Common Core Standards Scorecard: Updates from the Field

The Common Core Curriculum standard is a touchy subject across the country. While most states have adopted this set of standards, there are many who are still questioning this route of education.

 Education is supposed to be a building block process; starting children out on a concept they can learn and build on as the years progress.  When a concept is taught too early, the child will struggle in mastering it. To wait in later years to teach a concept which was taught in earlier grades in the past to make learning easier for children will not only hurt them in the long run, but they will come to expect everything in life to be made easy for them.

 Children are individual beings, they all do not learn the same way. Because of this, comparing them with others and grouping together certain learning levels does not benefit the students. It will only hinder their learning. Students need to want to learn and by making learning fun, a student can succeed.

 Children need to be taught to think for themselves on a matter. Using new methods of teaching a concept may work to simplify the process, but does it really help? A new method in teaching math is the Lattice Method. This method takes a simple math process and turns it into a more long drawn out feat. This method is a process that a parent cannot help their child when doing math homework if they do not know how to work the method.  This makes the child depend on the teacher and not the parent; for many parents this is not a good thing.

 Common Core is also putting more focus on the process and not the correct answer.  Students do need to know how they come up with an answer, but they also need to know the correct answer. This is another hindrance with the standards of Common Core. Will a young person succeed in college and the workforce by only knowing how they got the answer even if it is wrong? No, although the Common Core guidelines state it was created to help students succeed in the global economy, not the local economy where they will be living and working.

We read everyday no matter what our position is. In the past, reading was taught so a student would comprehend. This means, a student would read at a comfortable pace so they could comprehend what they read. Now days, students are being taught to read for speed and because of speed, comprehension is being tossed out the window.

 Are Common Core standards working? It is really too soon to tell; although, recent testing shows a decline in scores for several states. The state of Kentucky showed a drastic drop in scores for the 2011-2012 school year. The scores did go up a little for the 2012-2013 year, but did not go up as expected. Does this mean the C3 standards are not working? Not necessarily.  The scores do show changes in the curriculum are being made and methods of teaching are changing.

 Excellent teachers who have been teaching for many years are now changing the way they teach to accommodate the Common Core standards. With these changes, the teacher is not given a method of teaching, only what the end result should be. Allowing the federal government to dictate what is taught in the local schools may not be a good thing. When the state gives up the freedom of what is being taught in their schools, they are giving up the freedom of customization for their students.  

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