Rant: I'm really hating Common Core, or at least how it's being applied.

[RandySF]

Every week on our son's homework packet, our third-grader's teacher writes a reminder about where each child should be :according to the California Common Core". And I often feel like I am somehow failing our son if he is not where he should be at any given point in time (if your child is not at ____, please have him or her come and see me). I don't blame the teacher as she is carrying out what's been given to her, bur I'm starting to look for someone I can yell at and say that he's doing just fine!

[NYC_SKP]

1. It used to be enough that schools made kids feel like failures by 7th grade.

Now it's come down to third grade and they make the parents feel like failures, too.

Don't fall for it.

Spoken as a recovering teacher and admin.

[roody]

2. Tell her you respectfully disagree.

That is what the kids are supposed to learn to say and why.

[elleng]

3. You SHOULD hate Common Core.

Last edited Mon Jan 12, 2015, 11:43 AM - Edit history (1)

Education in this country is totally messed up, and I'm very concerned about my grandsons' educations. They're 1 and 6 months old.

[Fumesucker]

15. Congratulations, grandma..

I think my grandkids are going to get out of the educational system before it's completely destroyed by corporatism and greed, I sure understand your concerns though.

[elleng]

19. Thanks, Fumesucker.

Yes, you and I, and your grandkids, were lucky.

[LeftyMom]

4. That seems odd, because you've posted a million times that your kids are in private school.

[RandySF]

5. And even THEY do Common Core.

[elleng]

6. Not here, I think.

http://www.lowellschool.org/Page/About/Mission--Philosophy

I wish my daughters lived close enough to send their littluns here, as we sent them.

[LeftyMom]

7. There's absolutely no requirement that they do so.

In fact the controls the state of California has over what's taught at private schools (or by whom) are unusually narrow. So if you're not happy with any voluntary common core implementation at your children's school, you have your pick of schools that adhere to their own scope and sequence.

Or you can just talk to your child's third grade teacher and ask why she's pushing something that doesn't even apply at your kids' school?

[RandySF]

11. Private schools have the option to adopt it.

And if they accept federal aid, they have no choice. Our school serves a lot of students who are part of the Federal Lunch program (our families are mostly poor and working class). There might also be other federal funds being used, but for what I am not sure.

[LeftyMom]

17. I'd like a citation for that "fact" because I can't verify it anywhere,

or even find anybody making a similar claim.

[RandySF]

18. Ok

First what is going on with Catholic schools in SF. Looks like it was entirely voluntary and not tied to Federal Aid.

The Catholic Common Core addition – a national project entitled the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative –will give secondary and elementary school educators the tools to integrate Catholic faith into the Common Core, according to the statement by the Catholic schools superintendents.

The Common Core State Standards, accepted by 45 states including California, are the result of collaboration by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers that began in 2009. All California public schools are required to implement the Common Core standards.

All 12 California Catholic dioceses and archdioceses have chosen to implement the Common Core academic standards for English and mathematics in grades K-12, the superintendents said in their August statement.

Since California enacted state education standards in 1997, Catholic schools have followed state standards but they have never been required to do so by law. They still are not, the superintendents said in their statement. “While the Common Core State Standards were created primarily for public schools, we have concluded after much research, thought and discussion that the rigor and clarity they provide will benefit our Catholic school students and will allow them a better opportunity to excel at a high academic level,” they wrote.

http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=29&id=61831


As for private schools and federal assistance, I know I saw it but now my Google search is crowded with right wing sites. I'll try to find it again tomorrow.

[RandySF]

12. Here is another private school that uses CC

http://www.oakschristian.org/aboutus/common_core_ocs_position/index.aspx

[SheilaT]

8. The underlying idea for Common Core is a good one,

but it's being handled very badly.

Kids can progress at very different rates, especially in the early years when mastering reading and the basics of arithmetic are so crucial.

My older son had trouble learning to read. He finally learned in 2nd grade when he was put in what was called "special reading" which was in-school one on one tutoring. Meanwhile, he was wanting to progress faster in math than was happening in his class. In the long run he's done quite well, and will be getting a degree in physics in the spring. Oh, and he loves to read also.

[elleng]

9. I've noted, our 'system' is messed up, SheilaT.

Posted this about it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/11249853

Great to hear of your son's progress.

[world wide wally]

10. You just may find that the teacher thinks it is a crock too

[bvf]

14. Yep. n/t.

[bvf]

13. Found the bit on publishers especially revolting.

Pearson some years ago decided to go into the student information software business. They bought out one of their main competitors and eliminated its (very serviceable) product in order to force school districts to purchase their own "sexier" (in truth, substandard) package.

Common Core was a big part of the new package, and I'm sure the Pearson management anticipated saving a bundle on contractual support obligations with a nationwide standard in place.

Hope they've ironed out all the bugs, but past personal experience with the product leads me to suspect they're still working on it two-to-three years later.

/rant

If you're looking for someone to yell at about your plight (and I sympathize completely), look to your school's superintendent and your board of education if you haven't already.

[sabrina 1]

16. Common Core is a disaster and will produce a generation, hopefully it will be gone before it

ruins several generations, of people unable to think, anxious, uneducated and feeling like failures.

I doubt any of this 'system' which is like Bush's NCLB on steroids, was written by Educators. Airc, NCLB was invented by Businessmen.

Parents are going to have to homeschool their children in order to protect from what is called 'our educational system'. As an educator, I am horrified by what we are supposed to believe is 'education'.