Have you all read this editorial about Common Core testing?

[Anonymous]

Way, way, WAY too much reading for a first grade math test.

Most kids are still JUST figuring out 1 plus 1. And many aren't reading remotely at that level comprehensively. They require too much abstraction for concrete thinkers. It's like telling an infant to get up and start running.


There are many educators saying the K through 3rd grade standards are completely developmentally inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I usually like Valerie Strauss' work, but I don't think this is her best piece (although I get that it's guest-written).

This is not a formalized and validated standardized assessment against the first grade standards. There aren't standardized tests until third grade--and in fact, the more compelling problem with assessment in NY is that the third grade tests AREN'T aligned to the Common Core. They are teaching one curriculum but using an older test, so they aren't actually assessing students based on the material that they have been taught.

But this looks to me like a classroom test that a teacher would administer to get some benchmarks on how well students are understanding the material (and ideally which parts are understood and which need more attention in the classroom). It's not a great test (some of the answers don't fit, like in #12), and there's no way to get partial credit for some of the multi-part questions. BUT, it's not a high stakes standardized assessment.

So to say "the test provides insight into why New York State parents are up in arms about testing and the Common Core," is disingenous. The test is problematic because whatever curriculum the district is using has a maladroit classroom assessment in it, not because (a) Common Core has problems (which it might) or (b) the PARCC/Smarter Balanced assessments have problems.

NY started using the "official" tests last year. 70 percent bombed them, even after being talk "Common Core" standards.

N.C. test results using official tests come out next week -- and more than half the kids failed.

Kentucky has release two rounds of official testing: Both major bombings. A small percentage did better this year over last, but just think about it: For TWO YEARS these kids have been taught Common Core drivel, and most are getting it.


Kids don't understand Common Core, and teachers don't know how to teach Common Core.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Way, way, WAY too much reading for a first grade math test.

Most kids are still JUST figuring out 1 plus 1. And many aren't reading remotely at that level comprehensively. They require too much abstraction for concrete thinkers. It's like telling an infant to get up and start running. .

They do read the tests out loud.

And in PG County where my kids go to school, K is where kids are learning 1+1. By the end of 1st grade, kids have their basic addition facts to 20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Way, way, WAY too much reading for a first grade math test.

Most kids are still JUST figuring out 1 plus 1. And many aren't reading remotely at that level comprehensively. They require too much abstraction for concrete thinkers. It's like telling an infant to get up and start running.

There are many educators saying the K through 3rd grade standards are completely developmentally inappropriate.

It's amazing how the Common Core standards can be

a. too abstract
b. not abstract enough

at the same time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NY started using the "official" tests last year. 70 percent bombed them, even after being talk "Common Core" standards.

N.C. test results using official tests come out next week -- and more than half the kids failed.

Kentucky has release two rounds of official testing: Both major bombings. A small percentage did better this year over last, but just think about it: For TWO YEARS these kids have been taught Common Core drivel, and most are getting it.

Do you have citations for these claims?

NY is part of the PARCC consortium. PARCC assessments aren't due to be implemented until 2014-15.

http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-timeline

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Way, way, WAY too much reading for a first grade math test.

Most kids are still JUST figuring out 1 plus 1. And many aren't reading remotely at that level comprehensively. They require too much abstraction for concrete thinkers. It's like telling an infant to get up and start running. .

They do read the tests out loud.

And in PG County where my kids go to school, K is where kids are learning 1+1. By the end of 1st grade, kids have their basic addition facts to 20.

Ha! All kids have their math facts up to 20? No. Some kids maybe, all kids, no.

Again 70 percent of kids are failing these mass-produced Common Core tests. And for children of color, disabled kids or ESL kids the rates climb to 95 percent.

They are totally developmentally inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NY started using the "official" tests last year. 70 percent bombed them, even after being talk "Common Core" standards.

N.C. test results using official tests come out next week -- and more than half the kids failed.

Kentucky has release two rounds of official testing: Both major bombings. A small percentage did better this year over last, but just think about it: For TWO YEARS these kids have been taught Common Core drivel, and most are getting it.

Do you have citations for these claims?

NY is part of the PARCC consortium. PARCC assessments aren't due to be implemented until 2014-15.

http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-timeline

Where have YOU been? It's all over the NY news. NY and Kentucky took the early PARCC tests. Why do you think they are ready to run the head of education out of the state?


http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-statement-release-new-york-state-assessment-results

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/nyregion/under-new-standards-students-see-sharp-decline-in-test-scores.html

[Anonymous]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/education/common-core-testing-spurs-outrage-and-protest-among-parents.html


Michael Appleton for The New York Times

"As New York this week became one of the first states to unveil a set of exams grounded in new curricular standards, education leaders are finding that rallying the public behind tougher tests may be more difficult than they expected.

Complaints were plentiful: the tests were too long; students were demoralized to the point of tears; teachers were not adequately prepared. Some parents, long skeptical of the emphasis on standardized testing, forbade their children from participating.

Maya Velasquez, 14, an eighth grader at the Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science and Engineering in Upper Manhattan said she had done well on tests in the past. But when a teacher on Wednesday informed her class that only 15 minutes remained in the exam, she knew she was in trouble. She had only written an introduction to her essay.

“All the kids were, like, open-mouthed, crazy-shocked and very upset,” she said.

...
At the Computer School on the Upper West Side, students said teachers had warned them that the test would be the most challenging they had taken. “When they ask, ‘What’s the main idea?’ and you have to put it in your own words, it’s a lot harder,” said Ron Yogev, a sixth grader.

Many did not finish, and some students said classmates were crying at the end. Mr. Wagner said the state was aware of complaints about the time allowed for the test and would look more extensively at the results to determine whether a change was necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NY started using the "official" tests last year. 70 percent bombed them, even after being talk "Common Core" standards.

N.C. test results using official tests come out next week -- and more than half the kids failed.

Kentucky has release two rounds of official testing: Both major bombings. A small percentage did better this year over last, but just think about it: For TWO YEARS these kids have been taught Common Core drivel, and most are getting it.

Do you have citations for these claims?

NY is part of the PARCC consortium. PARCC assessments aren't due to be implemented until 2014-15.

http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-timeline

Where have YOU been? It's all over the NY news. NY and Kentucky took the early PARCC tests. Why do you think they are ready to run the head of education out of the state?


http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-statement-release-new-york-state-assessment-results

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/nyregion/under-new-standards-students-see-sharp-decline-in-test-scores.html

Thanks. And no need to be rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Way, way, WAY too much reading for a first grade math test.

Most kids are still JUST figuring out 1 plus 1. And many aren't reading remotely at that level comprehensively. They require too much abstraction for concrete thinkers. It's like telling an infant to get up and start running. .

They do read the tests out loud.

And in PG County where my kids go to school, K is where kids are learning 1+1. By the end of 1st grade, kids have their basic addition facts to 20.

Ha! All kids have their math facts up to 20? No. Some kids maybe, all kids, no.

Again 70 percent of kids are failing these mass-produced Common Core tests. And for children of color, disabled kids or ESL kids the rates climb to 95 percent.

They are totally developmentally inappropriate.

Sorry, I am an ESOL teacher, and I can tell you with certainty that knowing basic addition/subtraction facts to 20 IS developmentally appropriate as a goal of end of 1st grade. Even for ESOL kids.

I would expect fluency up to 10 by the end of grade 1, and they should definitely be able to handle 12+6 = 18

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NY started using the "official" tests last year. 70 percent bombed them, even after being talk "Common Core" standards.

N.C. test results using official tests come out next week -- and more than half the kids failed.

Kentucky has release two rounds of official testing: Both major bombings. A small percentage did better this year over last, but just think about it: For TWO YEARS these kids have been taught Common Core drivel, and most are getting it.

Do you have citations for these claims?

NY is part of the PARCC consortium. PARCC assessments aren't due to be implemented until 2014-15.

http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-timeline

Where have YOU been? It's all over the NY news. NY and Kentucky took the early PARCC tests. Why do you think they are ready to run the head of education out of the state?


http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-statement-release-new-york-state-assessment-results

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/nyregion/under-new-standards-students-see-sharp-decline-in-test-scores.html

No, the tests they took were NOT the early PARCC tests. THose tests won't come out until next year.

New York designed its own tests, based on Common Core standards. From what I have been able to tell, the reason so many students scored so poorly on this test has to do with the fact that NYS education officials placed the "passing" bar higher than in past testing situations.

http://dianeravitch.net/2013/08/09/will-the-new-york-testing-fiasco-fuel-the-anti-testing-movement/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Where have YOU been? It's all over the NY news. NY and Kentucky took the early PARCC tests. Why do you think they are ready to run the head of education out of the state?

http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-statement-release-new-york-state-assessment-results

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/nyregion/under-new-standards-students-see-sharp-decline-in-test-scores.html

No, Kentucky did not take the early PARCC tests. Kentucky designed their own Common Core tests.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/state_edwatch/2013/09/common-core_tests_in_kentucky_year_two_whats_the_trend.html

[Anonymous]

Kentucky also designed its own tests, called the K-Prep. Students did not do as well on these tests as they have done on past state tests in KY, however, it is not clear whether they performed poorly because the test was poorly designed, because the objectives were inappropriate or perhaps the passing bar was set higher than in past years.

In researching this I came across the following article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/what-kentucky-can-teach-the-rest-of-the-us-about-the-common-core/280453/

This is something that really annoys me about critics of Common Core. Here is a common criticism -- that students are being required to read more non-fiction.

Critics have raised concerns about the content of the standards themselves, however. For instance, the English standards call for more informational texts to be read and analyzed in all classes, including science and social studies. Some educators, like Sandra Stotsky, who worked on Massachusetts's acclaimed standards, worry the emphasis will decrease the amount of time studying great literature and important concepts in other subjects.

“If a science teacher is trying to teach a chemistry lab, what do you want them to do?” she said. “Give them a book on Madame Curie?”

If a teacher is trying to teach a chemistry lab on, say, chemical reactions, how about having students read some relevant articles on computer modeling of chemical reactions in Scientific American Magazine? http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=2013-chemistry-nobel-for-molecule-computer-models

Or articles in more scholarly journals? Certainly a biography of famous people in the field would also be appropriate. News articles about current events in the field. lLl of these would be more than appropriate for a science class. Many of them would help students prepare for writing research reports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Way, way, WAY too much reading for a first grade math test.

Most kids are still JUST figuring out 1 plus 1. And many aren't reading remotely at that level comprehensively. They require too much abstraction for concrete thinkers. It's like telling an infant to get up and start running.

There are many educators saying the K through 3rd grade standards are completely developmentally inappropriate.

It's amazing how the Common Core standards can be

a. too abstract
b. not abstract enough

at the same time!

Even more amazing - different people can criticize the same thing from different perspectives. Incredible, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Way, way, WAY too much reading for a first grade math test.

Most kids are still JUST figuring out 1 plus 1. And many aren't reading remotely at that level comprehensively. They require too much abstraction for concrete thinkers. It's like telling an infant to get up and start running.


There are many educators saying the K through 3rd grade standards are completely developmentally inappropriate.

educator = one who knows no math.