Why Gloomy Pundits and Politicians Are Wrong About America's Education System

[dogtowner]

Since we keep ignoring what is actually written in the state standards, and instead making claims of how "liberals" have taken over, let me quote one of the standards at random. Feel free to point out where the liberal indoctrination is in this statement:

From the math standards:



Is fluency in basic computational skills a liberal value? How about developing an understanding of mathematical concepts?

If you can't find it there , feel free to peruse the rest of the document and please, if there is a goal of indoctrinating students into a liberal philosophy, point it out. The State board of Education needs to know, so they can revise the goals of the school system.

VA is much the same vis-a-vis standards. Thats why it is that school boards dictate HOW the standards are put into practice. Its my experience that bureaucrats are far too lazy to consider working out executable solutions.

 

[Cruella]

The State board of Education needs to know, so they can revise the goals of the school system.

Now that is funny. Your assuming that they can revise the goals.

The man who was one of the writers of the Common Core Math Standards said that; "the standards were written because of the social justice agenda". Now what does teaching math have to do with social justice exactly? Maybe it's something like "sharing the wealth". Or like being taught to be average. Or like what union labor is...mediocraty.

Ran across this site from Utah, who signed on to Common Core.

http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/reigniting-the-math-wars-over-the-death-of-calculus/

A letter one parent wrote;

Ms. Suddreth,

My daughter is in ninth grade at Wasatch High School, where Common Core was implemented this year.
I want you to know that neither she nor any other ninth grader who took the Common Core math learned anything at all this year. It was a waste of time, money, and children’s minds!

It may be a surprise to you that Algebra I is assigned to 9th graders under Common Core. Before, last year, Algebra I was assigned to 8th graders.

Please provide an explanation. I have seen the words “rigor,” ”college readiness” and “high standards” applied in conjunction with Common Core at the USOE website and at our local Wasatch District website. This is false advertising.

I have made this math robbery very clear to my local board and principal.
They tell me their hands are tied because the state school board has pushed Common Core on them. (I did mention above that you cannot change it, and you can only add 15% to it).
Please let me know what you plan to do about it.

I remember starting algebra in the second half of 7th grade. Of course that was a hundred years ago.

 

[dogtowner]

they hadnt dreamed up algebra when I was in grade school...

ok so moving content around can be awkward (I never had Bio because in flipping schools and them doing different things in different years so I get that) but all the letter writer says is that kid learned nothing which I kind of doubt. and if you read the Common Core standards they too look for all the world like CA and VA ones.

 

[Cruella]

they hadnt dreamed up algebra when I was in grade school... and if you read the Common Core standards they too look for all the world like CA and VA ones.

That's because it's a Federal program, started last year. Only 5 states didn't sign up for it and Indiana is now trying to back out of it.

Hope you will take a minute to read this;

http://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/tag/michelle-rhee/


There are some ideas that some parents and teachers might like, and some we definitely don’t, but the fact remains that we never get a chance to weigh in on them via a vote. That’s what nationalized education means: the elite at the top determine what is good and true for all. Oh, for the days of local control over education to be back in my state again!
Wearing the shield of “education reform,” guess what the education reformists on the left have wielded?
- a war on student data privacy (your kid's school career is now in a government database)
- a war on classic literature
- a war on traditional, time-tested math
-a national set of educational standards that is without an amendment process, so nobody can change anything.
-a national set of standards that are under copyright by an unelected group called CCSSO/NGA
-a national set of standards that the Dept. of Education has put a cap on; you can’t teach more than 15% above the Common Core
-a war against transparency;

 

[dogtowner]

That's because it's a Federal program, started last year. Only 5 states didn't sign up for it and Indiana is now trying to back out of it.

while it may be national program it is not a federal (government) one.

http://www.corestandards.org/
Note the dot org not dot gov

the license agreement says you can't change it as it's copy written. this is not unusual. its kind of the definition.

if the populace has an issue with it's state adopting this then they have legislatures who control the ed depts and ca have it ditched.

in concept, a uniform educational standard is a good thing. if, however, any dumbing down was inserted to allow worse states to be capable then thats obviously bad.

their standards are available at the site so lack of transparency is a dubious claim.

I did look at this the other day thinking the horse's mouth was a pretty good place to start looking.

partisan blogs are not helpful in judging given their predicated bias and the inevitable hyperbole.

is there any objective examination of the program ? I haven't seen one (from either camp or in between).

I'm afraid that I have trouble buying some sort of vast nationwide conspiracy as there are simply too many moving parts all with vested interests (unlike the climate change mob) to make it workable.

I'm not arguing that there are not major issues with education but its important to find out if its an endless array of bad apples, wrong minded administration (Atlanta school board), social malaise thats attampting to devalue education from sheer laziness and willingness to hang on the welfare teet, union overreach to drive that profession to the very lowest common denominator or some combination.

I'm of the opinion its the latter.

 

[Cruella]

while it may be national program it is not a federal (government) one.

http://www.corestandards.org/
Note the dot org not dot gov

Yes, I understand that, but if you dig into it, you will find that it has Obama's blessing, and several groups were given stimulus money to develop it. This is a Washington DC controlled program. They did another run-around-congress this way. Under the radar, where very few people even knew about it.

What does Obama really mean when he says that he created education reforms in 46 states during his presidency? 45 states plus the District of Columbia have signed on to it, and Obama's taking credit for it.

if the populace has an issue with it's state adopting this then they have legislatures who control the ed depts and ca have it ditched.

Somewhere I read that if they opted in for it they couldn't get out of it. Will try to find that part.

I did look at this the other day thinking the horse's mouth was a pretty good place to start looking.
partisan blogs are not helpful in judging given their predicated bias and the inevitable hyperbole. is there any objective examination of the program ? I haven't seen one (from either camp or in between)..

First of all, I believe this was just implemented a year ago. So I don't know how long it's going to take to get feedback. As far as finding contradicting information, who would report on it? The MSM?

I'm afraid that I have trouble buying some sort of vast nationwide conspiracy as there are simply too many moving parts all with vested interests (unlike the climate change mob) to make it workable.

I'm not arguing that there are not major issues with education but its important to find out if its an endless array of bad apples, wrong minded administration (Atlanta school board), social malaise thats attampting to devalue education from sheer laziness and willingness to hang on the welfare teet, union overreach to drive that profession to the very lowest common denominator or some combination.
I'm of the opinion its the latter.

A conspiracy? No. But I am always suspicious of what this Administration does. I instictively react to red flags. I also tend to approach things from a), who's idea was it, and 2) what do they hope to achieve. Only time will tell and I for one won't be surprised by the outcome.

But when one of the developers of the math portion said that the reason for the common core standards was because of their social justice agenda, let's just say that got my red flags waving. I don't understand liberal speak and I'm still vague on how you turn math into social justice.

 

[cashmcall]

That's because it's a Federal program, started last year. Only 5 states didn't sign up for it and Indiana is now trying to back out of it.

Hope you will take a minute to read this;

http://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/tag/michelle-rhee/


There are some ideas that some parents and teachers might like, and some we definitely don’t, but the fact remains that we never get a chance to weigh in on them via a vote. That’s what nationalized education means: the elite at the top determine what is good and true for all. Oh, for the days of local control over education to be back in my state again!
Wearing the shield of “education reform,” guess what the education reformists on the left have wielded?
- a war on student data privacy (your kid's school career is now in a government database)
- a war on classic literature
- a war on traditional, time-tested math
-a national set of educational standards that is without an amendment process, so nobody can change anything.
-a national set of standards that are under copyright by an unelected group called CCSSO/NGA
-a national set of standards that the Dept. of Education has put a cap on; you can’t teach more than 15% above the Common Core
-a war against transparency;

Cruella..here's something ,my sister sent me...I am appalled at this entire process from inception to implementation. In our district, parents were invited to attend an evening session in September, during which the BOE officials took about 30 minutes to tout the program. They then sent us into breakout sessions, 30 minutes for Language Arts, and 30 for Math. More propoganda, little specifics. Parents with questions and concerns were told to write their comments on an index card and hand it in, because there “wasn’t enough time” to address us publicly. I did ask where CCS had already been tested, thinking surely there is a model where empirical results had been studied. Nope, no data available. Then I asked if other countries’ education systems had been studied, particularly those where student performance is superior to ours. No again. In fact, said the BOE, the implementation of CCS throughout CT is being done so quickly that there aren’t even textbooks ready yet. So a new guideline for teaching is being rolled out in our state, without any prior experience, no results to indicate whether or not they have any chance of “working”, and it’s being done so fast that the accompanying teaching materials don’t even exist yet. Parents are being told about it after-the-fact, and objections are suppressed with short, over-crowded information sessions and the “write your question down” tactic which is so effective at silencing opposition. Something smells, and it’s coming from D.C. through Hartford.

 

[dogtowner]

It is possible to 'just say no'. its uncomfortable and difficult but you never have to just shut up and take it. the proper place was before this info session as well as after.

 

[PLC1]

VA is much the same vis-a-vis standards. Thats why it is that school boards dictate HOW the standards are put into practice. Its my experience that bureaucrats are far too lazy to consider working out executable solutions.

The school boards don't have the expertise to work out executable solutions. The teachers and administrators are expected to put the standards in place. The big test at the end of the year, the one everyone cites to prove their contention that schools are either improving or going to Hell in a handbasket, the one that the kids (elementary at least) mostly don't care much about, is based on the standards and is supposed to determine how good of a job the school has done in teaching those standards.

Now, where in any of the standards is the "liberal indoctrination" that we were discussing?

 

[Cruella]

It is possible to 'just say no'. its uncomfortable and difficult but you never have to just shut up and take it. the proper place was before this info session as well as after.

And what if you were never told about it? I remember reading about this a long time ago, but didn't know it had even been implemented until PLC posted that link.

 

[Cruella]

The school boards don't have the expertise to work out executable solutions. The teachers and administrators are expected to put the standards in place.

From my reading about it, it came out of Washington and it was the state legislatures that put it into place. I don't think they have anymore expertise than local school boards. Probably less.

 

[dogtowner]

And what if you were never told about it? I remember reading about this a long time ago, but didn't know it had even been implemented until PLC posted that link.

go to the meetings, read the paper, check their website. they are not obligated to alert the public personally of their actions. I said it wasnt comfortable or easy.

 

[PLC1]

From my reading about it, it came out of Washington and it was the state legislatures that put it into place. I don't think they have anymore expertise than local school boards. Probably less.

It did not come from Washington. It came from Sacramento.

Have you found the liberal indoctrination standard as yet? I can't find it anywhere.