Common Core Standards-A disaster in the making
Common
Core Standards-A disaster in the making
By
Rog Lucido
Horace (Rog) Lucido, now retired, taught high school physics
and mathematics for over thirty-eight years as well as being both a university
mentor and master teacher. He is the California Central Valley coordinator for
the Assessment Reform Network and cofounder of Educators and Parents
Against Testing Abuse (EPATA).
He is the author of two books: Test, Grade and Score: Never More, 1993, and Educational
Genocide: A Plague on our Children, 2010. He has written numerous articles on the impact of
high-stakes testing as well as presenting workshops on Forgiving Learning.
It seems like education is on a never
ending quest to be ‘reformed’. The current trend began with the successful
USSR’s orbiting of Sputnik on October 4, 1957 and reached a crescendo in 1983
with the publication of ‘A Nation at Risk’. This flawed report spoke of a
‘rising level of mediocrity’ in our schools when in fact the evidence it cited
was greatly skewed towards that desired outcome. (http://www.edutopia.org/landmark-education-report-nation-risk
Engendering public fear, the
message continues today: ‘American
students are behind those of many countries. Our dominance of military and
economic strength is on the decline. We are losing our competitiveness.’
The root cause of this false conclusion was laid at the feet of our schools by
the US corporate world. But when viewed from an international perspective our perceived
‘plight’ was due in fact not to schools but to American business and political
failings.
The World Economic Forum researchers have concluded that the U.S.
economic competitiveness has weaknesses. The report reads that the “weaknesses
include the business communities' criticism of the public and private
institutions, that there is a great lack of trust in politicians, and a lack of
a strong relationships between government and business. And the U.S. debt
continues to grow.” According to the World Economic Forum, student test scores
on international tests in reading, mathematics and science were not even
mentioned as connected to the weakening of the U.S.'s ability to compete.
Period. (World
Economic Forum Report, 2011/12 http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GCR_Report_2011-12.pdf ). Further, from renowned researcher Christopher H. Tienken in RANKINGS OF
INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TEST PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH: CORRELATION
OR CONJECTURE? he states, “In the case of the United States, the data does not
support the claim that a correlation exists between performance on
international tests of mathematics and science and economic strength as
measured by the Global Competitive Index.” http://journals.sfu.ca/ijepl/index.php/ijepl/article/view/110/44
With many
studies demonstrating that 80 to 90 percent of student achievement is due to
factors outside of school, how can we consider changes in our schooling as the
solution to our economic problems? Based
on the principle that schools were the culprit, over the last thirteen years Congress
and the 2001 administration charged ahead with a ‘plan’ that was thought to fix
all of this. The plan’s fundamental paradigm was for each state to create a set
of educational standards, ask educators to teach to those standards, test
student mastery of those standards, report their results back to the US
Department of Education, and determine if each state is progressing at a
predetermined rate that would culminate in 2014 with all students being
proficient in Mathematics and English Language Arts.
This ‘plan’ was
the genesis of today’s high-stakes testing culture. They are called-high stakes
tests because the scores are then used to judge students, teachers, schools,
districts and states. These scores are not a valid way to make educational
decisions.( see Educational Genocide- A
Plague on our Children http://www.amazon.com/Educational-Genocide-Plague-Our-Children/dp/1607097184/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365025395&sr=1-1 ) If schools did not make adequate
yearly progress on student proficiency percentages they were met with varying
degrees of sanctions. Districts, schools and teachers came under more and more
restrictive and proscriptive mandates or their schools were reconstituted with
new administrators and teachers with state ‘take-over’ as the ultimate
punishment.
This ‘plan’-
never tested for its effectiveness before enactment- was the 2001 No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB). The results are now evident: academic stagnation. It did not work. Recent attempts at NCLB
revival include waivers directed at states and districts escaping the law’s
harsh sanctions as well as stimulation with the ‘Race to the Top’ funding program.
Both of these are hinged on states accepting a set of national education standards
called the ‘Common Core Standards’ along with national testing to follow. Once
again this new ‘plan’ was never piloted and has no evidence of success.
The Common
Core Standards were developed by a collusion of the National
Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers with
primary funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other business and
special interests. So,
here we are again trying to solve an ill-defined business problem with an untested
school solution, neither of which comes from educators. Common Core was not ‘state-led’ as
many were led to believe. It is corporate centered not student centered.
Emmett
Mc Groarty, executive director of American Principles in Action said that states
were "herded" into adopting the standards with no time to deliberate
on their worth. He called the standards ‘mediocre’ and costly to implement.
Former Texas state commissioner Robert Scott stated, “And
it was about control totality from some education reform groups who candidly
admit their real goal here is to create a national marketplace for education
products and services.”
The
US Department of Education (USDOE) is forbidden by law from creating a national
curriculum. Curriculum is a states’ right. USDOE got around this by making
acceptance of a national set of standards the critical criteria for states
applying for millions of dollars in both Race to the Top funding and NCLB
waiver requirements. Essentially saying, “Accept these standards or else you
will not qualify.” On top of this legal chicanery, these standards are not all
they are cracked up to be. By just evaluating two states standards The Pioneer Institute found:
‘Our analysis of Common Core’s mathematics and ELA
standards, and the evidence we provide, do not support the conclusion drawn by
many other reviewers that Common Core’s standards provide a stronger and more
challenging framework for the mathematics and English language arts curriculum
than (or an equally as challenging framework as) California’s and
Massachusetts’ standards have provided. Common Core’s standards will not
prepare more high school students for authentic college-level work than
standards in these states have prepared. To the contrary, they may lead to
fewer high school students prepared for authentic college-level work. We offer
these recommendations to states that are adopting Common Core’s standards.’
Not only are California’s current standards
considered the best in the nation by the Fordham Foundation and the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research
but they are on par with those of the most respected educational systems in the
world. In testimony about the Common Core,
R. James Migram, Ph.D. emeritus professor of
mathematics at Stanford University,
stated, “Also among these difficulties are that a large number of
the arithmetic and operations, as well as the place value standards are one,
two or even more years behind the corresponding standards for many if not all
the high achieving countries.”
Of what value is there for all the
states in the US to have the same standards? Student mobility between states is
between 1 and 3 percent-hardly a reason to have common standards. It would seem
to follow that those states with a 'better' set of common standards would be
more financially competitive than any other state. If you look at the top ten
'competitive' states http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2011/may/comp-awards.cfm and examine the criteria on which
their 'competitiveness' is based (bottom of page), you will not see even a
reference to any educational attainments by their students, k-12 nor
university!
Why would we then think
that if the US had a common set of standards, i.e. ‘common core’, across all of
our states that this would be the hallmark which would raise our status in
comparison with other countries in our passion to be ‘globally competitive’? As
far as global competitiveness is concerned, having a set of national standards
does not make one country any more successful than any other. As an example, in
California alone we have over 1000 school districts and each one of them has
used California’s world class standards for over 10 years. Yet even with this
commonality and quality, California has not distinguished itself above every
other of the 50 states-each of which has their own set of state standards. If
you consider each California school ‘district’ as a state, even having common
high quality standards is not the solution to improving student learning. “The quality of standards has not
mattered. From 2003 to 2009, states with terrific standards raised their
National Assessment of Educational Progress scores by roughly the same margin
as states with awful ones.”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/04/18/28loveless_ep.h31.html
There are 46 states that had
originally accepted the common core standards and the associated testing to
follow. But as of March 3 of this year there are thirteen of these states in
various stages of rescinding their original approval. https://www.box.com/s/0jcz6zo5otf0ojtfe3tu . Each
state has its own reasons. Some are based on principles such as:
-The common core is an
infringement on states’ rights.
-States were pressured into
signing on without time to consider all ramifications.
-There is no
evidence that these national standards will improve student learning.
Some reasons are based on enormous
taxpayer costs. These new standards would require new textbooks, ancillary
materials, ongoing teacher training time and the expensive salaries of outside
consultants. And as if this is not costly enough, the testing alone is being
developed using an online format where students will be tested while sitting at
a computer. Districts will be required to take on the cost of upgrading schools’
computer and network capabilities to handle the testing. In California alone Education Reporter states that ‘The California Department of Education estimates that
Common Core will cost the state about $760 million. Outside estimates place
California's fiscal commitment at up to $1.6 billion. California already
expects a $3 billion deficit at the end of fiscal year 2011, and a $10 billion
deficit in 2012-13. In addition, General Fund revenues for 2011-12 are lower
than expected, triggering a $2 billion cut to state programs beginning in
January. "Adding up to a billion-and-a-half-dollar expenditure to implement
national standards under these circumstances is fiscal madness," said
Lance Izumi, senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research
Institute.’ http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/2012/jan12/common-core-standards.html
When you now include the
costs encumbered by each of the other 45 states that accept these standards as
well as adding to this the amount of our tax dollars the USDOE is using to
bankroll the development of the national tests, this now becomes a
multi-billion dollar enterprise. This is a dead end street.
What business would invest
in a product to sell unless it had been thoroughly tested to operate and
produce the desired outcome? Yet, the corporate world is willing promote this
Common Core effort with no evidence of its effectiveness for the students,
themselves or the country. Why would they do this unless, in the process of the
Common Core development, distribution and use they would be able to garner
great profits with little risk? The vast majority of the capital necessary to implement
the Common Core forward is coming from our state and national taxes not their
coffers. Our billions in education tax dollars are up for grabs. New text
books, ancillary materials, district/state pre-testing development to prepare
for the national tests, teacher training and consulting services and more are
the costs we will bear.
Californian’s need to become
aware that all of this time, energy, and resources our schools will invest is
coming from our classrooms and will provide no benefit to our students. Do not
look for improved student engagement and learning. It will not happen.
Let these state officials know
your thoughts and feelings about the Common Core Standards:
The Honorable Tom Torlakson
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
1430 N Street, Suite 5602
Sacramento, CA 95814-5901
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
1430 N Street, Suite 5602
Sacramento, CA 95814-5901
916-319-0800
Senator Carol Liu
Chair of Education Committee
State Capitol, Room 5097
Sacramento, CA 95814
Sacramento, CA 95814
Assembly Member Joan Buchanan
Chair of the Education Committee
State Capitol, Room 2148,
Sacramento, CA 94248-0016
What else can you do when Common Core comes
into your community?
Corporate and education supporters always
say that they require data to ‘inform their decisions’. So ask local school
boards/administrators for data showing Common Core will prepare students for
college and the workplace. The fact is THERE ISN’T ANY. Ask local school
boards/administrators for data that shows Common Core will prepare students to
compete in the global economy. Again, THERE ISN’T ANY.
They can’t give you data, so refuse to
give them data OPT STUDENTS OUT OF Common Core TESTING. See: http://www.eduperspectivescv.org/opting-out
posted by EPATA Educators and Parents Against Testing Abuse @ 4:19 PM
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