common core curriculum

[geronimotwo]

is anyone else concerned with letting the feds create the "common core" curriculum in todays public schools?  i have grave concerns when a central government is directly involved in teaching/indoctrinating our youth.  to me it should be the same as separation of church and state.  one of my concerns is that they will no longer be teaching script, and roman numerals.  that may not seem very ominous, but it will prevent the average american from reading many of the founding documents, ie the declaration of independence for one.  while i don't wholly buy into their conspiracy driven retoric, here is one of the many sites that oppose common core.

http://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/

"give me the youth and you give me the world!"

[AZRedhawk44]

Everything about education, and industrial/scientific progress, has been stymied as education has been centralized.  Inventiveness dies in excessive control.

OBE was the big thing when I was in school, and all it succeeded in doing was neglecting the intellectual growth of the smartest/fastest kids in class, sacrificing their needs in favor of the lowest common denominator.  Common Core will strip out significant subject matter that feeds an inquisitive and active mind.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

the hysteria is over blown. but i am not a huge fan.  its one of the reasons i don't allow the schools to be the only place my kids learn

[41magsnub]

I think that the notion of trying to make it impossible to read the founder's documents is a bit tin-foil'ish. 

However, I agree the centralized control of education is a bad thing.  Common Core needs to go.

[RevDisk]

I think that the notion of trying to make it impossible to read the founder's documents is a bit tin-foil'ish.  

However, I agree the centralized control of education is a bad thing.  Common Core needs to go.

Not sure why, but when I did some work for a math textbook company, the homeschool community by and large thought Common Core was the work of Satan. I mean that in a literal fashion, not figuratively. It was impressive how much negative feedback we got when we announced our books were CC compatible. Little to no actual changes were needed, since it's math. 1+1=2, regardless of political opinions. But wow, you'd think we put pentagrams and D&D in our books.

Common Core may or may not have been a good idea. But the entire thing is entirely politicized now. There's no hope of implementing it cleanly or effectively. From dealing with folks in the educational field and the folks that write the textbooks, it wasn't THAT bad in its original form. Now? Who knows. I've been unable to find any unbiased sources lately.

Take my word for it, any "information" opposing CC should be viewed with a high level of skepticism. They're probably overall right (Common Core isn't going to work), but the tin foil is extremely tight.

[charby]

Not sure why, but when I did some work for a math textbook company, the homeschool community by and large thought Common Core was the work of Satan. I mean that in a literal fashion, not figuratively. It was impressive how much negative feedback we got when we announced our books were CC compatible. Little to no actual changes were needed, since it's math. 1+1=2, regardless of political opinions. But wow, you'd think we put pentagrams and D&D in our books.

Common Core may or may not have been a good idea. But the entire thing is entirely politicized now. There's no hope of implementing it cleanly or effectively. From dealing with folks in the educational field and the folks that write the textbooks, it wasn't THAT bad in its original form. Now? Who knows. I've been unable to find any unbiased sources lately.

Take my word for it, any "information" opposing CC should be viewed with a high level of skepticism. They're probably overall right (Common Core isn't going to work), but the tin foil is extremely tight.

What he said.

[Kingcreek]

Now that no child has been "left behind" they had to do sumpthin to raise the bar.
It's just Pollyticians doing what they do best.

[Scout26]

What cranks up the tinfoil crowd is the database.   It just doesn't have names and grades, it includes information about family composition, health-care histories, income information, religious affiliations, voting status and even blood types among other things.

And this data,  available to be mined, isn't kept at the local level, it's kept by In Bloom LLC and/or Wireless Generation LLC, which can sell the data to Tutoring companies, and many others.

Here's where you want to put on another layer of foil.  This from the National Education Data Model.

How many of you would be comfortable with your child's educators and whole bunch of other folks having access to this data about YOU?


http://nces.ed.gov/forum/datamodel/eiebrowser/techview.aspx?instance=parentGuardian

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Centralized power, inflexible bureaucratic decisions, no room for differences of opinion, all of our families in creepy databases, critical elements of history and culture wiped from the record, less and less control of our children's education in our own hands...  

What could possibly be wrong with that?

As for the fundie Christian types thinking it's evil, it's not too hard to see where they're coming from.  The leftist/collectivist forces within government are growing increasingly hostile towards Christians and the practice of Christianity, and increasingly willing to wield their power to force people into compromising their beliefs.  Witness the Christians forced to service gay weddings or provide contraception.  Sure, sometimes these folks can seem a little touchy about things, but to them religion is literally more important than life or death.  Bad enough that government threatens your own soul, it's terrifying to see that done to your children.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Va isn't officially a player,  however.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/common_core/
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[geronimotwo]

Centralized power, inflexible bureaucratic decisions, no room for differences of opinion, all of our families in creepy databases, critical elements of history and culture wiped from the record, less and less control of our children's education in our own hands...  

What could possibly be wrong with that?

well put!

Va isn't officially a player,  however.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/common_core/
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aren't they the only one?  also a number of states are trying to back out, but the threat of losing funding makes it a difficult decision.

one of my big peeves is when we question the "system", we always hear "well, there's nothing we can do about it" from local officials.   

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

My understanding is va is basically following the same goals etc but dodging the federal yoke


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[zahc]

Government shouldn't be involved in education at all. Setting standards of any type is creepy propoganda.

[Sergeant Bob]

Here's a couple videos on Common Core:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hp9NUzn5oY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PprP5TCZBRI

[Northwoods]

the hysteria is over blown.

Not by much.

I think that the notion of trying to make it impossible to read the founder's documents is a bit tin-foil'ish.

Does it really matter if that was the intent, when that is an ultimate effect?

[geronimotwo]

Government shouldn't be involved in education at all. Setting standards of any type is creepy propoganda.

i am not as oppossed to the .gov setting standards as i am with having them write the text books.

[Hawkmoon]

The elimination of cursive is actually a Microsoft plot. Once they spew forth a few years worth of kids who can't read cursive (kids today can't write it anyway), think of how much Microsoft can streamline the next version of Windows if they can omit all the pseudo-cursive fonts ...





Seriously, I think Common Core is a code name for "Lowest Common Denominator." It's just the educators admitting that they can't teach a large percentage of the population beyond a certain level, so they'll make that A-Okay by restructuring the curriculum to make it so whatever level they can achieve is the goal. Problem solved. I think removing cursive from the curriculum is a mistake, but maybe it's not. I haven't seen anybody under the age of thirty who "wrote" in anything other than block text for many years. If they were taught cursive in school, they certainly didn't retain it.

[geronimotwo]

i have to admit that my cursive writing skills are almost non-existant, however, i am able to read it quite well.  speaking of ms plots, with the amount of support bill gates is giving common core i am nearly certain there is a ms contract in the works.   as far as the lowest common denominator goes, my daughter (who was homeschooled last year) is acheiving 90+ scores and bragging about her lack of studying.  if it weren't for her desire to be more social we would certainly keep her home.

[MillCreek]

i am not as oppossed to the .gov setting standards as i am with having them write the text books.

Actually, it is more the states of Texas, New York, California and Florida that are writing the text books.  As the largest purchasers of textbooks in the nation, the publishers write the textbooks to be acceptable to those states.  I have read several articles about this. 

[TechMan]

The elimination of cursive is actually a Microsoft plot. Once they spew forth a few years worth of kids who can't read cursive (kids today can't write it anyway), think of how much Microsoft can streamline the next version of Windows if they can omit all the pseudo-cursive fonts ...





Seriously, I think Common Core is a code name for "Lowest Common Denominator." It's just the educators admitting that they can't teach a large percentage of the population beyond a certain level, so they'll make that A-Okay by restructuring the curriculum to make it so whatever level they can achieve is the goal. Problem solved. I think removing cursive from the curriculum is a mistake, but maybe it's not. I haven't seen anybody under the age of thirty who "wrote" in anything other than block text for many years. If they were taught cursive in school, they certainly didn't retain it.

Since Common Core is tied with the grant money titled Race to the Top, some people that are opposed to Common Core are calling it the Race to the Trough.

[geronimotwo]

Actually, it is more the states of Texas, New York, California and Florida that are writing the text books.  As the largest purchasers of textbooks in the nation, the publishers write the textbooks to be acceptable to those states.  I have read several articles about this.  

it is my understanding that the upcoming books are going to be the same for all the states, with the feds governing the content, thus the term common.  i'll need to find a reference for that.

here is a quote from the .gov

Will CCSSO and NGA be creating common instructional materials and curricula?

States that have adopted the standards may choose to work together to develop instructional materials and curricula. As states join together to adopt the same Common Core State Standards, publishers of instructional materials and experienced educators will develop new resources around these shared standards.

http://www.corestandards.org/resources/frequently-asked-questions

for a little more inflammation, perhaps I should have started this thread with the following quote from a cc textbook.

The Second and Third Amendments — grant citizens the right to bear arms as members of a militia of citizen-soldiers and prevent the government from housing troops in private homes in peacetime,”

http://predicthistunpredictpast.blogspot.com/2013/09/pic-of-day-common-core-takes-on-second.html

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

from .org
The federal government was NOT involved in the development of the standards. Local teachers, principals, and superintendents lead the implementation of the Common Core.

[MillCreek]

I asked my wife the teacher about this.  Her understanding is that over time, textbooks will be rewritten by the publishers to incorporate the instructional material necessary to meet the Core standards.  These textbooks are not going to be written, reviewed or approved by the Federal Government.

Just as happens now, it may well be that certain textbooks on certain subjects at certain grade levels will be commonly used across the country.  She points out that the social studies textbook she is currently using is the most commonly used textbook all across the country and that is for three reasons: (1) the publishers write books that the big states I mentioned earlier will buy and those states influence the market; and (2) this gives you a bulk discount due to the unit cost of production going down; and (3) the publishers have tried to reduce the number of SKU's of different versions of the same textbook.   

She says that in future years, as more textbooks go digital, there will be greater room for different editions of the same textbook.

[geronimotwo]

from .org
The federal government was NOT involved in the development of the standards. Local teachers, principals, and superintendents lead the implementation of the Common Core.

yes, the implementation, but they don't specify weather they are involved with the printing of the texts or what happens after the initial honeymoon. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

even though va is not a player i know local educators who were involved in common core.
another unfortunate reality is that all too often leading the zomg common core charge around here are the usual truther/vaxxer crowd.