Can Some Explain Common Core to Me

[mom2bee]

I've seen 2 or 3 threads that popped up talking about Common Core, can someone please break this down for me?

 

What does this Common Core standard have to do with publishers rewriting their curriculum?

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Obama is giving bribes incentives to any state that will sign up to meet the Common Core standards.

 

THey hope this will make evaluating states more streamlined, will help children moving around to be more on the same track, will help the Federal Education Administration/DOE to make and track national goals, and will "bring up" states and districts that are "below" (what the CC Standards committee deems to be better.)Proponents believe this will help to bring lower performing school districts up to par, and even entire lower performing states, and as stated above, will make evaluating and assessing the performance easier. Proponents generally feel that the standards are very high and very clear, and so it should be a win win for any district that can meet the CC, as well as their students. Many other countries have national standards, so proponents feel this is a logical/normal step.

 

Opponents point out that this is just more national/federal control over education, even less ability for teachers, schools, and administrations to use their own creative powers, and knowledge of their own students to do what is best, and some fear that when social studies and science is introduced that it will push/teach even more socialism and less individualism/capitalism/entrepreneurialism. Opponents are also concerned that extremely high performing districts/states may even bring their programs down in some ways, in order to meet different goals that they never had before. Opponents also point out that the media was very hush about CC until it had already been adopted by a ton of states.

[redsquirrel]

It might make more sense for you to do some reading up on it yourself.

 

http://www.corestandards.org/

 

get the facts, then find out what people are saying about it, then make your own decision.

[dereksurfs]

Some publishers will change their curriculum to meet these new standards. Some have already done so while others are in the process of doing it such as Singapore Math, MUS, Saxon, etc... The degree of changes required depends more on the curriculum's S&S prior to the standard. Some are much less conventional than others.

 

For the homeschooler there shouldn't be much of an impact as you can choose any program with or without it. Are you planning to homeschool, public or private school? There are quite a bit more implications for public schools. The problems seem to arise more out of the way local school districts implement policies to meet the CC rather than the standard itself. This has very little to do with curriculum.

 

Standardized tests such as the SAT will be based upon these Common Core Standards.

[Alessandra]

This is similar to what red squirrel linked to, only in a pdf format. It might be prudent to look at the actual standards before reading about all the politics, imo.

 

http://www.corestand...A Standards.pdf

 

http://www.corestand...h Standards.pdf

 

I keep a copy of each on my iPad, so (as you can probably guess) I like them. You might want to go to your state education department's website for more specific local info.