Negative Effects Of The Common Core

Morgan Williams

Professor Stallcup

VTMA 111-L

28 October 2014

The Positive Effects of the Common Core’s Mathematics on American Students 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 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

He thinks the Common Core will allow those activities to again see the light of day. That’s because the Common Core State Standards are just that — standards and not a prescribed curriculum. They may tell educators what students should be able to do by the end of a grade or course, but it’s up to the educators to figure out how to deliver the instruction.” (Long) Long also speaks about how the Common Core allows teachers to divulge into the roots of lessons and promote thinking outside the box in everyday lessons. (Long) Long provides an example of Kathy Powers, a fifth and sixth grade English teacher from Conway, Arkansas who starts her lesson with the assigned reading of Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” a poem about the death of Abraham Lincoln. (Long) Powers is then able to audible to a discussion of the history of the death of Abraham Lincoln where she teaches about the events leading up to Lincoln’s assassination including the Gettysburg Address at the Battle of Gettysburg as well as the remainder of the Civil War and the events after his death