At The Core

We ask for common sense to be used. We seek common ground. Most of us have a need to be part of a community; we search for commonality with someone.

The word “common” has a softly seductive appeal that brings to mind a sense of belonging as though we are sharing something of value.

Common Core National Standards?

Some of us can’t help but see patterns common to our still-fresh experience with state standards and No Child Left Behind. As standards were demanded as part of an accountability scheme, children were put in harms way in an unprecedented experiment in education reform.

If the child didn’t fit the standards and how they were being implemented, many parents and grandparents opted to teach the children how they knew better fit their needs. I know I did, as did others I know who hired tutors or entered their kids in “programs” to fill the gaps.

The standardized tests can never ferret out the effects of our actions giving the appearance that the standards “worked.”

There is no doubt that the practice of re-teaching or supplementing was done during the first thrusts of the test-based accountability experiment and it is being done again with The Core. As one anonymous parent put it, ” At times my son was very confused by what was going on – so I taught him myself. While the schools probably assume that his level of mastery is due to the teaching and books, the truth is far different. I am sure I am not the only case where parents supplement their kid’s education.” JRM (Huffington Post article Oct. 11)

How can we possible judge a system, a school, or a teacher based on this?

The sell job of outcome-based accountability was in the wording: want “better student outcomes,” “higher achievement,” to “leave no child behind,” like the idea of “accountability, flexibility, and choice”? …yes, yes, yes, yes.

Now, a return of some of what was taken away by Round One — critical thinking and writing through more project-based activities — is the commonsense carrot enticing us to swallow the whole Core National Curriculum.

Billed as “new” and “unique,” The Core is neither. Promising to bring “success” and make students “college and career ready,” it is more certain to sell new curriculum materials, new tests, and new remedial materials and programs when students “fail” the tests…and the pattern continues.

Parents, if you are “supplementing” your child’s education, your child in particular should be opted out of the testing. If this national experiment is to go forward, it should be based on an honest evaluation.

My own opinion — for what it is worth — at The Core of this issue is not our agreed need for some commonality of knowledge; at The Core is conformity.

Narrowing of the curriculum was no little glitch. Unintended in Round One; no doubt foreseeable in Round Two.

Narrowing of the curriculum was no little glitch. Unintended in Round One; no doubt foreseeable in Round Two.

“…conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” JFK

 

Hear Us: Time Out from Testing

Good riddance to 2012; progress on the education front was too sparse to view it as a productive year.

Welcome 2013! Let this be the year that the crucial voice of the people is not only heard but taken to heart and acted upon.

What is important and what message will our taxpayer-sponsored representatives and officials hear from us? Where do we find common ground on education? Ask yourself, what’s essential in order for growing children to become life-long learners? Is it measurable on a standardized test?

Citizens of the United States are obligated to meet the responsibility of providing quality K-12 education. Does that mean that pre-school and college aren’t important? No. But we must focus on our primary duty and what it will take to accomplish that task. K-12, our current system, must be the focus of our collective voices or we will be drowned out by the confusion of too many irons in the fires. We have to stop patching and start fixing — strategically.

Currently, each state is fighting or giving into education legislation that has at its core the principle belief that standardized test scores accurately judge the quality of education a child has received. It is not just an opinion that this is a false assumption; it has been proven – repeatedly – these test scores do not accurately judge a child’s ability to learn or the quality of their school experiences.

Now is the time for our collective voices to rise up and demand we stop this insane and destructive use of our tax dollars. Our precious dollars are better spent on proven school improvement processes.

It’s time for a “time-out” from test-based “reforms.” It’s time to re-evaluate and regroup. Plan to reach out to the people who work for us – the people.