"Choose
one of the topics from the suggested issues list found below. You may
also seek approval from your instructor for other issues/topics.
Current Issues/Research Topics:
- Common Core Standards
- Inclusion of exceptional children in learning environments
- Theories of child development
- Differentiated instruction to meet diverse learning needs
- Recognizing and respecting family, culture, economic & societal influences
- Role of student choice and interests
- Designing and implementing assessments
- Addressing strengths and needs of all students
- Purpose and character of authority (Role of teacher)
- Teaching thinking skills
- Inquiry learning/Constructivism
- Learning styles
- Instruction of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners
We were given several formats to choose from and one was a blog. I figured since I already have a blog, which I have not done a very good job of updating lately I would go that route. For my assignment I chose Common Core Standards because it is a topic that I am very much against. So here it goes...
Common Core Standards
I will start off by pointing you to the Common Core States Standards website (http://www.corestandards.org/) which tells us what the purpose is for these standards "The standards were drafted by experts and teachers from across the country and are designed to ensure students are prepared for today’s entry-level careers, freshman-level college courses, and workforce training programs. The Common Core focuses on developing the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills students will need to be successful. Forty-three states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) have voluntarily adopted and are moving forward with the standards."
At face value these standards look great. Let's make sure that every student in the country is learning the same thing. We need to make sure that "no child is left behind." When I first heard that a child on the west coast and a child on the east coast will be learning the same thing, I thought it was a wonderful idea. I no longer thinks so. You may ask "John, how can you be against that?" Well I am very glad you asked. Head into the kitchen and pour yourself a glass of that good old southern sweet tea and have a seat. Settle in for awhile and listen up. First listen to this video from the District of Columbia Public Schools on how great Common Core is...
That was one great sales pitch. How can you not buy into that? Well I did at first but I am hear to tell you that they are used car salesmen and you do not under any circumstances want to buy that lemon!
I am going to speak from my personal first hand experience here. Genesis 1:27 teaches us "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." and Galatians 3:28 says "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." My personal belief is that everybody is created equal in God's eyes, black, white, purple, green, rich or poor. We all bleed red and we all belong to the human race as God's creations. In that same vein I believe everybody is entitled to a quality education. I am the father to four wonderful children three sons and a daughter. All four are smart and blessings in there own ways. However, for this assignment I am going to pick on one, my daughter. She was kicked out of preschool because the teachers were not able to challenge her. We were able to put her into Kindergarten a year early with the help of the preschool staff. She was tested and placed in the Denver Public School's Highly Gifted and Talented Program. Things were looking up for her then we hit common core.
Her mother and I quickly learned that the no child left behind movement ended up being the no child in the class can move faster then the slowest kid movement. We learned that some great teachers were no longer able to embrace their teaching style because it did not meet the standards. "Standards shouldn’t be attached to school subjects, but to the qualities of mind it’s hoped the study of school subjects promotes. Subjects are mere tools, just as scalpels, acetylene torches, and transits are tools. Surgeons, welders, surveyors — and teachers — should be held accountable for the quality of what they produce, not how they produce it." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/eight-problems-with-common-core-standards/2012/08/21/821b300a-e4e7-11e1-8f62-58260e3940a0_blog.html#)
Common core standards are the brain child of politicians not teachers. Some sources claim that there was strong buy-in from educators. I do not believe this to be the case. Watch this video and I shall continue. Pay special attention to what this educator says at about the three minute mark.
Back to my Amanda, she became so frustrated that she did not want to go to school. This is a child that embraces learning and was reading at least a year prior to when she was suppose to. We moved her from a public school to a charter school to try to find her more challenges. Simple fact of the matter is we failed. She was still bored out of her mind and was not being challenged. The last time I could recall her being pushed to really learn was preschool. In her seventh grade year she came to her mother and I and asked to drop out of school. OK OK she really did not want to drop out she wanted to go to Colorado Connections online and basically be home schooled, but what I heard was drop out. I was 100% totally against it. Amanda put together a PowerPoint on her own of the pros and cons of leaving the mainstream school system and entering into Colorado Connections. She convinced me to attend a presentation at my Ex-wife's home to show it to me. My eleven year old (remember she entered school early) sold me. I agreed to allow her to leave main stream schooling and it has been the best decision I have ever made as far as her education is concerned.
Colorado Connections allows her to work at her pace. There are times that she is told by her educators to slow down but for the most part she is allowed to proceed as she sees fit. My concern that she would miss out on the social aspects has been proven wrong. She recently was asked to homecoming by one of her classmates which as a Daddy I am cringing but that is another post all together.
Thanks to my involvement in Scouting and the Police Explorers I have contact with many students in grades K-12. I asked them what they believed and they overwhelming told me stories that make me think that they were being taught to the test and not being pushed to better themselves from where they currently stood. My teacher friends also report that they must teach to the test and are no longer allowed to have the freedom to teach their students as the deem necessary. On told me that in the past she was able to access each student's needs and address them but now she must stick to the guidelines. Take a minute to read the following: http://www.science20.com/news_articles/bring_back_no_child_left_behind_common_core_standards_lack_of_voice_driving_teachers_out-144494 which does a great job of summing up how my elementary school teacher feels.
Being involved in so many young lives I hear the stories about stressful standardized test have become. Students are no longer being educated to their full potential but to a "common standard" for all. Well all kids are not the same. Three out of four of my children are standard issued kids. What about the forth? She needs to be pushed. She needs to be challenged. Is it fair to her that the quality of education she is provided to being lowered to the level of normal students? I do not think so. I think she deserves for her teaches to push her to learn as much as she can. I long for the world where teachers can once again access their students and teach to the child and not the test. I am grateful that I teach at the university level where I do not have to deal with the political snares that my friends in the public school system deal. In my opnion we should keep politics out of the classroom!
