Why are people so upset about Common Core?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Lastly, are you saying that the NY teachers and administrators are too stupid to realize that they are not dealing with CC? If so, then I trust you are starting a movement to oust them, correct, because they should not be educating kids.

They are protesting the curriculum that is on engageny, the "new curriculum". They are not making the distinction publicly that this is the New York State curriculum, when they protest this "new curriculum" and everyone is calling it Common Core. It is based on Common Core but has been enhanced tremendously.

People in MD should not look at New York State and think that their curriculum, is our curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diane Ravitch and Jonathan Turley "black helicopterists"? I don't think so.

Turley quoted Ravitch saying "They (CC standards) were developed by an organization called Achieve and the National Governors Association, both of which were generously funded by the Gates Foundation. There was minimal public engagement in the development of the Common Core. Their creation was neither grassroots nor did it emanate from the states."

from: http://jonathanturley.org/2013/11/24/rotten-to-the-common-core-on-the-subject-of-education-standards-arne-duncan-white-suburban-momsand-badss-teachers/

Obviously, there are many, many grey areas to CC, particularly its emphasis on testing and teaching to the test. Nuanced debate should go beyond ad hominem attacks.

The standards are fine. People started misinterpreting them because they are idiots. For example, there's a requirement in high school that something like 70% of what kids read be non-fiction. So English teachers started FREAKING OUT that they would be forced to teach non-fiction and not have any time for Shakespeare. But, no. The requirement means that high school kids need to read, and write, more in classes of History, Biology, Chemistry, and even tech classes. They need to do research in those areas, and write about those areas -- research reports, articles, etc. That will easily get them up to the 70% requirement.

[Anonymous]

I've seen some grousing about Common Core from friends on FB. They seem to feel it's federal over reach. Specifically, they blame Obama. What else is new.

[Anonymous]

The requirement means that high school kids need to read, and write, more in classes of History, Biology, Chemistry, and even tech classes. They need to do research in those areas, and write about those areas -- research reports, articles, etc. That will easily get them up to the 70% requirement.

If the chemistry teacher has to review so much writing, when are they going to teach balancing equations? Will they skip experiments in favor of papers?

[Anonymous]

In Montgomery County, Curriculum 2.0 is a disaster. Its not the conservatives protesting Common Core, its the educated parents protesting MCPS's mess. Lower standards, ended math acceleration, kids were knocked back 1-2 years in math, preschools cover more than 2nd grade now, lower reading levels, useless grade card where everyone gets a P, no more unit tests, no more homework.

My favorite is that in math you have to write essays about how you used the stupid strategy. They didn't integrate anything, they replaced math with writing assignments.

It really sucks and MCPS blames it on the Common Core which isn't fair to common core. If other counties and states screw up as badly as MCPS did then Common Core is doomed which is too bad. In theory, it makes a lot of sense. In practice, the school systems screwed it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Montgomery County, Curriculum 2.0 is a disaster. Its not the conservatives protesting Common Core, its the educated parents protesting MCPS's mess. Lower standards, ended math acceleration, kids were knocked back 1-2 years in math, preschools cover more than 2nd grade now, lower reading levels, useless grade card where everyone gets a P, no more unit tests, no more homework.

My favorite is that in math you have to write essays about how you used the stupid strategy. They didn't integrate anything, they replaced math with writing assignments.

It really sucks and MCPS blames it on the Common Core which isn't fair to common core. If other counties and states screw up as badly as MCPS did then Common Core is doomed which is too bad. In theory, it makes a lot of sense. In practice, the school systems screwed it up.

This is what confuses me! I started a thread in the MD forum about Common Core vs. 2.0. The reaction to CC seems to vary and I can't tell how much of it is really an adverse reaction to the specific curriculum vs. the standards. For instance, many on this board say 2.0 dumbs things down too much, but people in other districts/states complain that the implementation of CC curriculum is too hard!

[Anonymous]

This is what confuses me! I started a thread in the MD forum about Common Core vs. 2.0. The reaction to CC seems to vary and I can't tell how much of it is really an adverse reaction to the specific curriculum vs. the standards. For instance, many on this board say 2.0 dumbs things down too much, but people in other districts/states complain that the implementation of CC curriculum is too hard!

Bingo! It is too demanding for some--the kids who need basic building blocks will be pushed too fast and those who are bright will be held to standards that are too low. Education is not "one size fits all".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Montgomery County, Curriculum 2.0 is a disaster. Its not the conservatives protesting Common Core, its the educated parents protesting MCPS's mess. Lower standards, ended math acceleration, kids were knocked back 1-2 years in math, preschools cover more than 2nd grade now, lower reading levels, useless grade card where everyone gets a P, no more unit tests, no more homework.

My favorite is that in math you have to write essays about how you used the stupid strategy. They didn't integrate anything, they replaced math with writing assignments.

It really sucks and MCPS blames it on the Common Core which isn't fair to common core. If other counties and states screw up as badly as MCPS did then Common Core is doomed which is too bad. In theory, it makes a lot of sense. In practice, the school systems screwed it up.

This is what confuses me! I started a thread in the MD forum about Common Core vs. 2.0. The reaction to CC seems to vary and I can't tell how much of it is really an adverse reaction to the specific curriculum vs. the standards. For instance, many on this board say 2.0 dumbs things down too much, but people in other districts/states complain that the implementation of CC curriculum is too hard!

There are some valid criticisms of Curriculum 2.0. And there is a lot of complaining, including by (though not limited to) entitled parents who think that MCPS should exist to serve their child's needs and parents who blame everything they don't like in their child's schooling on Curriculum 2.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is what confuses me! I started a thread in the MD forum about Common Core vs. 2.0. The reaction to CC seems to vary and I can't tell how much of it is really an adverse reaction to the specific curriculum vs. the standards. For instance, many on this board say 2.0 dumbs things down too much, but people in other districts/states complain that the implementation of CC curriculum is too hard!

Bingo! It is too demanding for some--the kids who need basic building blocks will be pushed too fast and those who are bright will be held to standards that are too low. Education is not "one size fits all".

Then your problem is not with the Common Core standards. Your problem is with the idea of standards, period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The requirement means that high school kids need to read, and write, more in classes of History, Biology, Chemistry, and even tech classes. They need to do research in those areas, and write about those areas -- research reports, articles, etc. That will easily get them up to the 70% requirement.

If the chemistry teacher has to review so much writing, when are they going to teach balancing equations? Will they skip experiments in favor of papers?

Chemistry teachers have always assigned lab reports, and chapters from the text book. The Common Core simply requires that they be thoughtful about their expectations for reading and writing during those assignments, and that their expectations are aligned with what is expected in other classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they do the math quizzes...but they aren't teaching the math facts in school. And they use crazy strategies to explain the concept, and the strategies are confusing many kids. Just because your kid knows his times tables doesn't mean that his classmates do. It's a real issue the schools are grappling with.

We learned our times tables in second grade. Drilled into us at school (not at kumon or with a tutor).

They are in Arlington. My kids in ASF have to 'show their work'. They have to have a grasp of math and learn to approach problems in a multitude of different ways, ways I never had to as a kid. We merely were taught 'carry the 1', memorize this table, etc. they start young exploring math deeply. I have the opposite experience from what you state.

Virginia didn't take on Common Core.

[Anonymous]

Why change SAT and ACT? Given the developer of CC is also rewriting these tests, what are the implications for private schools who aren't required to follow CC regarding the college boards? What format will the college board questions now take?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is what confuses me! I started a thread in the MD forum about Common Core vs. 2.0. The reaction to CC seems to vary and I can't tell how much of it is really an adverse reaction to the specific curriculum vs. the standards. For instance, many on this board say 2.0 dumbs things down too much, but people in other districts/states complain that the implementation of CC curriculum is too hard!

Bingo! It is too demanding for some--the kids who need basic building blocks will be pushed too fast and those who are bright will be held to standards that are too low. Education is not "one size fits all".

Yeah but what do you do- make a different standard for every child? I would love to see a study on how perceptions differ by geography. I have a hunch that there are patterns independent of children's unique learning styles. Because states have been doing things so differently up until now, it's totally easy to believe that what is generally considered too hard in one state is too easy in another, and yet just fine in yet another.

[Anonymous]

People started misinterpreting them because they are idiots.

Yes, this is what we want. People calling other people names because they disagree about something. If this is Common Core, then count me out.

[Anonymous]

Then your problem is not with the Common Core standards. Your problem is with the idea of standards, period.

You may be correct. All the money is tied to testing the standards. I am against that. I'm fine with goals.