Common Core: Truths, Falsehoods, and Why They are Good for our Children… Tactics and Why Common Standards are Good (Part 3)
Currently in our state, special interest group levels, are implementing misinformation tactics to scare the public about the Common Core (CC). You can hear ads on the radio or television and read stories in local papers expressing concern for the future of our country’s educational system if CC is implemented. At the legislative level, a few legislators have stated that they will propose eliminating the Department of Education or stripping it of its Constitutional authority. Other legislators are proposing to eliminate any state funding for the purchase or operation of state assessments covering the CC Standards. Imagine that, the state cutting funding for schools. The rhetoric being used for why is based on the themes that I shared with you in Part 2 of this series.
As with so many things today, it seems, an ideological clash is interfering with establishing good public policy. It is interesting how far we have come in the past 11 years when it comes to “concern” regarding federal intervention in our public school system. As I alluded to in Part 2 of this series, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation is far more intrusive on public education than the CC Standards yet it became the law of the land with minimal outcry. And NCLB actually is a federal initiative whereas CC is not.
So why is the CC standards good for our students? Here are some reasons why I believe the CC Standards, and a common assessment based on CC, is good for our students and our state.
- Families today are more transient than in the past. Whether it is because of the economy (moving in with relatives due to income issues or moving to find affordable housing) or a change in jobs, there is a portion of our student population that moves, sometimes a lot. With each move, learning is disrupted. Having a common set of standards around which curriculum is built will bring some consistency to the what and when students are expected to learn specified skills. When children are dealing with the social/emotional aspects of a move, having common standards can help to reduce the potential struggle with a change in schools.
- The rapid increased in international levels of education is creating competition for which our children need to be prepared. Too, many of today’s employers require a more advanced skill set from their employees than ever before. If they cannot find this skill set in the U.S. they will outsource the work overseas. We continually have heard this from business leaders and governors over the past twenty years. Most business leaders want to keep jobs in U.S. but they need skilled employees. Governors want these businesses to come to their state to employ their citizens. The CC Standards have been benchmarked against international standards in an effort to ensure our students are prepared for this international competition for jobs. Further, they have been designed to reflect the college and career readiness skills that higher education and our business community have been seeking for some time now.
- Unprepared students moving into post-secondary education makes for system inefficiencies, is costly, and sets students up for failure. In the past, there was no guarantee that a school district’s curriculum was developed to align with collegiate educational expectations. The CC has been aligned with the ACT and SAT in an effort to reduce the number of students needing to take remedial courses in college and to set students up for collegiate success. In articles from the past year, I have illustrated the number of students who quit college within the first two years of school and I have shown you the numbers of students who actually complete a post-secondary degree. I have also shared how costly this issue is for all involved. We should expect better results from our school systems and our students. While not guaranteed, students doing well with the CC Standards should be much better prepared to succeed in college and in the workforce.
There are other reasons why CC is good for our students but I think you get the point. The CC Standards were not developed by the federal government nor are they an attempt to indoctrinate our children in some socialist agenda. They were initiated by a bi-partisan group of 26 governors and the Council of Chief State School Officers. This group initiated the CC in response to our student’s poor performance on comparisons of international assessment scores and at the urging of business leaders across our country. They are meant to help our students to be more successful in their post-secondary educational goals. They were developed by expert teachers from across the country in conjunction with college professors and representatives from ACT, SAT, and other educational groups. They are designed to be rigorous and challenging to help our students to compete in a global economy. As with anything, if you are skeptical, I would encourage you to do more research for yourself. The truth is not hard to find if you are open to the facts.