Common Core

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I've started hearing about this the last month or so. My kids are out of school now but someday I'll probably have grand kids coming up through this crap. The Dept. of Education/nationalized education is a cancer that is killing us.

Articles: Common Core: Nationalized State-Run Education

 

[88GT]

Common Core is an abominal failure. The Dewey-led movement from traditional classical education was a made-to-order foundation for setting up state-run education that would rival Soviet education, in form if not in style. And Common Core is just the perfect standard for churning out un-thinking good little workers.

 

[Sfrandolph]

The entire educational system is an utter failure and has been for at least the past 20 years.

 

[grahamsy2k]

Makes me want to home school my kids. when i have some.

 

[steveh_131]

Well. That article was just downright frightening.

 

[BogWalker]

So what is the curriculum for common core or has this been released to the public yet? Would like to know exactly what sort of stuff is being handed down.

 

[mrjarrell]

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz had a look at the issue a while ago. It's a bit more focused than the OP article. Like him, I'm agnostic on the matter. We already have outside influences on our kids curriculum in this state and many others. Many states have the opinions of Texas legislators and fools foisted on them in their curriculum, simply due to the size of Texas' textbook purchases. Same for California. If it's kept simple and stays in the realm of testing, I don't foresee much of a problem with it. If it grows into something that downgrades the education that kids in our area receive then it does become a problem. Your kids aren't competing against the next town over anymore. They're competing with kids from other states. If this helps them out in that competition then it's good. If it causes harm then it's not. I'd like to take a wait and see on it and see what CC actually offers.

Commentary: The case for Common Core - The Statehouse File

 

[88GT]

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz had a look at the issue a while ago. It's a bit more focused than the OP article. Like him, I'm agnostic on the matter. We already have outside influences on our kids curriculum in this state and many others. Many states have the opinions of Texas legislators and fools foisted on them in their curriculum, simply due to the size of Texas' textbook purchases. Same for California. If it's kept simple and stays in the realm of testing, I don't foresee much of a problem with it. If it grows into something that downgrades the education that kids in our area receive then it does become a problem. Your kids aren't competing against the next town over anymore. They're competing with kids from other states. If this helps them out in that competition then it's good. If it causes harm then it's not. I'd like to take a wait and see on it and see what CC actually offers.

Commentary: The case for Common Core - The Statehouse File

This goes way beyond testing.

What's your level of familiarity with the history of education?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

This goes way beyond testing.

What's your level of familiarity with the history of education?

I am certainly no expert. GT, what is your take on CC? Admittedly, most of what I do know about this comes from biased sources.

 

[level.eleven]

This goes way beyond testing.

What's your level of familiarity with the history of education?

Is this a conspiracy? Are THEY actively conspiring? What is the end goal? Yes, yes...Prussian model, John Taylor Gatto....anything fresh?

 

[88GT]

I am certainly no expert. GT, what is your take on CC? Admittedly, most of what I do know about this comes from biased sources.

The as-impartial-as-I-can-get take is that this is nothing less than the federalization of education. Whether intended or not, and I do believe it is, given the source of the efforts, this is a take-over of the schools by the federal government. Nothing good can come from that.

The yes-I'm-biased-but-not-rabidly-opposed-to-state-run-education take is that this is dumbing down of an already lukewarm standard. Couple it with the focus on standardized testing results, and the kids in this country will be able to tell you how to fill out a Scantron sheet, whether or not their writing implement is a #2 pencil, or perhaps provide the answer to a word analogy or two. But they will not be fountains of information, knowledge, wonder, discovery, and character that education once provided.

The abandonment of a traditional classical education will be America's downfall. We are recycling the same tired (and failed) ideas on a 7-10 year cycle. We just have to keep calling them different names so the public doesn't catch on. "open classrooms" "out-come based education" "new math"

Here are two examples. They are taken from different decades.

One of the first astronauts was being interviewed for a story about the space program. This particular astronaut happened to have an advanced degree in mathematics. The interviewer asked him what he thought of this "new math" that was being taught in schools. His response (and I paraphrase): "Frankly, I don't understand it. I look at it and I can't figure out what the hell the kids are supposed to do with it, let alone the answers." The interviewer was obviously a little taken aback. A man with an advanced degree in mathematics can't figure out elementary math (his own daughter was the recipient of this new math, so he had first-hand experience). So the interview responded: "Well, the schools are trying to teach the kids the why of math. The how is secondary to the why because if you don't know they why, what's the point of knowing the how?" I imagine the astronaut rolled his eyes at that one because I sure would have. His response is priceless: "Ma'am, 'up there' the why doesn't matter if I can't figure out the how."

In another example, someone was being interviewed about the decline in education. Specifically, he was asked about the push to teach children how to find the information instead of learn it. He responded with a question: how are they going to know what to look for if they don't know what they're looking for?

We used to embrace classical education in this country. In fact, it was so good that a student with an eighth grade education could compete with a modern high school graduate on most subjects (all else being equal; obviously history would have to exclude some topics that hadn't yet occurred for the one student ) I'm teaching my children to read with readers that pre-date 1950 after a firm grounding in phonics (they don't teach phonics anymore like they used to). Twaddle free and far better in content. McGuffey readers are another example. The middle school levels for McGuffey would be more challenging than 95% of the materials high schoolers receive today.

I heard a statistic at convention that less than 50% of the population reads at least one book a year. Likely because they don't know now, mechanically or for comprehension/enjoyment.

And with that, I'll stop before I really get going.

 

[88GT]

Is this a conspiracy? Are THEY actively conspiring? What is the end goal? Yes, yes...Prussian model, John Taylor Gatto....anything fresh?

Not wanting to believe it doesn't make it not true.

I'll ask you the same question: what's your level of familiarity with the history of education?

 

[level.eleven]

Not wanting to believe it doesn't make it not true.

I'll ask you the same question: what's your level of familiarity with the history of education?

My familiarity is greater than yours. Do you see how silly that sounds?

I just want to know if anything new is being presented or if THEY are still out to get you. Anecdotes...I can provide some mommy teacher home-school anecdotes that would blow your socks off. Save yourself, I know the answer. I will respond with 30 million. We get it, you want to kitchen table your kids. No one is stopping you. On the other hand, there are still 1,000,000 kids in Indiana that need and education.

 

[level.eleven]

I forgot to add.

Who is THEY?

Names would be nice. Real names. Not "Kenyan Interloper".

Real names...Mitch Daniels.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

The as-impartial-as-I-can-get take is that this is nothing less than the federalization of education. Whether intended or not, and I do believe it is, given the source of the efforts, this is a take-over of the schools by the federal government. Nothing good can come from that.

The yes-I'm-biased-but-not-rabidly-opposed-to-state-run-education take is that this is dumbing down of an already lukewarm standard. Couple it with the focus on standardized testing results, and the kids in this country will be able to tell you how to fill out a Scantron sheet, whether or not their writing implement is a #2 pencil, or perhaps provide the answer to a word analogy or two. But they will not be fountains of information, knowledge, wonder, discovery, and character that education once provided.

The abandonment of a traditional classical education will be America's downfall. We are recycling the same tired (and failed) ideas on a 7-10 year cycle. We just have to keep calling them different names so the public doesn't catch on. "open classrooms" "out-come based education" "new math"

Thanks. This is pretty much as I suspected.

I heard a statistic at convention that less than 50% of the population reads at least one book a year. Likely because they don't know now, mechanically or for comprehension/enjoyment.

I'm not so proud to admit that I'm one of those 50%. It wasn't because of anything my parents did--they were readers. But I just never found it entertaining.

 

[RockofStrength]

My familiarity is greater than yours. Do you see how silly that sounds?

I just want to know if anything new is being presented or if THEY are still out to get you. Anecdotes...I can provide some mommy teacher home-school anecdotes that would blow your socks off. Save yourself, I know the answer. I will respond with 30 million. We get it, you want to kitchen table your kids. No one is stopping you. On the other hand, there are still 1,000,000 kids in Indiana that need and education.

And no one is stopping them from getting one either...except that people demand theft to provide for it.

 

[mrjarrell]

Well, after looking at it some more, I don't have any great problems with something that Indiana was part of crafting and accepted a few years ago. On the surface it doesn't look bad to me. If there's some hidden agenda I can't find it. It's not a federal plan, it came from the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The states governors asked for this and crafted it and most of the states, other than the usual suspects, have signed onto it. On it's face it just set standards for learning in Math, Language Arts and Social Studies. Schools can teach at the level the CC sets or go higher, if they wish. Indiana, as I said before, has already signed onto it, years ago. The senate passed a piece of legislation that would see Indiana withdraw from it, but frankly I don't see anything being gained from getting out of it. If someone doesn't want their children being educated at the levels CC calls for they are still able to withdraw their kids from school and see to their education themselves. All in all, CC doesn't seem to be some nefarious plot and its origins lie with the states, not the feds.

Common Core State Standards Initiative | Home

Common Core State Standards Initiative - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Resources for Implementing Indiana's Common Core Standards | IDOE

http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/common-core-watch/

http://www.edexcellence.net/comment...ervatives-should-support-the-common-core.html

Here’s what the Common Core State Standards are: They describe what children should know and the skills that they must acquire at each grade level to stay on course toward college- or career-readiness, something that conservatives have long argued for. They were written and adopted by governors—not by the Obama administration—thus preserving state control over K–12 education. And they are much more focused on rigorous back-to-basics content than the vast majority of state standards they replaced.
The Common Core standards are also not a curriculum; it’s up to state and local leaders to choose aligned curricula. The Fordham Institute has carefully examined the new expectations and compared them with existing state standards: They found that for most states, Common Core is a great improvement in rigor and cohesiveness.
For decades, students in different states have been held to radically different expectations. Several years ago, a small group of governors joined together in an effort to better align expectations for student learning. In 2007, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers joined together and hired independent curriculum experts to devise the new “common” standards. Drafts were circulated among the states, comments received, and the standards adjusted. Now, forty-five states and the District of Columbia have signed up to implement these new expectations.

More on why conservatives should be on board with CC at the link above.

 

[level.eleven]

Your'e right mrjarrell. CC is just the new boogeyman of the paranoid, fearful, and bitter. Beck, and some in this thread, have managed to link it to the Chinese, Islam, Agenda 21, etc.

 

[theblackhat]

Common Core adopted much of its structure from IB, International Baccalaureate, which is a UN education initiative. Among the many things that the IB does is to try to implement Agenda 21. Agenda 21 intends to "educate" everyone, from children to adults, through programs and propaganda that the Earth is by and large the center of our existence and needs to be managed and doing so properly will end war, famine, disease, bigotry, and injustice.
Any wonder why this and past administrations have developed multiple strains of similar education programs or "awareness" programs that hit the populace at the child level?
Think on this, if one were to start homeschooling today, would their child be able to graduate? Would they be able to enroll in college, and thus find a decent job? If homeschool or private schools don't adopt Common Core or Agenda 21, 10-20 years from now those children might not have the same chances as others.
Sounds like indoctrination to me.

 

[mrjarrell]

Hate to burst your bubble, but the International Baccalaureate has been around since the late 60's. It has nothing to do with the UN or Agenda 21. It came from Switzerland and the international schools system. I attended an IB school in Japan that was run by Canadians. A private school, as many of the IB schools are. You're way off base. US schools could definitely do worse that integrate parts of the IB program into their curriculum's.