Common Core's epic fail: Special Education

[Anonymous]

and even then the best they could come up with was from the Kindergarten standard, "write many upper and lower case letters - uh, what does 'many' mean" which really is not demonstrably bad other than not assigning a specific number.

There have been others posted, as well. Go back and read.

[Anonymous]

Let's just agree that what "good" and "bad" are in reference to a standard is pretty dang subjective. Nobody can define what "good" is ("good" for what? All students? employment? going to college? for a certain developmental stage for the average child? for checking on whether the teacher is doing a good job?) Furthermore, the interpretation of standards (by the textbook companies and test makers) is going to be just that-- interpretation of "standards" that people may or may not understand or may or may not be specific enough to even test. Heck, we can't even agree on what this stuff means or whether it's "good" or "bad".

The second question is whether it even makes any difference (based on what the teachers are saying, NO). Of course we can't trust those dang teachers to be worth spit, so we'd better trust these standards to do the job, right?

They're dead. People over standards.

[Anonymous]

To show just how devoid of values the Common Core is, they come with a liability disclaimer. They are a copyrighted marketing scheme that have destroyed free thought and creativity in our schools.

[Anonymous]

I am honestly starting to think that the goal is to drive the middle and upper middle classes out of the public schools. After this happens, there will no longer be an "achievement gap" and the Common Corers/Pearson/Gates cabal can claim victory.

When everyone is the same, they will be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

and even then the best they could come up with was from the Kindergarten standard, "write many upper and lower case letters - uh, what does 'many' mean" which really is not demonstrably bad other than not assigning a specific number.

There have been others posted, as well. Go back and read.

Again, generally just issues with terms - nothing with any meaningful substance to make it a "bad" or "inappropriate" standard. And certainly not enough to merit scrapping the entirety of Common Core.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still haven't seen any specific defense of why the Common Core standards are good.

There has been one reason after another posted. For example, being able to ensure that all students learn a minimum set of basic skills. Being able to know where you are at, being able to know how one school is doing as compared to another. Making it easier for children to be able to move from one school or teacher to another without missing anything or being out of sync.

[Anonymous]

There has been one reason after another posted. For example, being able to ensure that all students learn a minimum set of basic skills. Being able to know where you are at, being able to know how one school is doing as compared to another. Making it easier for children to be able to move from one school or teacher to another without missing anything or being out of sync.

NCLB promised all of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the Common Core criteria, a standard should be clear, concise and measurable. How do you measure "many"?

If the standard said, "Print at least 6 upper- and 8 lowercase letters.", would you think it was a good standard? Or would you then say that it was developmentally inappropriate, or that we're taking all autonomy away from teachers, or that it should specify which letters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I am honestly starting to think that the goal is to drive the middle and upper middle classes out of the public schools. After this happens, there will no longer be an "achievement gap" and the Common Corers/Pearson/Gates cabal can claim victory.

When everyone is the same, they will be happy.

Could you please explain how the Common Core standards will drive the middle and upper middle classes out of the public schools? Especially since, as so many posters have explained, they're not going to have any effect anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That's already been addressed about five times in this thread. Repeating "they had no input from experts bla bla bla" isn't going to cut it.

So, you think who wrote the standards does not affect the quality of the standards? Does the cook affect the quality of the meal?

I know for a fact that a bad cook can produce a good meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I, for one, am about as left leaning as anyone and I do not support the CC standards. I would never in my wildest dreams watch Fox News or be swayed by a "lie repeated time after time". I have never voted Republican in my life.

My contention is not that the CC standards are bad per se, but that they are a waste of time and resources. Standards are not the crux of the problem. I support public education. I just don't believe the CC is where a lot of effort should be put.

It amazes me that you believe that everyone who is anti-CC is "right wing". This is not a political thing at all. It's about education and how to make students learn more.

In that case, fighting the Common Core standards is an even bigger waste of time and resources.

[Anonymous]

Fighting the testing of said standards is definitely not going to be a waste of time and resources. A HUGE amount of money and time are spent on those and, unless the feds fork over a bunch of money, they are not going to happen . . . which pretty much makes the "standards" useless as far as "figuring out where kids are", "comparing schools", "making it easier for students to move from one school to another", etc.

The CC is dead. The story is old. We need some truly new ideas.

[Anonymous]

For example, being able to ensure that all students learn a minimum set of basic skills.

There is nothing in Common Core that ensures that.

[Anonymous]

Being able to know where you are at, being able to know how one school is doing as compared to another

How is Common Core going to help teachers know where they are?
What does it matter how one school compares to another? We already have that anyway--if you are talking about test scores.

[Anonymous]

Making it easier for children to be able to move from one school or teacher to another without missing anything or being out of sync.

That is not currently a problem.