National Core Standard

[Anonymous]

Is anyone worried that, unlike DC and Maryland, VA is not adopting the national common core standard in school curriculum. How would this affect SAT or other standardized tests and college placements?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is anyone worried that, unlike DC and Maryland, VA is not adopting the national common core standard in school curriculum. How would this affect SAT or other standardized tests and college placements?

Can't see any connection at all with the SATs - so many test prep classes for that these days. As for college placement, UVA is the number 1 rated state university by Princeton Review. You suggesting the admissions committe there will turn down in-state grads in favor of Maryland and D.C. grads because the latter school systems adopted national common core standards? Doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is anyone worried that, unlike DC and Maryland, VA is not adopting the national common core standard in school curriculum. How would this affect SAT or other standardized tests and college placements?

Can't see any connection at all with the SATs - so many test prep classes for that these days. As for college placement, UVA is the number 1 rated state university by Princeton Review. You suggesting the admissions committe there will turn down in-state grads in favor of Maryland and D.C. grads because the latter school systems adopted national common core standards? Doubt it.

Does it therefore mean that it is really no big deal that VA is not adopting the national common core standard in education? Somehow I don't think it is that simple and students from VA may have disadvantages in some ways ... Did anyone have any idea what are the main differences between the national common core standard and the VA state standard?

[Anonymous]

I think their arguments against adopting it make sense. If they don't have the money, they don't have the money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/02/AR2010060201761.html

Charles Pyle, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education, said the state's standards work in tandem with detailed curriculum frameworks that guide instruction. He said that the state will review the common core proposal and that officials remain open to revising Virginia's standards in spots. But he said: "Virginia's entire accountability and support system is built on the Standards of Learning. Removing this foundation and replacing it with the common core would disrupt instruction in every school in the commonwealth."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think their arguments against adopting it make sense. If they don't have the money, they don't have the money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/02/AR2010060201761.html

Charles Pyle, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education, said the state's standards work in tandem with detailed curriculum frameworks that guide instruction. He said that the state will review the common core proposal and that officials remain open to revising Virginia's standards in spots. But he said: "Virginia's entire accountability and support system is built on the Standards of Learning. Removing this foundation and replacing it with the common core would disrupt instruction in every school in the commonwealth."

one passage I noted in the bove link was this:
One expert said Virginia is placing too much faith in its math standards. "They're nowhere near as sophisticated and demanding as the common core standards," said William Schmidt, a professor of statistics and education at Michigan State University who helped develop the proposed math standards. Schmidt said Virginia's math standards are not as focused as the common core and leave gaps, such as the study of slope in linear equations in seventh and eighth grades.

sheesh - no slope in linear equations in 7th grade? That's outrageous. Um, what's a slope in liner equations?

[Anonymous]

I didn't learn about linear slope until HS. No harm done here.

[Anonymous]

See, that comment made no sense to me, because you can't do basic algebra without learning about the slope in the equation of a line. So while the curriculum standard may not specifically address it, seriously, if they are teaching algebra in any way, then they are talking about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See, that comment made no sense to me, because you can't do basic algebra without learning about the slope in the equation of a line. So while the curriculum standard may not specifically address it, seriously, if they are teaching algebra in any way, then they are talking about it.

sound like the kids are going to get this in algebra regardless, even if it's not on the 7th and 8th grade SOL test. Doesn't sound like a big deal to me.