Explain "Common Core" to a non-American

[Southern Ivy]

There have been some pretty awful examples -- such as "if math were a color, what would it be?" given as assignments.

 

Most of those extraordinarily silly ones were pulled in later editions of the curricula. 

Crazy. I'm glad I don't have to teach that! 

I wonder if they were somehow trying to integrate language arts and math? (Not that that has anything to do with math....)

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'd seriously question whether the 'tailored to local business' is factual. I'm aware of a few cases where that's true -- where there's something like a laser company down the road so the high school runs a lasers program -- but as long as it's voluntary I think that's an awesome idea. 

 

Me too.  Who are these businesses that are that organized to plan that far ahead?  I've never worked for one.  LOL

 

The area I live in does have a big push towards stuff like nanotechnology.  But certainly nobody is boxed in when they are in 8th grade. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Crazy. I'm glad I don't have to teach that! 

I wonder if they were somehow trying to integrate language arts and math? (Not that that has anything to do with math....)

 

I have a question about the math stuff.  So you said you are using something modeled after Singapore Math.  How is this implemented?  Meaning, let's say a kid was being taught with another program from the beginning and now in 4th or 5th the new program is being used.  Are they suddenly expected to be taught using this different program starting in 4th or 5th?

 

I used SM with both of my kids so I know the methods pretty well.  I used 2 different version (including MIF which is used in my district).  I think it would be hard to start this midway. 

 

I met a woman in my district who said her daughter hated MIF.  I suspect the first time she used it was in 5th grade though.  Up until that point they used Everyday Math here.  So yeah that seems crazy to me.

[kiana]

I have a question about the math stuff.  So you said you are using something modeled after Singapore Math.  How is this implemented?  Meaning, let's say a kid was being taught with another program from the beginning and now in 4th or 5th the new program is being used.  Are they suddenly expected to be taught using this different program starting in 4th or 5th?

 

I used SM with both of my kids so I know the methods pretty well.  I used 2 different version (including MIF which is used in my district).  I think it would be hard to start this midway. 

 

I met a woman in my district who said her daughter hated MIF.  I suspect the first time she used it was in 5th grade though.  Up until that point they used Everyday Math here.  So yeah that seems crazy to me.

 

I agree 100%.

 

This is one of the huge problems with CC imo. I'd much rather have seen it phased in one year at a time. 

[kitten18]

I agree 100%.

 

This is one of the huge problems with CC imo. I'd much rather have seen it phased in one year at a time.

That's a good idea but my guess is by the time we got it implemented in all the grades CC will be going away and it will be time to implement something new.  :closedeyes:

[SparklyUnicorn]

Here it's businesses that use workers with just a high school diploma and have high turnover.  Some of the schools have a contract with the groceries to place students in a trainee position....that position is reserved for these students, and not open to other members of the community. 

 

The boxing in here occurs around 6th grade when honors selection is done.  There is no other entry to a real Algebra class..the 9th grade and up versions are all gaming the Regent's test, while 8th is the real thing for the top students. Same for Earth Science and Bio.  Nonaccelerated/nonhonors students are working very hard at state schools to make up for the lack of prep...as someone else said, seats are limited due to concerns about representation. Entirely possible for kids scoring in the 6 and 700s on the SAT to not be in the honors program due to limited seating for their particular demographic.

 

I don't think we live that far away, but I am not aware of anything like that here.  Of course I'm not entirely in the loop when it comes to what the public schools are doing.  This sounds pretty crazy to me.  Like by 6th grade it's already decided a kid's best option is working in a grocery store?  I just cannot understand this.

 

Of course I remember my guidance counselor suggesting I might want to apply to community colleges "just in case".  I was not living in NY at the time.  I was in CT.  I was a freaking honor student.  But yeah my family didn't have any money.  I just don't know why the counselor said that to me.  I didn't listen to him.  Maybe I should thank him though for making me mad enough to prove him wrong.  LOL 

[SparklyUnicorn]

That's a good idea but my guess is by the time we got it implemented in all the grades CC will be going away and it will be time to implement something new.  :closedeyes:

 

Yep.  Should we all place our bets on how long until the next buzz word? 

 

Seems like a safe bet that that will happen. 

[ElizaG]

I'd seriously question whether the 'tailored to local business' is factual.

This part turns out to be extensively documented, though the language in the general documents -- such as the two linked below -- is somewhat vague.  The second one talks about "regional" economic development, where a "region" refers either to a city, or to a group of "small rural communities" within a state (p. 17).

 

Strategies for K-12 and Workforce Alignment (PDF from Achieve, Inc. -- part of the Common Core apparatus)

 

Revving the Education Engine:  Effectively Aligning Education, Workforce and Economic Development Policy (PDF)

 

As for an example of how this is working out in practice, here's a relevant page from the Aurora, CO district's site:

 

Community Workforce Planning Team

 

The "Five Year Plan," linked on that page, pretty much spells it out.  It looks just like what the superintendent in Wisconsin was describing.

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well skimming some of those links, I don't think this has to be taken to mean kids will be tracked from an early age and placed in a rigid line.  I take it to mean, a college prep track in high school should in fact prepare someone for college.  There needs to be more of a connection to what is taught in school to what one needs to be successful in college (and beyond).  And there does need to be other paths/tracks (whatever you want to call it) for those not going onto college that are still meaningful and relevant to the realities. 

 

When I was in school they had 4 tracks.  College prep, business, home economics, and industrial arts.  I probably sound ancient to say they still had a home economics track at that point.  I'm not ancient (most days).  LOL  But at that point I'd say the tracks weren't relevant to what was out there.  For example, the business track did not prepare you to work in business.  The courses they offered were dated.  They were offering stuff like stenography.  Does anyone even use that anymore?  Even at that point I think that was a dying thing.  Home economics?  That was a joke.  That was so poorly done that I wouldn't have confidence that someone would graduate being great at running a home.  I took one cooking course and the most complicated thing we learned to cook was microwave pudding. 

 

So I think it's not a terrible idea to have high school courses that match what is available and what will help lead students to make a living. 

[wapiti]

I haven't read the links either, but there's something I can't quite put my finger on that's a little weird about a "local" approach... the "region" in question would be metro Denver.  Aurora is its own large city, officially, but it's just a part of the metro area in which people cross district boundaries to go to jobs every day.  It would make more sense to me as a state board of ed initiative, or directive to districts, rather than an individual district initiative.

 

The unfortunate term "five year plan" adds its own element of creepiness - was the reference not noticed, I wonder.

[Southern Ivy]

I have a question about the math stuff.  So you said you are using something modeled after Singapore Math.  How is this implemented?  Meaning, let's say a kid was being taught with another program from the beginning and now in 4th or 5th the new program is being used.  Are they suddenly expected to be taught using this different program starting in 4th or 5th?

 

I used SM with both of my kids so I know the methods pretty well.  I used 2 different version (including MIF which is used in my district).  I think it would be hard to start this midway. 

 

I met a woman in my district who said her daughter hated MIF.  I suspect the first time she used it was in 5th grade though.  Up until that point they used Everyday Math here.  So yeah that seems crazy to me.

 

I teach in a town of 8,000. We have 1 elementary school, 1 3rd-4th school, 1 intermediate school (5-6) and so on...Beginning in K, all students are taught using this program. I think it goes up through 6th, though I could be wrong. So, our situation is a bit different than a big city's curriculum situation. 

 

When we first started, we piloted a couple of programs in my school (the 3rd-4th). This particular curriculum was approved via the school board and we slowly began to implement it into the classrooms. The first year (after piloting) it was optional, the 2nd year, it was mandatory.

It was very difficult at first - especially since we were first doing Everyday Math (ridiculous curriculum!). Lots of low grades, but we continued knowing that eventually the drastic drop in grades would eventually even out as they became accustomed to the new methods/terminology. Three years down the road, we are seeing marked difference in their math. By the time we get the current kindergarteners, I expect it will go even more smoothly as they will have had it from the beginning.

 

I will say, I am in a unique district for our area so our implementation might be very different from another district's. We have a rather large technology based company in our area that puts a lot of money into our district - even though we are 85% free/reduced lunches and 85% and up ELL population. We are very progressive with our technology (2:1 with iPads in K-4th, 1:1 with laptops in 5th and up) and easily change our curriculum to more current and research based (if needed). We have also been teaching Common Core for the last 3 years, so the switchover has been pretty easy for us (nothing like the stories from other districts). 

[Arcadia]

Ahh you are right - Those are still the state standards.

It could be NGSS (next generation science standards) though which people has confused as being part of common core.

http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards