Homework Assignment 3:
In this article it first talks on how people are saying how wonderful, so to speak, how the new common core standards are going to improve our children and such, but it is mostly a coverup. The Nation Governors Association and Bill Gates have come up with this new common core standards, people who give out these tests also were involved but they left out the most important people, teachers, administrators and parents. It states that with these new tests across the nation every state will soon see a drop in test scores. The no child left behind act was a decade failure where students felt unprepared for those tests, it seems that the common core is headed in the same direction. Also this is not some state action, it is federal action where again school districts are being forced to take on this new learning process or they will lose federal funding.
I believe that this article says it loud and clear, our federal government is trying once again to get their hand another thing, public schools, not understanding that when they step in they make things worse instead of better. Also why is Bill Gates wanting to fund this new teaching idea, to get kids college ready, he himself never went to college so how would he know how to get children to be ready for that next step in their life? That man needs to put his money in public school funds not funding another teaching program that will soon show how much of a disaster it will be. Why weren't teachers, administration, and parents not involved, these are our children we as parents and teachers deserve to be involved with our children's learning curriculum, it has been that way for a while why now is the government getting involved, it is not their place to federal and state are separate, it should remain that way.
I think the problem starts with all of the testing. With these Common Core standards comes testing on top of testing, and then more testing. It stresses students out and teachers only worry about the information on the tests, not the things that students may actually need to learn. The Common Core standards are definitely heading in the same direction as NCLB. The parents, teachers, and administrators should have definitely been involved. Its hard for someone who is not in the field to know exactly what students need. I think that its also important for the states to remember that ultimately it is up to them when it comes to education standards. From what I understood in the article, states are allowed to revise these standards, which is important. The same set of standards is most likely not going to work for everyone. Why not revise them to meet the needs of the students?
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your post above. I find that these tests are going to be extremely hard for the children and will only discourage them from college or any further education. Unattainable goals cannot be set for children. Testing itself should not be a main focus in a classroom. I think as long as the teacher is focusing on helping the students actually learn, then testing is not necessary. Some form of assessment is necessary; however, the grade is not as important as grasping and understanding the actual material.
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