Want to know what Common Core testing will look like in Maryland? Look to New York.
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Anonymous
You know what is really sad? I can't even tell if this post is satire or not. |
Anonymous
That is a question of implementation. And, in fact, implementation in one school district in the country. Common Core is one thing. How MCPS designed and implemented its Common-Core-aligned elementary school curriculum (Curriculum 2.0) is another thing. Throwing out the Common Core because you don't like Curriculum 2.0 is like switching to kerosene lamps because you don't like Pepco. |
Anonymous
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Since the topic of this post was New York...
The New York State PTA announced a new campaign today, calling on the state Education Department for at least a year's delay in linking student test scores to teacher and principal evaluations, among other things. PTA President Lana Ajemian told reporters in a conference call that the association's members support the increased rigor of the Common Core standards but are deeply concerned about the way they are being implemented in New York. The PTA has been a strong supporter of the Common Core for the past few years. It's national affiliate has received substantial funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is a key supporter of the standards nationwide. But Ajemian said New York's rollout of the standards has been so poor that it undermines public confidence in them. That, she said, is what the PTA's new campaign is trying to rectify. "The rushed implementation combined with excessive testing have already shaken confidence in the Common Core, and we cannot afford more confusion and discontent," she said. "... We hope that we will save the promise of this initiative." Ajemian said the organization will lobby legislators, meet with newspaper editorial boards and do advertising to push its campaign. Besides delaying the use of student testing for high-stakes decisions about teachers and students, the PTA wants to make testing more flexible for English language learners and students with disabilities and increase training of teachers and administrators in implementing the standards. |
Anonymous
Common core == drives ==> assessments (tests) == drives ==> curriculum |
Anonymous
There weren't tests, and curricula, and tests designed for curricula, before the Common Core? That's not how I remember it. |
Anonymous
But many states scored quite high in that evaluation. Common Core scored a B+ and several states scored the same or higher. This was an evaluation of state standards prior to Common Core. You ( or someone) were arguing that Kentucky students were doing quite well, and then BAM! a new test based on new standards comes along, and suddenly they are doing poorly. My comments were to show that actually, people in Kentucky have had concerns about their students progress for the past 2 decades, and it's not surprising given that an evaluation of their state standards showed that compared with all the other states, the standrads were vague and confusing, and not very rigorous. Here is the full text of the results (study done in 2010). I'm not sure why DC's standards scored so high -- did they recently get revamped? http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/the-state-of-state-of-standards-and-the-common-core-in-2010.html New York: C "The presentation of the New York State Learning Standards for ELA—and the accompanying English Language Arts Core Curriculum—is somewhat confusing; and although much of the essential K-12 ELA content is included, it is often buried among non-essential standards more focused on instruc- tional strategies than on student outcomes. In addition, many vaguely worded standards leave too much room for weak or inconsistent implemen- tation across schools and districts." Kentucky: D "The Kentucky ELA standards are confusingly organized and laced with vague or overly general expectations that fail to show a clear progression of rigor from one grade to the next. The standards for high school resemble those for middle school. At times the standards seem to represent a perpetu- al remedial course." Maryland: C "The Maryland ELA standards are a mixed bag. Standards are generally well organized, and many are clear and specific. Others, however, fail to clarify expectations or omit essential content that students should master as part of a rigorous, K-12 curriculum. What’s more, the failure to delineate grade- specific expectations in high school leaves teachers of grades 9-12 with very little guidance about the essential content and progression of rigor from grade to grade." Virginia: B+ "Virginia’s standards are straightforward and, despite a few weaknesses, pro- vide solid guidance for a strong K-12 ELA program." California: A "California’s well-sequenced and thorough ELA standards explicitly address all of the essential content that students must master in a rigorous, college- prep K-12 curriculum. With very few exceptions, the standards are clear and concise and exhibit an appropriate level of rigor at each grade. Minor flaws are noted below, but overall these standards are exceptionally strong." Indiana: A "Indiana’s ELA standards are clear, specific, and rigorous, and include nearly all of the critical content expected in a demanding, college-prep curriculum." DC: A "The District of Columbia ELA standards are thoughtful, detailed, and rigor- ous. They delineate concrete and specific objectives in every strand priori- tized in the ELA Content-Specific Criteria (see Appendix A), including those for the study of American literature. The District appends a thorough and strong reading list that was adapted from the list included with the Mas- sachusetts standards; D.C. added Caldecott, King, and Newberry literary award winners. Standards for English language conventions, research, and media are all included in addition to strong standards for reading, writing, and listening and speaking." |
Anonymous
I support Common Core, but agree that the way tests have been rolled out in NY has been hasty, and it appears the tests they are using are excessively long and poorly written. In addition, either NYC or NYS has adopted a hastily written new curriculum that apparently isn't very good either. It would relieve a LOT of pressure on teachers, and therefore on students, to take a year or more off from having these test results count for high stakes decisions (like entrance to competitive programs, graduation, and teacher evaluation.) However, decisions still would need to be made, and it isn't clear what alternative measures are out there that would also be fair. |
Anonymous
Sorry, yes, the post was meant to be satirical. |
Anonymous
Whoops, sorry, I couldn't tell either. That really is sad.
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Anonymous
"Even though CCSS was never piloted".... so what, exactly? Given that certain states are moving from, say, their old Maryland State Standards to the new Common Core State Standards.... this money is going to tracking progress of implementation of the new standards, and especially to look at whether the switch to the new standards means students are reading more challenging texts (I assume is what they mean by "how what students read changes in response to the standards". Let me look that one up: Sorry, all I am finding is the same document that you, PP, cut and pasted from. This sentence is just cut and pasted from someone else's blog, for example:
But I will answer it anyhow. Having common standards across all our states is not the same thing as having a national CURRICULUM. All students, for example, should be able to have mastered the times tables by the end of 3rd grade. But the way they get there: on-line videos? hands on manipulatives? memorizing? skip counting using jump ropes? that is the CURRICULUM and that is NOT mandated by Common Core State Standards. THat's what people mean when they say common core is not a curriculum. If standards are raised.... if kids in high school (or 6th grade) are supposed to be able to create a logical argument, cite relevant details form reputable sources, maintain formal tone in their essays..... will that change the curriculum that they are exposed to? One certainly hopes it will! One expects that curriculum would change, if those hadn't been the standards before. So I'm not sure why it is some kind of big revelation to see that standards WILL drive the curriculum. Yes -- the curriculum itself is NOT what CCSS is about. And if companies like Pearson church out crappy curricula, people will refuse to buy it when they see that the work is not helping children meet the standards. Remember -- prior to Common Core, textbook companies (who really did create our national curriculum, de facto) had to cater to their 2 biggest customers -- Texas and California. So even if a small state like Delaware had a great set of state standards, they had a hard time getting textbooks written to their state's needs. We were all stuck with what CA and TX wanted. |
Anonymous
| And what Texas wanted was creationism. |
Anonymous
Don't even get me started on that. There's a reason the Common Core only talks about standards for math and language arts! We will never EVER be able to have national standards for science and social studies... can you imagine the arguments, if trying to standardize when kids learn the times tables and how to sound out "box" is causing this much uproar? |
Anonymous
| It it's not on the assessment (test) it won't get taught, plain and simple... |
Anonymous
Then how do you explain the science and social studies my kids are getting? The MSAs don't test for that in elementary school. The Common Core tests won't either. |
Anonymous
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I just moved here from NYC. Even before the Common Core we were overwhelmed with test prep. My DD went to test prep on Saturday morning from 9-12 from January until April, at the public elementary school (3rd-5th grade), paid for from the Principal's budget. Classroom time was also taken over by test prep during that time, at the expense of Social Studies and other good stuff. The tests and the grading of the tests were problematic before Common Core. The testing problem is not directly related to the Common Core, but to the fact that kids, teachers, principals and schools are evaluated so heavily by those tests, with very real consequences.
We were there for one year of Common Core implementation and I did not have a problem with it. In fact, I liked it. My then second grader's class was ahead of where my older daughter's class had been in second grade. Importantly, I felt she would be more prepared for Middle School when the time came. My older daughter had some catching up to do when she got to middle school because the elementary and middle school curricula were not aligned before the Common Core. Now that we are here (in VA), I miss the Common Core. I don't have a good sense of whether my middle schooler is keeping up with where she was in NYC. I think she's not. I don't think the VA curriculum is keeping up with the Common Core. She can do more and I think a more ambitious curriculum is entirely appropriate. So, I agree with previous posts that say that testing and the Common Core are separate issues. |