UNLESS STUDENTS ARE AWARE OF THEIR CHANGING CULTURAL AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS; KNOW THE PAST; READ, WRITE, AND THINK DEEPLY; AND ACT IN WAYS THAT PROMOTE THE COMMON GOOD. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES ON THESE OBJECTIVES. THE GOAL OF KNOWLEDGEABLE, THINKING, AND ACTIVE CITIZENS,HOWEVER, IS UNIVERSAL.

In the last few weeks we’ve heard about some awful things our children are being exposed to under Common Core. Here’s a couple recent examples:

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/School-apology-Think-like-a-Nazi-task-vs-Jews-4428669.php

“Think like a Nazi, the assignment required students. Argue why Jews are evil.

Students in some Albany High School English classes were asked this week as part of a persuasive writing assignment to make an abhorrent argument: ‘You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!’”

http://eagnews.org/common-core-assignment-the-constitution-is-outdated/

“Welcome to the first day of civics class in the Common Core. Your first assignment? Revising the Bill of Rights in the U.S Constitution because it is an ‘outdated’ document?

The worksheet says:

‘You have been selected to work on a National Revised Bill of Rights Task Force. You have been charged with the task of revising and  editing the Bill of Rights… You will have to prioritize, prune, and add amendments.’”

We’ve seen other indoctrinating and offensive problems in math and English as well.

Why are students getting these assignments? Is it the Common Core standards? No. Common Core standards don’t instruct people to do this. The people writing curriculum for Common Core are creating these types of activities. They know that teachers without quality curriculum materials (like we used to have) look to big sources of Common Core aligned activities to choose from. Those sources are being written and funded by people like George Soros who want to tear down our country. One example is the Open Education movement which is being co-opted (https://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/agenda/) and tied into Common Core. Sources such as these make it easy for teachers to grab an activity labeled as aligned to Common Core and without thinking (or perhaps even matching their own agenda) use it in the classroom on their students. Then if its discovered to be something inappropriate, they can hide behind the “it’s Common Core aligned” label. Unless Utah has direct control over the sources of curriculum and assessments, we are at risk of thoughtless teachers and administrators taking materials at face value and putting them into the classroom for students to be exposed to, just like the recent pornographic book recommendations that came from the national Common Core site that made their way into Utah students classrooms on an approved reading list.

A Utah parent posted this on his Facebook page. This is from a Common Core assessment.

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PARENTS please read this. My 3rd grade little girl was out sick for one week. Her teacher asked if she could complete a test online. Here is an example of a comprehension story with questions. THIS IS PURE BRAINWASHING. I am a capitalist and find the below completely inappropriate. What education value does the below have. I look forward to your comments. WARNING YOU MIGHT NEED SOME DUCT TAPE!

“Money Means Worries”

A rich merchant named Chen had all the money he needed. He lived in perfect comfort. His food was rich, his bed was soft, and his clothing was beautiful.

A poor potter named Li lived next door. He did not have much money. He ate simple food, he slept on the floor, and he wore old, plain clothes. His only treasure was a golden canary that lived in a wooden cage.

The merchant worked day and night. He hunched over his account books, adding and subtracting. He yelled at his clerks and made them work as hard as he did. He rarely stopped work to eat a real meal. He ate at his desk and hardly noticed the delicious food. Late at night, the tired man went to bed, but he was unable to sleep. Thinking about money, he tossed and turned in his soft bed.

His neighbor spent the day making pots from clay. At the end of the day, Li sat in his garden and enjoyed a simple supper. Then he brought his canary outside. Li played his flute while the canary sand. At night, Li slept soundly on his floor.

For years, the music from the garden had disturbed the merchant. It made him angry. One sleepless night, he came up with a plan to make the music stop.

The next afternoon, he visited his neighbor. He held out a sack of gold coins and gave it to Li. Chen said, “You have been a good neighbor for many years. Here is a gift for you.”

Li thanked Chen. Then he sat in his garden, thinking about the money. Should he hide it? Should he spend it? The poor canary cried for its owner, but Li was lost in his thoughts. He forgot about his supper. He forgot about his flute. He thought all night long.

Chen grinned happily at the success of his plan. He knew that having money would destroy Li’s simple pleasures.

Le made no pots the next day. He did not eat or play the flute. He just worried about the money all day. He worried throughout the long, sleepless night.

The next morning, his canary took pity on him. “Money means worries,” she sang. “Give it back. Give it back.”

Li heard the canary’s song. He remembered how happy he had been before the money arrived. He picked up the bag of coins and went next door.

WHY WAS CHEN ANGRY?
A. His clerks were cheating him
B. Li’s happiness disturbed him
C. His neighbors were richer than he was
D. Li made beautiful pots while he only made money

WHAT LESSON DID LI LEARN IN THIS STORY?
A. Nature is beautiful
B. People should save their money
C. Money does not buy happiness
D. It is important to be a good neighbor

WHAT WOULD BE ANOTHER GOOD TITLE FOR THIS STORY?
A. “The Magic Canary”
B. “A Mean Neighbor”
C. “Rich with Happiness”
D. “Music and Money”

Which meaning of the homonym plain is used in the following sentence?
He wore old, plain clothes.
A. Flat
B. Pure
C. Clear
D. Simple

Li sat in his garden and enjoyed a simple supper.
Which word has the same middle sound as the pp in supper?
A. Open
B. Nap
C. Rabbit
D. Pilot

Don’t miss this parent’s excellent comments to a New Hampshire district school board. At the 6 minute mark she expresses something that should be on everyone’s mind. Why is it that PARENTS are doing the research job that the paid “professional” education departments are not doing?

Scott Shirley wrote this article for the Rexburg Standard Journal which a friend pointed me to.

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Fire, Aim, Ready for Common Core

As a boy I remember watching my father target practice. He would make himself ready with the proper stance, even to the point of steadying his breath. Aiming was critical. The slightest adjustment, up or down, made a huge difference. At just the right time he would pull the trigger. Ready, aim, fire. We still have the trophies he won.

Common Core and Obama Care (Affordable Health Care) have something in common in terms of preparation. It was the opinion of politicians that something needed to be done regarding health care. A document was drafted. “What’s in it?” the American people asked. “Trust us. We need to implement it in order to fully understand.” Fire, aim, ready.

Common Core State Standards followed similar steps. I have searched for any formal study, one that was not funded by those who stood to gain economically, that shows nationally mandated education standards are beneficial. Common sense would suggest they should, yet if formal studies, conducted by reputable and respected unbiased institutions exist, showing significant benefits, help me find them, and I will be content to follow the crowd. It appears there was no “ready.”

It is politically popular to say that education in Idaho needs reform. I invite readers to check for themselves in regard to proficiency scores of their local schools. Compare them with averages across the state of Idaho, and then compare them with national averages. You may or may not be surprised. Before believing educational statistics quoted by politicians, ask them to show you the reputable study from which it came. We must know, before we aim, that we are focusing on the right target in the first place. Without proper study, or homework, we cannot really know.

I have been in education long enough to see educational program after program come and go (Does No Child Left Behind come to mind?). These programs were well intended (aim), but poorly researched (ready) and touted as “the answer,” thereby being mandated (fire). I am not opposed to standards of excellence. I want to know that my efforts are being made toward goals that have been researched with rigor, showing over time that significant student growth can be predicted based on solid evidence. Again, show me something other than studies made by those who stand to profit, and I will be content.

So, what do I suggest in the meantime? I believe true learning, learning that makes a difference, is based upon the relationship between teacher and student. Children will not remember which program was or was not implemented during their education, but they will remember how teachers made them feel, that they could develop a love of learning, that a world of opportunity lay ahead of them.

Watching my father target practice, and having him teach me as well, taught me practical lessons I have found useful in many areas throughout my life: Ready, aim, fire.

Two experts. The first is a mom, the second is a mom and child clinical psychologist. Common Core’s standards are developmentally inappropriate for young children. That’s one of the criticisms I’ve heard from multiple teachers in the younger grades.

This post was made on Facebook by Staci Tawbush about her experience with Common Core. Click her name to see the whole thread and other parent comments with similar frustrations.

***************

I’m about to be controversial but it’s about damn time somebody be…For more than a year now I’ve talked about the effect that Common Core is having on my family and on my life in general – and what it’s doing to the morale of my children. CC has now been fully implemented. And just as other parents are starting to wake up – I’ve absolutely had all I can take!

We had another 3-hours-of -homework-night tonight. The kind of night I’ve told you all about. The kind of night some have called me a liar about.

Tonight, though, instead of taking a picture of the ridiculous math my child is being forced to do, I decided to take a picture of my child doing it. Call me insensitive, but I don’t care what you think. What I care about is my children. I see this on a regular basis and it’s time for others to see it, too… Because this is what Common Core really looks like.

This is Savannah. This is a 3rd grader at 10 o’clock on a Wednesday night literally crying over her homework. This is a child hungry for knowledge – a child who loves to learn. This is a child with a broken spirit. I didn’t have to take several pictures to capture one that happened to include a tear, because the tears were pouring down her face. This is a very smart kid in the midst of feeling like a failure.

So: To those of you who tell me Common Core is a good thing. To those of you who claim it’s no different than what children have always done. To those who speak against it but don’t act. To those without the spine to stand up against political pressure. To those in which CC has just become another political talking point. To those who think we need the money from the federal government to sustain AL education. And to those who had a chance to stop this and didn’t…

Tonight I’m mad at YOU.

Tonight you share blame in making a child feel stupid and her [single] mother feel like a disappointment.

And guess what? This happened all over the state tonight. Not just in my house. You had a hand in that, too.

Finally: To the warriors out there who’ve been fighting this as long (or longer) as I have. To the parents who just heard about CC yesterday. To the few politicians who refuse to back into the darkness. To the moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends who are seeing this everyday in your own home…

This is why we’re so passionate.

This is why we fight.

Fight On.

Second, this link will take you to an excellent article and presentation which I’ve embedded below. Dr. Megan Koschnick spoke at a Common Core conference at Notre Dame and does a fantastic job explaining child psychology and how Common Core is developmentally inappropriate for young children. It’s a very fast 25 minute presentation. I strongly encourage you to read or watch this.

http://educationviews.org/child-clinical-psychologist-common-core-harmful-to-children-dr-megan-koschnick-compiled-by-donna-garner-9-19-13/

Yesterday we received a couple reports that are just stunning.

Lunch Nazis

“Ok I am not happy. While speaking to my son today about school I always ask what they had for lunch. My son told me “the chicken sandwich.” He then added that he ate some carrots and oranges. So he mentioned that yesterday at school lunch they had breadsticks. He said he took a breadstick and was supposed to also get a chicken sandwich. When the lunch lady saw he had a breadstick she informed him that he could not have a bun on his chicken sandwich if he had the breadstick. Why?

because that is too much grain. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I am so tired of the government telling us what we can eat, and what my child can eat. It is a bun, a BUN for heavens sake. It was not like he asked for a extra brownie, cookie, or cake (which I believe is outlawed). I usually cook every night, I am not taking my kids to fast food. I try to be a responsible parent with what I feed my children. I try to prepare nutritious well balanced meals. Ask my children, at dinner I always tell them they have to take some vegetable and eat it. The son who was told he could not have a bun, has not had a soda pop or any carbonated drink since May. He drinks water. When will the government start regulating how much bread I eat? I do not blame the lunch lady, she was just following regulations handed down. Someone is going to hear from me.”

-Allyson Cragun

This reminds me of the story our of North Carolina from a few years ago where a mother’s child had his lunch confiscated (turkey sandwich, banana, apple juice, and potato chips) and given school chicken nuggets as a healthier option. Satirized here: http://www.proxyparenting.com/stop-politicizing-children-over-wise-food-policies/

Polyamorous Relationships, Courtesy of Weber State

Another parent writes that her senior is enrolled in Concurrent Enrollment English at Bountiful High School, through Weber State. Weber just assigned this article for the students to think about the “ethical and moral views of this lifestyle” and about whether “these groups constitute ‘families’…”  The parent complained to the principal who said, his “hands are tied because Weber State decides the curriculum.” Maybe Weber State needs their tax funding pulled to remind them about community standards, especially where it concerns minors. As one person put it, this is normalizing perversion.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/07/28/only-you-and-you-and-you.html

(Re-posted from: http://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/top-ten-professors-calling-out-common-cores-so-called-college-readiness)

I can hardly wait to quote these ten brilliant American professors who have spoken out to say that the Common Core is far from its claim of representing academic excellence; that it’s a sheer academic tragedy.

But before I share the professors’ words, let me tell you what sparked today’s post.

I saw for the first time this 2013 document put out by the NCEE (National Center on Education and the Economy) that says OUT LOUD that it’s not important under Common Core to have high educational standards in high school; that it’s silly to waste time educating all high school graduates as high as the level of Algebra II.

No joke. They’re pushing for an emphasis on the lowest common denominator, while marketing Common Core as a push for “rigorous” academics.

Outragous, yes. But absolutely factual: this is what they are telling America: Read these Common Core proponents’ lips:

“Mastery of Algebra II is widely thought to be a prerequisite for success in college and careers. Our research shows that that is not so… Based on our data, one cannot make the case that high school graduates must be proficient in Algebra II to be ready for college and careers. The high school mathematics curriculum is now centered on the teaching of a sequence of courses leading to calculus that includes Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus and Calculus. However, fewer than five percent of American workers and an even smaller percentage of community college students will ever need to master the courses in this sequence in their college or in the workplace… they should not be required courses in our high schools. To require these courses in high school is to deny to many students the opportunity to graduate high school because they have not mastered a sequence of mathematics courses they will never need. In the face of these findings, the policy of requiring a passing score on an Algebra II exam for high school graduation simply cannot be justified.”

(Maybe Common Core proponents better quit using the word “rigorous.”)

So, the NCEE report goes on to say that traditional high school English classes, with their emphasis on classic literature and personal, narrative writing, is useless. The report says that Common Core will save students from the worthless classics with its emphasis on technical subjects and social studies via the dominance of informational text in the Common Core classroom:

“The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (CCSSE) address reading in history/social studies as well as science and technical subjects, and in so doing may increase the relevance of high school instruction.”

They just trashed English lit. And, in calling classic literature and personal writing irrelevant, these Common Core proponents only underscore the socialist mentality: that only job prep matters, only the collective economy, not the mind and soul of the individual.

A TOP TEN LIST OF AMERICAN PROFESSORS WHO SPEAK OUT AGAINST COMMON CORE

First, Dr. Anthony Esolen of Providence College in Rhode Island:

“What appalls me most about the standards … is the cavalier contempt for great works of human art and thought, in literary form. It is a sheer ignorance of the life of the imagination. We are not programming machines. We are teaching children. We are not producing functionaries, factory-like. We are to be forming the minds and hearts of men and women… to be human beings, honoring what is good and right and cherishing what is beautiful.”

Second, Dr. Thomas Newkirk of University of New Hampshire:

The standards are portrayed as so consensual, so universally endorsed, so thoroughly researched and vetted, so self-evidently necessary to economic progress, so broadly representative of beliefs in the educational community—that they cease to be even debatable… The principle of opportunity costs prompts us to ask: “What conversations won’t we be having?” Since the CCSS virtually ignore poetry, will we cease to speak about it? What about character education, service learning? What about fiction writing in the upper high school grades? What about the arts that are not amenable to standardized testing? … We lose opportunities when we cease to discuss these issues and allow the CCSS to completely set the agenda, when the only map is the one it creates.”

Third, Dr. Daniel Coupland of Hillsdale College:

“Yes, man is made for work, but he’s also made for so much more… Education should be about the highest things. We should study these things of the stars, plant cells, Mozart’s Requiem… not simply because they’ll get us into the right college or into the right line of work. Rather, we should study these noble things because they can tell us who we are, why we’re here… If education has become –as Common Core openly declares– preparation for work in a global economy, then this situation is far worse than Common Core critics ever anticipated. And the concerns about cost, and quality, and yes, even the constitutionality of Common Core, pale in comparison to the concerns for the hearts, minds, and souls of American children.”

Fourth, Dr. Christopher Tienken of Seton Hall University:

“Education reform in the United States is being driven largely by ideology, rhetoric, and dogma instead of evidence…. Where is the evidence of the efficacy of the standards? … Let us be very frank: The CCSS are no improvement over the current set of state standards. The CCSS are simply another set of lists of performance objectives.”

Fifth and Sixth, Dr. James Milgram (Stanford University) and Dr. Sandra Stotsky (University of Arkansas):

“We hear no proponents or endorsers of Common Core’s standards warning this country about the effects of the college-readiness level in Common Core’s mathematics standards on postsecondary and post-baccalaureate academic and professional programs. We hear no proponents or
endorsers of Common Core’s standards advising district superintendents and state education policy makers on the kind of mathematics curriculum and courses they need to make available in our secondary schools if our undergraduate engineering colleges are to enroll American students.
At this time we can only conclude that a gigantic fraud has been perpetrated on this country, in particular on parents in this country, by those developing, promoting, or endorsing Common Core’s standards. We have no illusion that the college-readiness level in ELA will be any more demanding than Common Core’s college-readiness level in mathematics.” – Sept. 2013 paper: Can This Country Survive Common Core’s College
Readiness Level? by R. James Milgram and Sandra Stotsky

Seventh, Dr. Alan Manning of Brigham Young University:

“The Core standards set in concrete approaches to reading/writing that we already know don’t work very well. Having the Core standards set in concrete means that any attempts to innovate and improve reading/writing instruction will certainly be crushed. Actual learning outcomes will stagnate at best. An argument can be made that any improvement in reading/writing instruction should include more rather than less attention to the reading/analysis of stories known to be effective in terms of structure (i.e. “classic” time-tested stories). An argument can be made that any improvement in reading/writing instruction should include more rather than fewer exercises where students write stories themselves that are modeled on the classics. This creates a more stable foundation on which students can build skills for other kinds of writing. The Core standards would prevent public schools from testing these kinds of approaches.”

Eighth, Dr. Bill Evers of Hoover Institute at Stanford University:

“The Common Core — effectively national math and English curriculum standards coming soon to a school near you — is supposed to be a new, higher bar that will take the United States from the academic doldrums to international dominance.

So why is there so much unhappiness about it? There didn’t seem to be much just three years ago. Back then, state school boards and governors were sprinting to adopt the Core. In practically the blink of an eye, 45 states had signed on.

But states weren’t leaping because they couldn’t resist the Core’s academic magnetism. They were leaping because it was the Great Recession — and the Obama administration was dangling a $4.35 billion Race to the Top carrot in front of them. Big points in that federal program were awarded for adopting the Core, so, with little public debate, most did.”

Ninth: Dr. Terrence Moore of Hillsdale College:

“Literature is the study of human nature. If we dissect it in this meaningless way, kids not only do not become college and career ready, they don’t even have a love of learning; they don’t even have an understanding of their fellow men… The thing that bothers me more than anything else is found on page number one of the introduction. That says that Common Core is a living work. That means that the thing that you vote on today could be something different tomorrow, and five years from now it is completely unrecognizable.”

Tenth: Dr. William Mathis, of the University of Colorado

“The adoption of a set of standards and assessments, by themselves, is unlikely to improve learning, increase test scores, or close the achievement gap.
• For schools and districts with weak or non-existent curriculum articulation, the CCSS may adequately serve as a basic curriculum.
• The assessment consortia are currently focused on mathematics and English/language arts. Schools, districts, and states must take proactive steps to protect other vital purposes of education such as citizenship, the arts, and maximizing individual talents – as well as the sciences and social sciences. As testbased penalties have increased, the instructional attention given to non-tested areas has decreased.
• Educators and policymakers need to be aware of the significant costs in instructional materials, training and computerized testing platforms the CCSS requires. It is unlikely the federal or state governments will adequately cover these costs.
• The nation’s “international economic competitiveness” is unlikely to be affected by the presence or absence of national standards.”

The education reform movement is big business. There are those around the country who are touted for their accomplishments in raising educational performance by things they have done. Among the reformers, Jeb Bush had some success with a school grading system which caused schools to put greater effort into raising standardized test scores. Seeing some success, Utah legislators passed a school grading scheme for use in Utah.

Another reform is that of computer adaptive testing (CAT) which was adopted in Utah a couple years ago in order to help show where students are deficient or advanced in their understanding of concepts. Initially I supported this because I thought this would finally show schools using real math would trounce schools using fuzzy math. After this was adopted, I learned that Common Core was going to require CATs. That was a huge red flag as I realized CATs were going to be hijacked and used as a compliance mechanism for Common Core.

So in spite of the fact that these ideas may have had some merit to begin with, the bottom line is, the Common Core assessments will now control teacher evaluations, school grading, and thus curriculum. Any idea behind these that might have been thought useful under one set of circumstances has been hijacked.

Where some positive outcome was seen in implementing computer adaptive testing, as well as a school grading system, both became requirements under Common Core and will now be enforced via the AIR/SAGE assessment system that our children are subject to under Common Core. This means that one test, largely under control by 2 federally funded consortia (PARCC and SBAC), with a review panel by the federal government, now controls how schools are graded, how teachers are assessed (and even transferred between schools to ensure fair distribution of ‘quality’ teachers), how students are assessed as “college and career ready”, and directly leads to the curriculum choices in the classroom so teachers and schools will optimize for success on the test. To anyone without their head in the sand, this is a clear federal takeover of education.

Here are two must read posts. The first is by Alpine School District member Wendy Hart where she calls for us to join a rally on Tuesday morning at the USBA (bring signs like “No School Grading tied to Common Core”. The second is a post she references by Autumn Cook about the new accountability system.

http://wendy4asd.blogspot.com/2013/08/no-man-can-serve-two-masters-school.html

http://alpineparentsociety.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/august-13-2013-board-study-session/