The common core standards have changed the American curriculum implemented in the education system over the past seven years. Common core is a set of academic standards in math and English language, arts, and literacy. The common core standards were created by the National Governors Association Center for best practices and the Council of Chief State School officers. The standards show what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. Before common core, academic standards on what students should be able to accomplish at different grade levels varied in the different states. Common core was created to make sure all students graduate from high school with the same skills necessary to succeed in college and life in general. …show more content…
Professional development for teachers will improve because all of the teachers will be teaching the same standards. When in professional development the teachers will be focused on the same topic, so can devote all of the time to think of the best ways to teach students. The test teachers give through the year will allow teachers to look at how the students have progressed instead of comparing them to other students in the class. The teachers also agree that the common core standards are preparing the students for college. Teachers know implementing these changes can be difficult, “However, many teachers realize that these changes are necessary because research constantly shows many first-year college students are unprepared for undergraduate work and need remediation” (Brooks et al. 254). The standards create a form of consistency for each student, which gives equal opportunity for each student across the United States. A benefit to the standards remaining the same across states is a student can move around America and still expect the same curriculum. Also teachers, parents, and students know what is expected in school due to the standards. Parents are able to keep up with what their child is doing since the parent knows what is expected among every grade. The standards focus on getting a student prepared for college. Common core standards focus on math and English language, arts, and literacy which are all components of the ACT. ACT scores have gone up since the common core standards have been implemented. Common core also covers multiple skills in each question, which will help students think critically more and to learn the problem- solving skills at the same time. Common core keeps students on track with learning at a steady pace. Each student will be learning the same topic in the same format to ensure they have the knowledge to move on to the next grade. States
Since 2010, there were 45 states that have adopted the same educational standards called Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers and seeks to establish consistent education standards across the states. The Common Core Standards is initiative state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English and Mathematical standards. These standards help to educate all of the students equally, they help children who move from state to state, as well as they help to prepare students for college and workplace. The common core standard helps to provide a clear understanding for teachers and parents of what is expected of the students to learn. It is designed to help educate our children for the future; it gives them the knowledge and skill they need to be prepared for post secondary education and employment. "The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world." (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers)
Common Core is a high set of K-12 academic standards in English and mathematics. It was developed in 2010 by Forty-two states, the district of Colombia, four territories, and the department of defense education which have also adopted the common core practices that are supposed to increase the knowledge of an individual. Common Core standards are research and evidence based, aligned with expectation in the future, and use higher order thinking. These standards were set to define what students should know and provide a deeper understanding of the material they are learning. Common Core was also created to ensure that students learn and develop skills that they will benefit from in the future.
Laura Jimenez’s article “The Next Frontier of Education Reform” was a well thought out article about the possibility for a new program called LEAP or LEarning Together to Advance Our Practice to help improve the failing system of improving our public school educators. Jimenez uses accurate data to show the reasons behind the need to reform educator professional development and shows different examples of how this could be accomplished. She largely looks at the DC public school system’s IMPACT and the newly created LEAP projects.
The first problem of the common core started in the beginning. When common core was introduced to schools, some administrators did not have time to think through the pros and cons. This resulted in administrators not considering the best methods and budget distributing for their schools’ benefits. Workers and classrooms were then changed to meet the requirements needed for the common core to take place. Librarians are examples of this because they are losing their jobs due to salary cut backs, having to transfer their jobs to become a teacher to help teach the common core, and some libraries are even being completely shut down for the use of testing areas. The reason for these ev...
The Common Core has been a highly debated educational initiative based in the United States that provides children of all race, religious denomination, and socioeconomic background the same educational path from kindergarten through senior year of high school or the 12th grade. The Common Core provides six standards on its website that serve as its oath. “The standards are: 1. Research- and evidence-based. 2. Clear, understandable, and consistent. 3. Aligned with college and career expectations. 4. Based on rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skills. 5. Built upon the
Common Core is pushing students to think critically by answering questions with more explanation. Students are required back their answer providing evidence for their answers. “The Common Core strives to create a uniform playing field for all kids and an evidence-based, robust learning system in every grade, with the end goal of college and career success in clear and obtainable sight” (How Will the Common Core Standards Affect You Child?, 2014). On a positive note, this is great for the students, but will require corporation from everyone to make it happen. Teachers are required to make their math and literacy lesson plans rigor. “Urged to dig deeper, students will find themselves interacting with subject matter at an enhanced level, allowing for long-term retention of information and an enhanced ability to utilize analytical thinking throughout multiple areas of their lives” (How Will the Common Core Standards Affect You Child?, 2014). Common Core not only affects student learning, but it affects test also. With Common Core, tests will be more challenging and scores are said to drop. “As a measure of accountability, both for students and for schools, testing under the Common Core will be more challenging and for some, might produce temporarily drop scores and possibly the need for summer school” (How Will
The Common Core State Standards are simply learning goals that are outlined for the students. This outline is a way to show the students what they should be able to do at the end of each grade. These learning goals are supposed to “provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them” (Top Ten Things to Know, 2015). These certain standards are also supposed to be designed to be “robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in the near future” (Top Ten Things to Know, 2015). Common Core State Standards were actually being introduced while I was attending
According to the Home School Legal Defense Agencies’ Common Core timeline, “[in] June 1, 2009, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) initiative is launched, and 48 states sign a memorandum committing to the development of standards.” In 2009 and 10, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers organized committees to write Common Core. A special validation committee also met in 2010 to give a final review of the standards. At present, “Forty-two states [and] the District of Columbia...have adopted the Common Core State Standards.” reports the Common Core website. In 2011, two assessment companies wrote national test for the states participating in Common Core. According to Truth in American Education, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and Minnesota never took part in these national tests.
The Common Cores are set of guidelines that each teacher must meet during each school year. These guidelines are met during exams and other types of testing. In Stop The Madness: On “No Child Left Behind” by Diane Ravitch she begins her argument against the NCLB-No Child Left Behind- saying that it worthless for it forces the school to focus only making test requirements instead of students actually getting the main reason why students that go to school, it is to receive knowledge. “One of the unintended consequences of NCLB was the shrinkage of time available to teach anything other than reading and math...Test scores became an obsession” ( Paragraph 7 Ravitch). The “test scores” are wrecking and straying away from true purpose of the schools around the country. The obsession made many educators focus on more test taking skills then the actual knowledge of the subject in order to reach the stranders that the administration have given them . Despite the test scores, the United States are not high rank in math according to the U.S Math Performance in Global Perspective by the Harvard University and Stanford University. In the US itself, the percentage of students that are taking advanced classes are 11.4% in Massachusetts. This is the highest percentage in the US that students are taking high scores. Yes, not every student has the ability to do the
Standardized testing is not the best way to measure how well a teacher teaches or how much a student has learned. Schools throughout the United States put their main focus on standardized tests; these examinations put too much pressure on the teachers and students and cause traumatizing events. Standardized testing puts strain on teachers and students, causing unhealthy occurrences, Common Core is thrown at teachers with no teaching on how to teach the new way, which dampers testing scores for all students, and the American College Test determines whether a child gets into college or not based on what they have learned during high school. Standardized tests are disagreeable; tests should not determine the ranking of people. Standardized testing is believed to be the best way to evaluate how much a child has learned, however most students only score average on the tests.
● The children who were receiving a high quality education before the national curriculum is being used to work out the bends in this new system. If we were going to have national standards, there should have been some effort to design a baseline curriculum to be used in the first design of textbooks and testing materials. But I would guess a mix of things, but mostly political pressure and the threat that standardized testing would use common core as its guide and those tests could affect educational funding.
With a standardized curriculum comes standardized testing. A standardized curriculum limits what students learn. Students master content areas (Cole, Hulley, & Quarles, 2013). Students are not encouraged to go in depth of content knowledge. According to Adler (2013), objectives of the school should be the same for the whole school. To obtain these objectives teachers use lecturing, textbooks, coaching, and supervised practices. Students are not exploring the content beyond what is expected. Teachers are teaching to the test because that is what is expected of them. Students are not growing and exploring with knowledge. Content is watered down and vague for students (Noddings, 2013).
Through the support of the professional development program, the effectiveness of the teachers enhances the quality of instruction and increases the student achievement and learning. The delivery of professional development program leads to alterations in professional learning, leading to changes in professional practice, which ultimately impact student achievement.
Another factor considered in this study is the professional development of teachers. Professional development of teachers is a strong factor that enhances teachers’ knowledge and learning. A number of studies have reflected that the said factor is imperative to a positive change of every individual that seeks development professionally.
Professional development is critical to success in a teacher’s career. Teachers need to be open to continuing their education and consistently reflecting on lessons and interactions with students. At the expert stage of teaching, “the teacher’s practice is characterized by fluency, automaticity, and efficiency” (Garmston, 1998). In order to achieve this level of teaching practice, the educator must continue to learn new teaching strategies, understand the curriculum, recognize students and their differences, and conduct self-reflections. A teacher who is dedicated to professional development and wanting to improve their teaching, will make a stronger impact on students.