Have you all read this editorial about Common Core testing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Where is your school? My school district is MCPS.

PGCPS

OK, so maybe I should spend some time on the PG County forum, reading about all of the parents who hate the Common Core curriculum because there's too much homework, and you can spend some time on the Maryland (meaning MCPS) forum, reading about all of the parents who hate the Common Core curriculum because there's not enough homework...

Perhaps all of the MCPS Common Core-haters should move to PGCPS?

PP, I am also a teacher in PGCPS and have kids who are in public schools here. No, too much homework as a result of switching to COmmon Core objectives has not been a big deal here.

It's been a huge issue at my PGCPS. We're an hour into homework already and haven't completed one subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Where is your school? My school district is MCPS.

PGCPS

OK, so maybe I should spend some time on the PG County forum, reading about all of the parents who hate the Common Core curriculum because there's too much homework, and you can spend some time on the Maryland (meaning MCPS) forum, reading about all of the parents who hate the Common Core curriculum because there's not enough homework...

Perhaps all of the MCPS Common Core-haters should move to PGCPS?

PP, I am also a teacher in PGCPS and have kids who are in public schools here. No, too much homework as a result of switching to COmmon Core objectives has not been a big deal here.

It's been a huge issue at my PGCPS. We're an hour into homework already and haven't completed one subject.

Yeah, but aren't you the poster with the gifted / supremely LD child?

[Anonymous]

Here is how I see common core-

For 30 years our education has systematically dumbed down the expectations and level of work required in most public schools for all but those deemed gifted. The rest of the world especially in places like China, India and Northern Europe systematically increased the amount of rigor and challenge in their public school systems. Result international tests of not just kids but of adults that indicate Americans have much poorer practical literacy and math skills. Result many people could not figure out that they were going to get screwed when their mortgage rate readjusted. Result we import thousands of workers to keep our most profitable tech industries viable. You can complain about the homework but I have you have saved enough to support your kid who will not be able to get a great job or you can figure out how to help your child learn and maximize what can happen from increased rigor. Will all kids be able to do it no, will there have to be some exceptions for kids with dyslexia, or adhd or autism or any number of learning issues yes, but we may also be surprised that they actually enjoy the increased challenge.

As parents we need to quit holding our kids back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Where is your school? My school district is MCPS.

PGCPS

OK, so maybe I should spend some time on the PG County forum, reading about all of the parents who hate the Common Core curriculum because there's too much homework, and you can spend some time on the Maryland (meaning MCPS) forum, reading about all of the parents who hate the Common Core curriculum because there's not enough homework...

Perhaps all of the MCPS Common Core-haters should move to PGCPS?

PP, I am also a teacher in PGCPS and have kids who are in public schools here. No, too much homework as a result of switching to COmmon Core objectives has not been a big deal here.

It's been a huge issue at my PGCPS. We're an hour into homework already and haven't completed one subject.

Yeah, but aren't you the poster with the gifted / supremely LD child?

When there are PTA meetings and Survey Monkey surveys about the amount of homework, then it's an issue. My other two are struggling with the amount of homework. The rule is 10 minutes per grade so fourth graders should have 40-50 minutes a night. The kids switch classes and have three different teachers giving them 50+ minutes of homework a night. That doesn't include STEM Fair projects or their TAG projects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is how I see common core-

For 30 years our education has systematically dumbed down the expectations and level of work required in most public schools for all but those deemed gifted. The rest of the world especially in places like China, India and Northern Europe systematically increased the amount of rigor and challenge in their public school systems. Result international tests of not just kids but of adults that indicate Americans have much poorer practical literacy and math skills. Result many people could not figure out that they were going to get screwed when their mortgage rate readjusted. Result we import thousands of workers to keep our most profitable tech industries viable. You can complain about the homework but I have you have saved enough to support your kid who will not be able to get a great job or you can figure out how to help your child learn and maximize what can happen from increased rigor. Will all kids be able to do it no, will there have to be some exceptions for kids with dyslexia, or adhd or autism or any number of learning issues yes, but we may also be surprised that they actually enjoy the increased challenge.

As parents we need to quit holding our kids back.

Children are not mini adults and they are not designed to "work" twelve hours a day with OT on the weekends. They need fresh air and imagination play and I think that's where we have been failing for the last 30 years or so. Being instructed so rigorously doesn't teach people to think outside the box but to reiterate what they've had drilled into them. The burn out is high and the amount of drinking in Japan, Korea, and Europe is incredible as a result. Suicide rates there are skyrocketing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Children are not mini adults and they are not designed to "work" twelve hours a day with OT on the weekends. They need fresh air and imagination play and I think that's where we have been failing for the last 30 years or so. Being instructed so rigorously doesn't teach people to think outside the box but to reiterate what they've had drilled into them. The burn out is high and the amount of drinking in Japan, Korea, and Europe is incredible as a result. Suicide rates there are skyrocketing.

Suicide rates among children are skyrocketing in Japan and Korea and Europe (every country in Europe?) and are higher than in the US (where the suicide rate among children is decreasing or remaining steady?)?

People under 21 binge-drink more in Japan and Korea and Europe (every country in Europe?) than in the US?

You have data to support these assertions?

[Anonymous]

The common thread in Common Core is literacy. Kids are assessed on their answers - not just the product but how they arrived at that answer. They receive credit for their reasoning. So if their reason is correct but b/c of a computation error they have the wrong answer, they still receive partial credit.

Furthermore, they must be able to READ the question correctly in order to answer it. #11 is a perfect example - Draw a picture to solve. There are 7 balloons in all. Two are red. How many are not red?

They are really doing three things - showing what it looks like in an illustration (another form), doing basic math, and making sense of wording that can be confusing.

For an ESOL student, however, this can be difficult. For most of the children whose parents are on this forum, these problems can be challenging but perfectly w/in reach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The common thread in Common Core is literacy. Kids are assessed on their answers - not just the product but how they arrived at that answer. They receive credit for their reasoning. So if their reason is correct but b/c of a computation error they have the wrong answer, they still receive partial credit.

Furthermore, they must be able to READ the question correctly in order to answer it. #11 is a perfect example - Draw a picture to solve. There are 7 balloons in all. Two are red. How many are not red?

They are really doing three things - showing what it looks like in an illustration (another form), doing basic math, and making sense of wording that can be confusing.

For an ESOL student, however, this can be difficult. For most of the children whose parents are on this forum, these problems can be challenging but perfectly w/in reach.

Except for in every state that has tested children on Common Core, most children have failed. Even in states where they have been "teaching" Common Core for two years.

Common Core wants many students to learn in a way they are not wired to learn. Two YEARS in a classroom, and these children are not understanding the concepts. Common Core is flawed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate to admit it but I'm confused by the first question and number 5 which is just like it.

I agree. I had no idea what they were getting at. Poor kids. What a stupid test.

Teacher here. This is the critique I find silly.

The kids are taught using this framework - they should know what it is asking. All question one is doing is presenting a whole and a known part and asking them to find a missing part. It is essentially a specific representation of the math problem 6 - 5 = ?

The idea is to develop algebraic thinking at earlier ages to help students develop a strong base in algebra so once they tackle higher level algebra they will be more experienced in the area.

The answer should me more intuitive. I was a math major in college and I could not figure that out.

I'm starting to see the problem here -- but it isn't with Common Core.

uh yeah - I am an English teacher. The test was intuitive for me, and my 4th grader thought it was a piece of cake.

[Anonymous]

Will you be adding Christmas ornaments to your KKK robe for the holidays?

[quote=Anonymous


Not so in Montgomery County schools. Why, they are using the Common Core as the way to dumb down the curriculum for the white students so they are at the same level as the ESL students and thereby narrowing the achievement gap! The standards and curriculum were designed not to let the white kids get ahead!

[Anonymous]

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/north-carolina-delays-release-of-2012-13-test-results-until-november




North Carolina delays release of 2012-13 test results until November
Submitted by KeungHui on 09/05/2013 - 14:12


Families in Wake County and the rest of the state will now have to wait until November to find out how low the test scores were for their children’s schools and school districts.

The State Board of Education agreed today to postpone release of the 2012-13 test results by a month to the November meeting. State Department of Public Instruction staff will present a range of options in October for different cut scores.

Passing rates were expected to be low because the state changed exams with the move to Common Core standards. But just how low they can get could shock people.

For instance, this handout shows that using one set of cut scores could result in most statewide passing rates in the 30s and 40s for exams. The results are also expected to show a much wider racial achievement gap than under the old exams.

Read more here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/north-carolina-delays-release-of-2012-13-test-results-until-november#storylink=cpy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Except for in every state that has tested children on Common Core, most children have failed. Even in states where they have been "teaching" Common Core for two years.

Common Core wants many students to learn in a way they are not wired to learn. Two YEARS in a classroom, and these children are not understanding the concepts. Common Core is flawed.

There have been curricula aligned to Common Core standards for two years! And students taking tests (which are not the tests most students will take, because those tests are still being developed) have failed! Therefore the Common Core is a failure!

Again: the Common Core does not dictate how children should learn. The Common Core sets standards for what students in each grade should be able to do in math and English/language arts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Common Core is not the issue. Its actually a good thing. Testing is an issue. And I say that as a teacher.

as is training teachers on the standards, which are good, btw

But unless teachers are taught to understand that all standards work together, with literacy at the core, standards will be taught in isolation.

I say this as a high school teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Common Core wants many students to learn in a way they are not wired to learn. Two YEARS in a classroom, and these children are not understanding the concepts. Common Core is flawed.

PP, I really don't know what else there is to say, expect that I have been teaching using Common Core Objectives for the past year and a half, and I find that the standards are very sensible.

For example, here are some standards I had students working with today. They are just in the domains of "Reading Foundational Skills" and "Reading Informational Text" because that happened to be what we were working with today.

Kindergarten RF3.a Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter- sound correspondence by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.

http://mdk12.org/share/frameworks/CCSC_Reading_Foundational_Skills_grk-2.pdf

My kindergarten ESOL students worked with learning the different sounds that various consonants and short vowels represented.
?

Grade 2 RF.3.a Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one syllable words

http://mdk12.org/share/frameworks/CCSC_Reading_Foundational_Skills_grk-2.pdf

My second grade ESOL students read phonetically regular text including words with the vowel sound /o/ as in "open" spelled oa, o_e, ough, and ow or just plain o. For example, coat, home, though, grow and so.

Grade 3 RI 2: Determine the main idea of a text, recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

http://mdk12.org/share/frameworks/CCSC_Reading_Informational_Text_gr3-5.pdf
?? ?
My third grade ESOL students read a grade level text about animals in the ocean. They figured out the main idea of each chapter, and were able to locate the key details that supported the main idea.

I'm really not sure in what way these standards ask children to learn, in a way they are not wired to learn. But what can I say? I have only been teaching about 12 years. Maybe there is something I am missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Common Core is not the issue. Its actually a good thing. Testing is an issue. And I say that as a teacher.

as is training teachers on the standards, which are good, btw

But unless teachers are taught to understand that all standards work together, with literacy at the core, standards will be taught in isolation.

I say this as a high school teacher.

I have no idea what your point is, here.