Common core, just found out about this

[Cthulhu 2020]

So I've probably had my hole in the ground, but apparently the education system for 44 states has officially adopted the common core system, which requires kids to know certain facts at a certain time and is a curriculum taught in all schools for K-12. The problem? The ways certain subjects, like math, are taught are incredibly convoluted and over complicated. All of my teacher friends who I ask about it get angry when they talk about it. They pretty much have to follow a script lest they get marked up for not teaching properly.

It has come under fire by Republicans too,

U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, who now faces David Perdue in a runoff for the GOP Senate nomination, doesn't think you'll find many among Georgia Republicans. A recent Kingston campaign mailer featured pictures of David Perdue and President Obama, with a headline screaming "Obama + Perdue = Nationalized Public Schools." It also included a quote from American Spectator, a national conservative magazine:

"Like ObamaCare, Common Core was forced onto the public as a naked federal takeover. Common Core usurps state and local governments, based on the dubious idea that local rubes can't be trusted to understand and meet the needs of their own children."

David Perdue has been forced to repudiate the standards, going on talk radio to explain that "I think Common Core is overreaching right now and should be abandoned in its current form." A year ago, leaders of the state Republican Party voted unanimously to condemn the program on the grounds that it "obliterates Georgia's constitutional autonomy." And in Louisiana, Jindal now positions himself for a possible 2016 presidential run by comparing the program that he helped develop and champion to Soviet-style centralized planning.

And that doesn't even begin to plumb the depths of conservative conspiratorial thought on the issue. Conservative websites are pushing books titled "The Cult of Common Core: Obama's Final Solution for Your Child's Mind and Our Country's Exceptionalism." Conservative groups such as Eagle Forum are warning that it is an effort to convert children to homosexuality. Glenn Beck is telling his followers that Common Core is part of a conspiracy to "train us to be a serf state" run by China, using Muslims as its enforcers.

Yes, you read that correctly:

So in light of all these complaints and conspiracy theories, isn't it ironic that common core was an idea conceived, written and pushed by Southern conservative governors during Bush's presidency?

"WASHINGTON — Five Republican former governors who supported the Common Core from its creation during the Bush administration said Wednesday that disinformation from conservatives threatened to highjack the higher standards for what students should be able to accomplish in each grade.

None of that is true or factual, as Sonny Perdue would be quick to tell you. He and other governors, including other conservatives such as Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, initiated and drove development of the Common Core standards.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/jay-bookm...d-common-core/
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../FOSLIFESTYLES



It's a good idea in theory, standardizing school curriculum across the nation, but in practice it has become a massive failure. Teacher salaries are no longer competitive with any other job, and considering they work through nights, weekends, and the summer, only being paid a pittance, their salaries in some places are dropping below minimum wage for the actual work they put in (Teachers are only paid for 9 months of work, 8-5, when they work way more than that). We don't need a standardized curriculum, we need attractive salaries and tools to attract talented teachers. States are offering water and expecting these teachers to turn it into wine. The reason other countries far outstrip our standards is they put significant amounts of funding into education, not overreaching legislation like merit based teacher salaries and common core.

[Adam Jensen]

My mother (who teaches) hates Common Core because it leads to teachers teaching to the test, rather than actually making students learn important concepts.

[Blueobelisk]

As someone whose mom is a teacher I'll say that the way common core is implemented isn't optimal, but there should be a standard throughout the country/state of what the kids learn/what the minimum is. Not sure anyone will disagree with that.

My mother (who teaches).

There's not enough room in this thread for two people whose mothers teach. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.

[TrumpIsPresident]

I consider sending a child to an American public school to be a form of child abuse.

[Hooked]

I think the entire school structure needs to be updated to fill the needs of a 21st century job market.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I consider sending a child to an American public school to be a form of child abuse.

*Headdesk* Ugh.... That's so so dumb.

[Cthulhu 2020]

As someone whose mom is a teacher I'll say that the way common core is implemented isn't optimal, but there should be a standard throughout the country/state of what the kids learn/what the minimum is. Not sure anyone will disagree with that.



There's not enough room in this thread for two people whose mothers teach. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.

I'm not saying it's overall a terrible idea, but the current implementation of it is an abomination, a tragedy.

It's asking students to perform on a level in countries where amazing teachers are attracted by 6 digit salaries, while only getting lower quality teachers by offering 30-45k, meanwhile quality teachers teach anywhere BUT public schools because they know they can get far more money by tutoring, working for private schools, working as educators for companies, etc.

No offense against your moms. This was a problem when I was young even, growing up in a southern state where education salaries were a pittance. Most of the teachers were trash, but there were a few good ones, but those teachers did it more because they had a passion for teaching.

[Zoaric]

The way common core is implemented isn't optimal, but there should be a standard throughout the country/state of what the kids learn/what the minimum is. Not sure anyone will disagree with that.

Pretty much this. It needs to be implemented differently, because right now, it's not
doing anyone any real favors.

[Templar 331]

A universal curriculum for public schools needs to happen. We don't need schools in one state teaching different subjects than schools in other states. And teachers seriously need better pay for what they do. I didn't know about Common Core until now, but if it can be improved it should be.

[Cthulhu 2020]

A universal curriculum for public schools needs to happen. We don't need schools in one state teaching different subjects than schools in other states. And teachers seriously need better pay for what they do. I didn't know about Common Core until now, but if it can be improved it should be.

It needs to be completely scrapped and be redone.



They're teaching this stuff to first graders.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Provided you don't screw Special Education in the proccess.

[Hraklea]

...there should be a standard throughout the country/state of what the kids learn/what the minimum is. Not sure anyone will disagree with that.

I will. I should not have the right to decide what your children should learn and what they should not.

[Raptor With a Saber]

All i can say is thats what happens when you don't want to leave some kids behind... well that and the death of a whole bunch of people at a prisoner facility.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I will. I should not have the right to decide what your children should learn and what they should not.

That stops when you are being a detriment to your own child.

[Endus]

Speaking as a self-identifying socialist, I really dislike the Common Core.

Not because the idea of a standardized curriculum is "bad"; we have a standard curriculum here in Ontario which has become a model that other provinces have adopted (with minor tweaks for provincial matter), and even internationally. It's a solid curriculum.

The issues I have with the Common Core is that it tries certain things, but isn't flexible about them. Take that math problem that The Batman's video went over. That's actually a reasonable method. It starts with the point that a subtraction is about finding the difference between two numbers. So, with a new student, this is a method that's fairly easy; add bits to the lower number that you can grasp, until you reach the number it's subtracted from. Then, add up all the bits you added. It still finds the difference, but it involves addition, which is useful if they're new to subtraction.

The methodology should be;
"12 isn't easy, but I know multiples of 5, so add 3, that's 15."
"15 isn't as easy as multiples of 10, so add 5, to make it 20."
"If I add one more 10, that gets me to 30, which is almost there."
"And to reach 32, I add 2 more."
"How much did I add? 3, plus 5, plus 10, plus 2. 3 plus 5 is 8, 8 plus 10 is 18, and 18 plus 2 is 20. 32-12 is 20."

That's fine. But you need to explain why you're doing it that way, to make it matter. If you take it out of context, it's confusing and silly. And once you've got a handle on how subtraction works, this is overly complicated, yes. But when you don't have any clue what "subtraction" is, but you still remember addition, this is a way to ease into the transition.

You should be teaching multiple methods, though. In our math classes, you're expected to demonstrate at least two methods for everything. And ideally, two completely different learning methods, too; so you might have a mental exercise like the "32 over 12, 2-2 is 0, 3-1 is 2, answer is 20" as one method, and you might get them playing with counting blocks (like those little plastic snap-together pieces), and have them snap 32 together, take 12 off, and count how many are left. Sometimes, one method "gels" with a student when another doesn't. And once it does gel, they know what they're doing, and can apply the easier systems; the root is getting them to understand what subtraction (or whatever) is. Which might sound simple to you, but as a teacher and someone who's done a fair bit of 1 to 1 math tutoring, it isn't.

That said, Common Core doesn't really do this. It's more restrictive, and gives you specific methods to work with, where the Ontario curriculum emphasizes variety and expects teachers to know their shit well enough to teach it well.

[apepi]

Yeah, thankful I graduated before this was implanted in my state(Louisiana, fuck Jindal!), But all my friends that were younger then me are saying that they are hating it. Not only them but the parents and teachers are also saying that they hate it. They seem to think it make their life a living hell.

[Endus]

I will. I should not have the right to decide what your children should learn and what they should not.

Even homeschooled kids need to meet the same curriculum standards.

Anything less is essentially child abuse and dereliction of parental duties. You're damaging your child, and should be made to stop, just as the government would if you were hitting them with a stick. Lack of education is even more damaging and long-lasting than a stick beating generally is.

[taliey]

Common Core is more and more starting to resemble the No Child Left Behind Act. *shudder*

[Gumboy]

It needs to be completely scrapped and be redone.



They're teaching this stuff to first graders.

Wait is that really how they are teaching math now? Are they trying to make kids hate math even more?

[apepi]

Speaking as a self-identifying socialist, I really dislike the Common Core.

Not because the idea of a standardized curriculum is "bad"; we have a standard curriculum here in Ontario which has become a model that other provinces have adopted (with minor tweaks for provincial matter), and even internationally. It's a solid curriculum.

The issues I have with the Common Core is that it tries certain things, but isn't flexible about them. Take that math problem that The Batman's video went over. That's actually a reasonable method. It starts with the point that a subtraction is about finding the difference between two numbers. So, with a new student, this is a method that's fairly easy; add bits to the lower number that you can grasp, until you reach the number it's subtracted from. Then, add up all the bits you added. It still finds the difference, but it involves addition, which is useful if they're new to subtraction.

The methodology should be;
"12 isn't easy, but I know multiples of 5, so add 3, that's 15."
"15 isn't as easy as multiples of 10, so add 5, to make it 20."
"If I add one more 10, that gets me to 30, which is almost there."
"And to reach 32, I add 2 more."
"How much did I add? 3, plus 5, plus 10, plus 2. 3 plus 5 is 8, 8 plus 10 is 18, and 18 plus 2 is 20. 32-12 is 20."

That's fine. But you need to explain why you're doing it that way, to make it matter. If you take it out of context, it's confusing and silly. And once you've got a handle on how subtraction works, this is overly complicated, yes. But when you don't have any clue what "subtraction" is, but you still remember addition, this is a way to ease into the transition.

You should be teaching multiple methods, though. In our math classes, you're expected to demonstrate at least two methods for everything. And ideally, two completely different learning methods, too; so you might have a mental exercise like the "32 over 12, 2-2 is 0, 3-1 is 2, answer is 20" as one method, and you might get them playing with counting blocks (like those little plastic snap-together pieces), and have them snap 32 together, take 12 off, and count how many are left. Sometimes, one method "gels" with a student when another doesn't. And once it does gel, they know what they're doing, and can apply the easier systems; the root is getting them to understand what subtraction (or whatever) is. Which might sound simple to you, but as a teacher and someone who's done a fair bit of 1 to 1 math tutoring, it isn't.

That said, Common Core doesn't really do this. It's more restrictive, and gives you specific methods to work with, where the Ontario curriculum emphasizes variety and expects teachers to know their shit well enough to teach it well.

I knew Canada had their hand in this! It is all their fault!

But seriously I agree with you 100%. But they do not only need to teach it in different ways but how the people who thought of this kind of math and what they used it for. I hated math when it was just a blank sheet of paper with numbers on it, but when when I learned how they(people who thought of it) discovered and used it, it made much more sense to me. Like learning roman numerals is very boring until you actually put some context to it.