Common Core's epic fail: Special Education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up, our school system had trade schools. One taught upholstery. Anyone priced upholsterers lately?

But without the high school diploma -- which you don't need to be an upholsterer -- you can't even start training.

That's the problem with the one sized fits all Common Core.

Which Common Core standard says that students are not allowed to receive a diploma unless they meet all of the standards?

[Anonymous]

Are there going to be any cutoff for grade level promotion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PARCC and Smarter Balanced say they fully plan on 50 to 70 percent of ALL children failing these tests. Many -- maybe most -- children will fail them every year. In many states you must pass these tests to move forward or graduate.

What will we do with 70 percent or even 50 percent of a population with no high school diploma, which is now required for even places like Walmart? And forget about cosmetology school.

There are long-range, severe consequences to saying everyone must be "college ready" and making a high school diploma have college-ready standards.

Where do they say this?

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/11/17/13sbac.h34.html

Cutoff Scores Set for Common-Core Tests
By Catherine Gewertz

In a move likely to cause political and academic stress in many states, a consortium that is designing assessments for the Common Core State Standards released data Monday projecting that more than half of students will fall short of the marks that connote grade-level skills on its tests of English/language arts and mathematics.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test has four achievement categories. Students must score at Level 3 or higher to be considered proficient in the skills and knowledge for their grades. According to cut scores approved Friday night by the 22-state consortium, 41 percent of 11th graders ...

“Because the new content standards set higher expectations for students and the new tests are designed to assess student performance against those higher standards, the bar has been raised. It’s not surprising that fewer students could score at Level 3 or higher. However, over time the performance of students will improve,” said Willhoft.

http://www.edweek.org/media/achievement-levels-and-scale-scores-final.pdf

The counter-argument seems to be that the Common Core standards are bad because many students are currently unable to meet them. But it's the fact that many students are currently unable to meet the standards that's the problem, not the standards themselves.

Here is a third-grade math standard:

CCSS.Math.Content.3.NBT.A.1
Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.

If lots of third-graders are currently unable to meet this standard, should we throw out the standard? Or should we improve math education, so that in the future, most third-graders will be able to meet this standard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there going to be any cutoff for grade level promotion?

That is a decision for the states and the local school districts.

[Anonymous]

http://stopcommoncoreillinois.org/2014/10/16/common-core-tests-tied-to-graduation-in-some-states-stopcommoncore-ccss/

Common Core Tests Tied to Graduation in Some States
Posted on October 16, 2014 by ilpatriot

Note: The Illinois School Code state that beginning no later than 2017-18, Illinois students who are not assessed for ‘college and career readiness’ (a.k.a. common core) will not receive a H.S. diploma.

Christian Science Monitor -

States trying to give teeth to the Common Core by tying new tests to graduation requirements are bumping up against resistance.

Forty-three states are currently signed on to the Common Core State Standards, a voluntary system designed to ensure that high school graduates are prepared for college. New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington are among a smaller number starting to link graduation requirements to the new and more challenging Common Core testing systems.

In all, 24 states currently have “exit exams” that students have to pass to get their high school diploma (though alternatives are available for certain situations). At least 10 states may use new Common Core tests in the coming years for graduation requirements, according to a report by New America, a public policy foundation in Washington.

The challenges being encountered by New Jersey, Maryland, and others point to potential speed bumps along the way.

“Common Core tests are not ready for prime time,” says Robert Schaeffer, public education director for FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing in Boston.

[Anonymous]

So: the Common Core standards are bad because Illinois has decided to link test results to high school graduation?

In that case, the standards that Maryland had before adopting the Common Core standards must also be bad, because Maryland linked test results for those standards to high school graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So: the Common Core standards are bad because Illinois has decided to link test results to high school graduation?

In that case, the standards that Maryland had before adopting the Common Core standards must also be bad, because Maryland linked test results for those standards to high school graduation.

^^^and Virginia's standards are also bad -- and Virginia didn't even adopt the Common Core standards. However, I'm sure there's a way to blame the Common Core standards for that, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So: the Common Core standards are bad because Illinois has decided to link test results to high school graduation?

In that case, the standards that Maryland had before adopting the Common Core standards must also be bad, because Maryland linked test results for those standards to high school graduation.

It's idiotic to link standards that you haven even used to graduation, yes. It's even more idiotic to set your cut scores arbitrarily so 70 percent of students fail.

If 70 percent of students are failing, you are teaching the wrong things in the wrong way, or testing the wrong things in the wrong way, or both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PARCC and Smarter Balanced say they fully plan on 50 to 70 percent of ALL children failing these tests. Many -- maybe most -- children will fail them every year. In many states you must pass these tests to move forward or graduate.

What will we do with 70 percent or even 50 percent of a population with no high school diploma, which is now required for even places like Walmart? And forget about cosmetology school.

There are long-range, severe consequences to saying everyone must be "college ready" and making a high school diploma have college-ready standards.

Where do they say this?

If PARCC and Smarter Balanced end up with large numbers of kids failing, that speaks to how sucky PRIOR curriculum and standards were, and makes the case for why CC is needed.

What? Why? The answer is simple: CC is NEW, remember?

How can you blame CC for a high school student failing PARCC if he's only had CC for a year or two? The 8+ years prior to CC would be a far bigger contributor to his miseducation than CC is.

[Anonymous]

How can you blame CC for a high school student failing PARCC if he's only had CC for a year or two? The 8+ years prior to CC would be a far bigger contributor to his miseducation than CC is.

Because the standards are not going to make things better. Not now, and not eight years from now. More poor planning on the part of CC development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://stopcommoncoreillinois.org/2014/10/16/common-core-tests-tied-to-graduation-in-some-states-stopcommoncore-ccss/

Common Core Tests Tied to Graduation in Some States
Posted on October 16, 2014 by ilpatriot

Note: The Illinois School Code state that beginning no later than 2017-18, Illinois students who are not assessed for ‘college and career readiness’ (a.k.a. common core) will not receive a H.S. diploma.

Christian Science Monitor -

States trying to give teeth to the Common Core by tying new tests to graduation requirements are bumping up against resistance.

Forty-three states are currently signed on to the Common Core State Standards, a voluntary system designed to ensure that high school graduates are prepared for college. New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington are among a smaller number starting to link graduation requirements to the new and more challenging Common Core testing systems.

In all, 24 states currently have “exit exams” that students have to pass to get their high school diploma (though alternatives are available for certain situations). At least 10 states may use new Common Core tests in the coming years for graduation requirements, according to a report by New America, a public policy foundation in Washington.

The challenges being encountered by New Jersey, Maryland, and others point to potential speed bumps along the way.

“Common Core tests are not ready for prime time,” says Robert Schaeffer, public education director for FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing in Boston.

That's not saying there is a problem with Common Core, that says there's a problem with the tests. Common Core does not design the tests, does not write the test questions, does not grade the tests. If PARCC has problems, fix PARCC. That's separate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

How can you blame CC for a high school student failing PARCC if he's only had CC for a year or two? The 8+ years prior to CC would be a far bigger contributor to his miseducation than CC is.

Because the standards are not going to make things better. Not now, and not eight years from now. More poor planning on the part of CC development.

That's just your opinion, and you have no factual basis for saying it. Meanwhile, there are plenty of examples of just how bad schools can be WITHOUT standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So: the Common Core standards are bad because Illinois has decided to link test results to high school graduation?

In that case, the standards that Maryland had before adopting the Common Core standards must also be bad, because Maryland linked test results for those standards to high school graduation.

It's idiotic to link standards that you haven even used to graduation, yes. It's even more idiotic to set your cut scores arbitrarily so 70 percent of students fail.

If 70 percent of students are failing, you are teaching the wrong things in the wrong way, or testing the wrong things in the wrong way, or both.

Exactly. You are teaching the wrong things in the wrong way! That's exactly it. And as people begin to teach the right things in the right way, more students will be able to do the things they should be able to do (which is good), and more students will score at proficient or higher on the tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

How can you blame CC for a high school student failing PARCC if he's only had CC for a year or two? The 8+ years prior to CC would be a far bigger contributor to his miseducation than CC is.

Because the standards are not going to make things better. Not now, and not eight years from now. More poor planning on the part of CC development.

Another crystal ball heard from.

[Anonymous]

And as people begin to teach the right things in the right way, more students will be able to do the things they should be able to do (which is good), and more students will score at proficient or higher on the tests.

LOL!