What is Common Core?
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a set of content standards at this time limited to English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. FORTY-SIX STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HAVE signed on to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a project sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association (NGA). The standards were written by teams of curriculum specialists and vetted by panels of academics, teachers, and other experts. In 2010, the federal government funded two consortia to develop assessments aligned with the Common Core. The new tests are to be ready in 2014. These standards, if adopted by a state, will replace existing state standards in these subject areas.
There are other components of the initiative beyond standards and testing. States that adopt the CCSS must participate in the Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) that will be given twice yearly, and participation in the State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS). These data basis will store testing data along with private student specific data and share that data with other states, the Federal Government, and private interests.
What's wrong with Standards?
Nothing. Every state has standards as a way of creating consistency in curriculum throughout their state. Proponents of the CCSS want this same consistency in what schools teach nationally but they defend CCSS by downplaying curriculum as the objective (which would not be popular) and asserting that CCSS are rigorous standards that will raise academic proficiency. The problem is there are real questions about what impacts student achievement most. Is it standards curriculum, and tests OR socioeconomics, family life, and biology?
The Brookings Institution studied the effect of standards on achievement and found that "states with weak content standards score about the same on NAEP as those with strong standards." It found in it's report, "How Well Are American Students Learning?", that variations are most apparent within states where all students learn under the same standards and curriculum. Brookings gives this warning to those who put too much confidence in CCSS as the solution to erasing achievement gaps and improving achievement overall, "The empirical evidence suggests that the Common Core will have little effect on American students’ achievement. The nation will have to look elsewhere for ways to improve its schools."
It's Not A National Curriculum, Right?
Curriculum follows standards. The push for common education standards argues that all American students should study a common curriculum, take comparable tests to measure their learning, and have the results interpreted on a common scale. This is the "equality of inputs = equality of outputs" philosophy. Good or bad when standards are written and copyrighted by private companies and then cashed strapped states are enticed into adopting those standards by the Federal Government who promises federal dollars and NCLB waivers in exchange, states are under contract with the Federal government and are not free to change any portion of the standards. In fact, under CCSS guidelines states are allowed to add only 15% of original content standards. The connection between standards and curriculum is clear. As the Brooking Institute wrote in their report, "The intended curriculum is embodied by standards; it is what governments want students to learn. The differences articulated by state governments in this regard are frequently trivial." So national standards will lead to a national curriculum.
Why is national curriculum a problem?
Well to start with, the authority to operate school systems is constitutionally vested in states. But just in case you are an American who isn't motivated by the constitutional argument think about it this way: Control over 100,000 public schools, 14,000 school districts, and over 500 Billion in education tax dollars will transfer from the hands of parents and local school boards to unelected boards, bureaucrats, and private partners the USDOE decides are more capable of managing education.
This massive federal takeover is fueled by the belief that states individually cannot be trusted which is just another way of saying the people can't be trusted. Our founders taught that government closest to the people governs best because it is the most responsive to the unique local needs of the people, it is the most innovative and creative, and most easily corrected when it fails. CCSS will undermine the decentralized, federalist principles on which education has been governed since America’s founding.
What Does Testing Look Like Under Common Core?
Proponents of the Common Core are excited about the CAT tests which are developed by companies like American Institutes for Research (AIR) with grants from the federal government. AIR "is one of the world's largest behavioral and social science research organizations" and is applying behavioral and social science to educational assessments. These tests are highly accurate, therefore the push for implementing the latest and greatest technologies to assist with the accurate measurement of student progress in academics. So what's the problem?
What's wrong with Common Core National Testing?
There is reason to seriously question what these tests are seeking to measure beyond cognitive ability and knowledge sets. Already in use these tests have well documented potential to be highly accurate for personality assessment and companies like AIR have the ability to devise tests that input selected variables that measure “behavioral characteristics” along with variables that measure language arts, science or math. Award winning child psychologist Dr. Gary Thompson wrote, "It would be relatively “easy” to design a language adaptive test that has behavioral characteristics embedded into the design of the test. Formulas could be designed to produce two sets of results (language and behavior), and then forward the language test results to its intended target (The Schools), and the behavioral results to another intended target (Federal Government, Private Agencies)." See the problem?
Are students disadvantaged by not participating in CAT tests?
NO. Research on cognitive ability tests shows that adaptive tests, and paper-and-pencil tests lead to equivalent scores. Paper-and-pencil tests are also cheaper and the state has more control over the content of the tests and what they are designed to measure. It is nearly impossible for state leaders to provide oversight of CAT tests because no two students will see the same test, each question on the test is predictive and prompts which question follows. A grade-level test will have about 1600 possible questions, and it requires psychometrician professionals to interpret the results of such tests.
What information will they store in these data basis and why should I be concerned?
Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the Common Core agenda is the data mining of our children's information outside of parental consent or knowledge. Stored in these data basis that were created as part of the "Race to the Top" grant program is highly personal student data such as social security number, health-care histories, learning disabilities, disciplinary action (from detentions for minor infractions to expulsions), attendance, homework completion, religious affiliations, and any educational or physiological data assessed through CAT. In 2011 portions of FERPA, education privacy act, were changed by Arnie Duncan at the USDOE so that data the states share with the Federal government can then be shared with private organizations and companies WITHOUT PARENTAL PERMISSION.
GOOD OR BAD OVERALL?
Many will argue Common Core based on whether or not the standards are good rigorous standards, whether or not the Common Core will improve education in American, whether a national curriculum will lead to indoctrination of our kids, or whether or not the Common Core will make America's economy more competitive. These are interesting discussions but whatever side you come down on in each of these cases there are a few simple facts about Common Core that make it a dangerous path for American education. (1) States who adopt Common Core lend their constitutional powers and responsibilities to oversee education in their states to the Federal government and move decision making over a child's education further from the hands of parents and communities. (2) There is no way to control the private interests who are highly involved with Common Core or to be certain they have our children's best interest at heart. (3) There is no way to be certain that very private intimate data on our children and by extension our families won't be abused by the Federal Government or private interests with access to this data. And (4) There is NO evidence that further standardizing curriculum and a new testing regime will result in better educations for our children.
In the words of Ronald Reagan: “Remember that every government service, every offer of government - is paid for in the loss of some personal freedom... In the days to come, whenever a voice is raised telling you to let the government do it, analyze very carefully to see whether the suggested service is worth the personal freedom which you must forgo in return for such service.”
The Brookings Institution studied the effect of standards on achievement and found that "states with weak content standards score about the same on NAEP as those with strong standards." It found in it's report, "How Well Are American Students Learning?", that variations are most apparent within states where all students learn under the same standards and curriculum. Brookings gives this warning to those who put too much confidence in CCSS as the solution to erasing achievement gaps and improving achievement overall, "The empirical evidence suggests that the Common Core will have little effect on American students’ achievement. The nation will have to look elsewhere for ways to improve its schools."
It's Not A National Curriculum, Right?
Curriculum follows standards. The push for common education standards argues that all American students should study a common curriculum, take comparable tests to measure their learning, and have the results interpreted on a common scale. This is the "equality of inputs = equality of outputs" philosophy. Good or bad when standards are written and copyrighted by private companies and then cashed strapped states are enticed into adopting those standards by the Federal Government who promises federal dollars and NCLB waivers in exchange, states are under contract with the Federal government and are not free to change any portion of the standards. In fact, under CCSS guidelines states are allowed to add only 15% of original content standards. The connection between standards and curriculum is clear. As the Brooking Institute wrote in their report, "The intended curriculum is embodied by standards; it is what governments want students to learn. The differences articulated by state governments in this regard are frequently trivial." So national standards will lead to a national curriculum.
Why is national curriculum a problem?
Well to start with, the authority to operate school systems is constitutionally vested in states. But just in case you are an American who isn't motivated by the constitutional argument think about it this way: Control over 100,000 public schools, 14,000 school districts, and over 500 Billion in education tax dollars will transfer from the hands of parents and local school boards to unelected boards, bureaucrats, and private partners the USDOE decides are more capable of managing education.
This massive federal takeover is fueled by the belief that states individually cannot be trusted which is just another way of saying the people can't be trusted. Our founders taught that government closest to the people governs best because it is the most responsive to the unique local needs of the people, it is the most innovative and creative, and most easily corrected when it fails. CCSS will undermine the decentralized, federalist principles on which education has been governed since America’s founding.
What Does Testing Look Like Under Common Core?
Proponents of the Common Core are excited about the CAT tests which are developed by companies like American Institutes for Research (AIR) with grants from the federal government. AIR "is one of the world's largest behavioral and social science research organizations" and is applying behavioral and social science to educational assessments. These tests are highly accurate, therefore the push for implementing the latest and greatest technologies to assist with the accurate measurement of student progress in academics. So what's the problem?
What's wrong with Common Core National Testing?
There is reason to seriously question what these tests are seeking to measure beyond cognitive ability and knowledge sets. Already in use these tests have well documented potential to be highly accurate for personality assessment and companies like AIR have the ability to devise tests that input selected variables that measure “behavioral characteristics” along with variables that measure language arts, science or math. Award winning child psychologist Dr. Gary Thompson wrote, "It would be relatively “easy” to design a language adaptive test that has behavioral characteristics embedded into the design of the test. Formulas could be designed to produce two sets of results (language and behavior), and then forward the language test results to its intended target (The Schools), and the behavioral results to another intended target (Federal Government, Private Agencies)." See the problem?
Are students disadvantaged by not participating in CAT tests?
NO. Research on cognitive ability tests shows that adaptive tests, and paper-and-pencil tests lead to equivalent scores. Paper-and-pencil tests are also cheaper and the state has more control over the content of the tests and what they are designed to measure. It is nearly impossible for state leaders to provide oversight of CAT tests because no two students will see the same test, each question on the test is predictive and prompts which question follows. A grade-level test will have about 1600 possible questions, and it requires psychometrician professionals to interpret the results of such tests.
What information will they store in these data basis and why should I be concerned?
Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the Common Core agenda is the data mining of our children's information outside of parental consent or knowledge. Stored in these data basis that were created as part of the "Race to the Top" grant program is highly personal student data such as social security number, health-care histories, learning disabilities, disciplinary action (from detentions for minor infractions to expulsions), attendance, homework completion, religious affiliations, and any educational or physiological data assessed through CAT. In 2011 portions of FERPA, education privacy act, were changed by Arnie Duncan at the USDOE so that data the states share with the Federal government can then be shared with private organizations and companies WITHOUT PARENTAL PERMISSION.
GOOD OR BAD OVERALL?
Many will argue Common Core based on whether or not the standards are good rigorous standards, whether or not the Common Core will improve education in American, whether a national curriculum will lead to indoctrination of our kids, or whether or not the Common Core will make America's economy more competitive. These are interesting discussions but whatever side you come down on in each of these cases there are a few simple facts about Common Core that make it a dangerous path for American education. (1) States who adopt Common Core lend their constitutional powers and responsibilities to oversee education in their states to the Federal government and move decision making over a child's education further from the hands of parents and communities. (2) There is no way to control the private interests who are highly involved with Common Core or to be certain they have our children's best interest at heart. (3) There is no way to be certain that very private intimate data on our children and by extension our families won't be abused by the Federal Government or private interests with access to this data. And (4) There is NO evidence that further standardizing curriculum and a new testing regime will result in better educations for our children.
In the words of Ronald Reagan: “Remember that every government service, every offer of government - is paid for in the loss of some personal freedom... In the days to come, whenever a voice is raised telling you to let the government do it, analyze very carefully to see whether the suggested service is worth the personal freedom which you must forgo in return for such service.”
THE PRICE IS TOO HIGH AND THE SERVICE TOO POOR
Love it!!! Going to follow your blog and if you don't mind I am going to print and share what you have written. I will make sure that you are recognized as the author. I applaud you for taking a stand as a teacher knowing that it could have affected your career.
ReplyDeleteIt has been many years now since I worked along side a fabulous teacher in a third grade ESL classroom in a south Omaha school. I worked in the school as a Para-Educator and what I experienced there made a lasting impression on me. Unfortunately, despite wonderful little children who I loved, the experience solidified for me that I could not "teach" in public schools as a career.
ReplyDeleteMy bio says I am a teacher, I say that in the sense that teaching is a passion and God given talent, not a career choice. I am now a "home teacher" to my youngest and I continue to find ways to be involved in teaching children (at church) and to advocate for true education (in my grassroots work). In a different time I would have chosen teaching as a profession, at a time when education was still "the lighting of a fire and not the filling of a pail."
I do not know to many kindergartners at barely 5 years old able to do this type of work.
ReplyDeletehttps://gradekcommoncoremath.wikispaces.hcpss.org/Math+Journals