The Common Core: Issues and Implications in Education Reform

Common Core

Talk to anyone within the public school system, and those two words will likely stir up conversation and controversy. Set forth by the National Governors Association for Best Practices, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSI) implements a standards-based education reform of English-Language Arts (across content areas) and Mathematics in grades K-12. CCSI’s mission statement states that these standards are set to “provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn ... designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.” However, despite the fact that these new standards are clear-cut and “robust,” this initiative is experiencing a tremendous pushback. Even if you are not a teacher or administrator, it is important to understand the expectations and implications of the CCSI. Recent studies show that two-thirds of the American population is unaware of what the Common Core Standards even are. The CCSI is a major education reform and is bound to have ripple effects throughout other aspects of society. So, what exactly are the Common Core Standards? What will the standards accomplish, and how will the standards impact our schools and students?

Understanding the Standards

The main goal of the Common Core Standards is to adequately prepare students for their future and provide them with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in college programs and the workforce. These standards, adopted voluntarily by each state, are currently implemented within 45 states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity and four U.S. territories. The standards fall into the following two categories or subject areas: English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects and Mathematics. The key skills targeted under the Core English-Language Arts K-12 Standards are Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening, Language and Media & Technology. The key skills targeted under the Core Mathematics Standards in grades K-5 are whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and decimals. Middle school mathematics prepares students for high school mathematics and focuses on content skills in geometry, algebra and statistics. High school mathematics requires students to apply mathematical ways of thinking and reasoning to real-life issues and challenges. In other words, the Common Core Standards provide teachers and administrators with a basic “road map” of what students should be learning and when. It provides teachers with the goals and objectives of each lesson and what key topics to highlight within each unit. These standards help ensure that no matter where you are in the country, students at the same grade level are learning the same thing; fourth-grade students in Iowa are learning the same content, at the same speed, as fourth-grade students in New York. The universality of these standards is cause for contention, however, because not all students learn the same way or at the same speed.

Core Issues

The idea of holding all students accountable for the same content, regardless of social, economic and/or academic background, is just one complaint within a myriad of issues facing the new Common Core Standards Initiative. Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at NYU, discusses her contentions with these standards in her blog. She vocalizes her opposition to the initiative in her article “Why I Cannot Support the Common Core Standards,” stating that these standards are “... being imposed on the children of this nation despite the fact that no one has any idea how they will affect students, teachers or schools. We are a nation of guinea pigs, almost all trying an unknown new program at the same time.” This program has been implemented by 95 percent of the country, without any knowledge about the far-reaching consequences on both schools and students. While these standards are referred to as state standards that are “voluntarily adopted” by each state, states that opt not to implement these standards are deemed ineligible for Race to the Top funding. Stuck in a catch-22 of sorts, it seems as if states are faced with consequences at either end of their decision.

Teaching < Testing

The new focus of the CCSI curriculum raises concern among parents and educators, going so far as to blame the Common Core for killing the dinosaurs. While the dinosaurs have obviously been extinct for thousands of years, dinosaurs are now extinct from classroom curriculum as well. Amy Prime, an elementary school teacher in Iowa, explains her feelings toward the loss of the dinosaurs: “I’m reminded of the scene from the Tom Hanks movie Big, when the toy company executives are promoting a new toy they’ve created, and Tom Hanks says he doesn’t get it. He wonders where the fun is. As I wade through our new materials, follow the scripted lessons, and do much more testing and much less teaching I also wonder where the fun is.” We as a nation are no strangers to “teach to the test.” Since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act, focus has shifted from motivation to assessment, from teaching to testing. Students’ test scores hold greater value than their understanding of material. These standardized test scores dramatically impact the ways that teachers and schools are evaluated. An increase in testing has caused an increase in test anxiety, and not just for students. At GothamSchools' Common Core Talk, principals and school officials voiced their frustrations about the new standards.

A Clear Picture?

CCSI aims to provide teachers with an outline, a solid foundation and a “clear picture” of what students need to learn in order to succeed in college and in the workforce. However, it seems as though the reform is providing teachers with more questions than answers. However, with this being the first full school year where schools are implementing the new standards, it is hard to determine what the lasting effects of this reform will be. Regardless of what side of the debate you fall in, it is important to become well versed in the reform, its goals and implications. Gaining a well-rounded perspective of the Common Core Standard Initiative is the first step in paving the path for true educational reform.

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