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The Daily Signal
Concerns Grow
About Common Core Standards
Brittany Corona
March 12, 2015
For the majority of states that adopted the Common Core national
standards in 2010, this is the school year in which testing begins. And
the haste with which Common Core was adopted and implemented has caused
problems, adding to a host of concerns already surrounding Common Core.
In an article last month in Education Week magazine, reporter Liana
Heitin reported that some Common Core expert reviewers felt rushed in
their review of the standards. Heitin interviewed Hung-Shi Wu,
professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of California,
Berkeley, and a member of the Common Core development team. Wu
concluded: “The amount of time given to the high school standards was
definitely inadequate.”
This is consistent with Dr. James Milgram’s ongoing critique of the
standards since their development in 2009. Milgram, who serves as
professor emeritus of mathematics at Stanford University, was one of
five members of the 30-person Common Core validation committee who
refused to sign on to the standards.
A Pioneer Institute report coauthored by Milgram detailed that, by
seventh grade, Common Core mathematics standards leave American
students two grade levels behind their peers internationally and do not
prepare them for admission into highly selective four-year universities
and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs.
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“If you came to college with only an Algebra II background and you
wanted to major in a STEM area, you have a 1/50 chance— a 2 percent
chance— of ever obtaining a degree in STEM… This level of preparation
is simply insufficient,” said Milgram.
According to Education Week, teachers also are struggling with how to
teach to the Common Core math standards.
“Each standard has so many ideas built into it, you really have to sit
down and think through all the implications of that,” said math teacher
Bobson Wong. “I could easily make each of these courses a two-year
course.”
And recently, reports surfaced that the Common Core architects left
what some consider holes in the standards.
Richard A. Askey, a professor emeritus at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and former member of the math standards’ feedback
group, later noticed an omission of a geometry standard in Common Core.
In fact, according to Education Week, Askey said “the process toward
the end was so hurried that an entire high school standard was left out
of the final draft.”
“There’s no formal mechanism in place for a wholesale review of the
common core, but it’s likely that states will—as they always
have—review their standards at times and decide whether they need to be
altered,” the Education Week article said.
When Common Core was created in 2009 by Achieve Inc., with oversight
from the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State
School Officers, its adoption immediately was tied to federal
incentives through billions in competitive grants and waivers from
provisions in the No Child Left Behind law.
By 2010, 46 states had signed on to the standards and agreed to
implement them fully by this school year. Over the last two years,
states have begun to realize the costs of quickly signing on to Common
Core. By 2015, 15 of the original 46 states that agreed to Common Core
have made efforts to withdraw from the standards and aligned tests.
Four exited the standards completely—Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina
and Louisiana.
The haste of Common Core’s adoption is felt across the nation—but the
extent is not yet realized. The alignment of college entrance exams,
such as the SAT and ACT, and advanced placement courses cause concern
over the “voluntary” nature of the standards.
Yet, there is still hope. Many states are putting forth measures to
reclaim autonomy over their standards and are beginning to practice
competitive federalism, thoughtfully considering their state standards,
Common Core and other state standards to make a set of standards and
tests that are best for their students’ college or career readiness.
Read this article with a video and other articles at The Daily Signal
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