What most teachers struggle with most is not rowdy children or angry parents. The biggest issue is Common Core which is legislation that creates standards for students and teachers made by people in Washington D.C. with no experience in the field of education. In fact, these individuals not only set standards for schools that are not doing well, but force schools that are doing well to adhere to standards that come from men in suits, not teachers or educators. The Cold War is the reason that Common Core exists because the United States and the Soviet Union fought with education, technological advancement, and scientific achievement. This was exemplified in the Space Race and Spencer Gregg, a well renowned Historian who wrote “Crisis in Education—The …show more content…
In practice, when done by Washington politicians who know nothing about education, these standards are awful. Common Core boasts terrible standards and forces itself on districts that are failing, which is not really the worst thing since those districts usually cannot get any worse. Districts that are good and preforming above national levels are also subject to the same standards. Common Core is not for everyone. Medicine is not for everyone. At this point, educators and the people that care about students instead of mere test scores should be the ones setting and regulating standards. Teachers that care will get those test scores. Schools that do not meet the standard should be regulated and evaluated, but not the healthy schools that preform above and beyond the national standard. It would be helpful to diagnose the issue instead of pretending that the problem is solved when it is not. The Common Core standards creates more problems than it can even begin to solve and fails to diagnose any real issue. The future is bright for students and that future needs to be protected from Washington politicians at all costs. As a teacher, I will see to it that I not only meet standards, but overcome them and outshine them. Then, perhaps Common Core will leave the district that I teach in alone and reconsider the atrocity that Common Core
In “The Teacher Wars”, by Helen Goldstein, the book focuses on the historical implications of school policy and how it affects teachers. The author goes into depth with everything from the rise of female teachers to the rise of technology in today’s teachers. As Goldstein argues teachers have an incredible ability to be able to widen equality, yet can also narrow the achievement gap that is created from birth. Her showcase of the constant strife against teachers throughout the ages gives way to multiple ways politics and decisions affect the achievement gap.
Teachers themselves are often left to make the best of what little they have to work with. A narrow curriculum with little for scholars to decide themselves leaves them feeling like completing cookie-cutter worksheets is boring and pointless. Over time, students begin to hold educators with contempt and become disgusted by school and the tedious, rote labor that comes with it. With no enthusiasm, defeated students scores plummet and the faculty in turn can develop a bad attitude about students. The worst part is this combination produces a negative loop that often only spirals further downward.
the reason why they are learning something, then they will get a greater sense of the
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.
Regarding academic standards, more than six out of 10 said the expectations for what students should learn is important to school improvement. But a majority - 54 percent - is opposed to the Common Core State Standards, the K-12 academic benchmarks adopted by 43 states and the District of Columbia that have been under fire by critics on the left and right.
Common core is not a new method. America has set standards since at least the 1950’s and many schools have since then implemented a curriculum supporting this ideal. These standards in language arts and mathematics are supposed to help the nation prepare students for college and their future careers. The effects of common core, both positive and negative, lead to the debate on whether or not it should still be implemented in schools today, but thanks to federal funding it has made it hard to get rid of the program. It is because of this that the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal has decided to sue the federal government for violating the 10th amendment. Although many can agree that having standardized goals gives both the students and staff
(Common Core State Standards Initiative) Many find flaws in the system such as Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post. Strauss points out in her article Eight Problems With Common Core Standards that the standards set by the Common Core should not be limited to school subjects, but should step outside the box and tie in real world scenarios. (Strauss) Strauss also says the lack of diversity in the curriculum puts students at a disadvantage because of the changing world around teachers should not be limited to teaching information provided by an initiative that makes students from all over the nation learn the same material. (Strauss) Strauss is especially skeptical of the Common Core’s preparation for standardized test as she says, “The Common Core Standards are a set-up for national standardized tests, tests that can’t evaluate complex thought, can’t avoid cultural bias, can’t measure non-verbal learning, can’t predict anything of consequence.” (Strauss) Strauss explains how the Common Core destroys any form of originality by stating; “The word “standards” gets an approving nod from the public (and from most educators) because it means “performance that meets a standard.” However, the word also means “like everybody else,” and standardizing minds is what the Standards
“To ensure all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards establish clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English language arts from kindergarten through 12th grade” (What Parents Should Know, n.d.). Children are entering a world that is requiring more and more than before. Society is changing meaning education must change to keep up with society. “The standards were drafted by experts and teachers from across the country and are designed to ensure students are prepared for today’s entry-level careers, freshman-level college courses, and workforce training programs” (What Parents Should Know, n.d.). The focus is to allow students to think critically and be able to problem solve; skills needed in life. The Common Core State Standards are also providing ways for teachers to track each student’s progress as they grow and learn throughout the year. Common Core has many good qualities, but nothing is perfect. There will always be issues no matter the
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
Kozol perceives a war waging between teachers and the public school system (Kozol, 3). Teachers are trapped victims confined to the two purposes public school is attempting to accomplish. Those two goals include “class stratification and political indoctrination” (Kozol, 7). He believes that students should be aware of what is really being taught so they can react accordingly (Kozol, 9).
● 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.
In his piece titled Idiot Nation, Michael Moore depicts many faults of the American education system. One quote that caught my attention was “teachers are politician’s favorite punching bags” (pg. 160). Teachers in the public school system are grouped together as the number one predicament when it comes to America’s lack of worldly knowledge. He goes on to discuss the much more egregious and omnipresent issues. I enjoyed Moore’s counter arguments, because I have always disagreed with this myth without knowing the actual problems in our schools.
Education is an amazing opportunity, no matter how one receives it. Since the beginning of the public-school system, homeschooling had become a dwindling sight, until the last 20 years or so. The stigma surrounding homeschooling is one that paints parents as intolerant and children as awkward and anti-social. Many are skeptic about homeschooling and want their children to experience life outside of the home through public or private school. While this is completely understandable, could homeschooling offer a better education and more future success than public schooling? Homeschooling produces better test scores and is more academically effective than public schooling.
Schools exist to produce well educated youth that society will benefit from. From personal experience, ill-informed adults make for an unstable, rotten community. Schools hold a big responsibility. They should create a safe haven for students that creates a love for learning, and then also nurtures that same admiration for learning. Schools that students don’t feel safe in usually house students that aren’t interested in subjects that are being taught. They should maintain a well-educated faculty who is all passionate about what they do. If there is a lazy faculty, it will influence the students to become lazy. Schools need to produce the change that this world needs- well rounded, creative, knowledgeable individuals. An effective school in today’s society would have a strong basis on the common core, but make it so that the information is fun to learn. From experience, once the information fun to learn, the rest goes by
Learning occurs when each child is developmentally ready, and this happens at a different pace for each individual child. I experience this daily in my Kindergarten classroom. Although a lot has changed in education over the course of my career, I try to focus on the constant that each of my students can learn on any given day and that I must challenge all of my students to reach his or her potential. This is my school’s motto, and we recite it daily. Education has faced many challenges over the years with politics, the economy, students’ culture, and legal issues. Politics does play a crucial role in education. Different school systems and population areas receive more or less government funding. Educational dollars can play a key role in a school system receiving the latest technology, updated facilities, educational funds for teachers, and curriculum needs. I have been able to experience this for myself by transferring schools from the city to the county school district. The social aspect of learning affects children in different ways also. Different cultures of schools are negatively and positively affected as well. Having taught in an inner-city school for 9 years, I was able to witness firsthand the downfalls and negative effects that come into play for students who come