Single National Standard proposed for all schools in the US...nytimes article today

[Halcyon]

Thought others might find this interesting. Many states are already adapting to these standards.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/education/11educ.html

 

And here's a link to the proposed standards, which look like they're going to be adapted in most states: http://www.corestandards.org/Standards/K12/

 

Here's the direct link to the Math Standards for each grade: http://www.corestandards.org/Files/K12MathStandards.pdf

Edited March 11, 2010 by Halcyon

[Classical Country Mama]

Thanks for the post--the link didn't work for me--I think it needs the www in front.

 

Thanks!

[Melabella]

Here is the corrected link:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/education/11educ.html

[Halcyon]

oops--thanks for fixing it :)

[Saille]

I'd love to hear some opinions about this.

 

:lurk5:

[Xuzi]

I heard about this on NPR yesturday. It sounds like they're really trying to simplify and streamline things so that standards are easier to understand for teachers. Right now standards are filled with so much jargon and made up of long, long lists of "goals", and they're trying to hack them down to less-jargon-filled, more clear-cut standards.

 

Of course they made the good point that "setting goals" is only one part of the equation, and that creating new resources (I'm assuming they mean curriculum) to carry out those goals will be the next step, and then training teachers on how to use it is the next.

 

I guess it could really go either way. They could come up with some really awesome, easy to understand (but still challenging to students) goals, and some great curriculum, or it could go the way of all the previous school "reforms" and just be the same ol' same ol' under a different name (and coming from state leaders this time instead of the feds)

[6packofun]

I'm curious how the accountability factor will work. I'm sure that it sounds great to those in the educational system, even though having standards is not a new idea by any means, but will the implementation lead to the same test-crazy atmosphere that No Child Left Behind created? The word "standards" just sounds so high and good, but what happens to those who don't meet the standards? LOL

[cdrumm4448]

On one hand, this effort should streamline public school education, but on the other, it sounds like some of the states don't appreciate the lower standards. In the end, I think it takes control away from teachers and parents and gives it to the government, and that's something I do not support.

 

The next step might be homeschoolers held to these mediocre standards.

[ConnieB]

How many of you have looked through the core standards and realized that your family already does all that, and more? So far, by their standards every one of my children are above the grade level based on their age. And much of their literary suggestions have already been read by our family, or are on the master list already....the ones that are not are mostly because we deemed them unnecessary or inappropriate for our family, there were only 4 titles we'd not heard of that we added to our list.

 

Makes you wonder if perhaps those who have created these "standards" might be reading some homeschool boards to find out what we're already doing, lol. Ok, probably not, but it does feel to me that if this is an upgrade for the public schools, that we hs'ers were doing better all along. Makes me wonder what was being taught in some states before.

[ConnieB]

 

The next step might be homeschoolers held to these mediocre standards.

 

 

but isn't that the thing about mediocre standards.....it's a minimum. Homeschoolers rarely accept the minimum....so if we were held to just this low of a standard doesn't mean that we have to stop there. I would hope that the states that already have higher standards would simply keep them.....but those states for which these mediocre standards are an upgrade will have to reach at least that minimum. Considering that I live in Arizona where the schools are worthless, I'm guessing they may have to struggle to come up to these standards.....I downloaded the Arizona standards and hope to find a couple hours this weekend to compare what Arizona already requires with what this new standard would require. I'm hoping for the sake of the children in schools around us that it will be an improvement!

 

Don't take this to say that I would welcome or even agree with the government getting into the homeschool community......but if this will mean that public schools will improve, I'm all for that. I have no intention of ever sending my kids to public school (we've already taken out life insurance on me adequate enough to hire tutors to continue with my plans should I die) but I am saddened by what I see the children around us calling "school is hard". I still am of the opinion that until the government has taken care of it's own house so to speak, it needs to stay out of mine. When/if public schools start offering a curriculum as rigorous as the homeschool world offers, then they can look to see that hs'ers are pulling their weight....but until then, I will continue to fight to keep them out of my life.

[Saille]

Well, and there's a difference between "core content standards", which relate specifically to content being taught, and "performance objectives", which relate to what a student should actually be able to do. In many cases, performance objectives cannot be evaluated with standardized testing, so there's really a need for teachers to better understand the kinds of rubric or portfolio based assessments (comparative work samples over time) that homeschoolers frequently use.

[Halcyon]

I found these samples of student writing to be interesting:

 

http://www.corestandards.org/Files/K12ELAAppendixC.pdf

[Dmmetler]

I think it would make it easier for me to compare what I'm doing to what the schools are. I don't want to replicate what the schools do, but neither do I want to assume that just because a book says "1st grade" and my child can do it that it's really 1st grade. Having some brief, clear checklist of "this is what ps considers first grade" would be useful. And the TN state standards aren't it!

[Snickerdoodle]

Seems like school standards, school policies, curriculum choices, etc. get farther and farther away from any input from the parents.

[AuntieM]

Too bad we can no longer just train and inspire really great teachers and turn them loose to work their magic...

 

From what I understand, this is not being originated by the federal government, but by a coalition of state governments, of which only 2 states have not yet opted in. It will allow for the same textbooks to be used across the board, nationally, so I see it as a huge gateway to other things. JMO.

 

This general topic has come up before, and I still wonder why states would be willing to subject the rights of the individual state to the rights of a group of states. What if there's a lack of agreement? Will Texas hang in for the long haul? Just gotta wonder.

 

I do agree that we all benefit from an educated population. But only if they keep it to academics and leave out the politics.