Today was Election Day. That meant a day off of school (yay!) but meant ... it is the midterm election, and a rather dismal one at that. ( Cut for political stuff )
Election Day is rather fraught in my household. Namely, my parents are Republican. I am not. (Neither does my political philosophy align with either major party.) So I try to do the best research I can-- which given that it took me a week to find the freaking sample ballot for my district, sometimes isn't always all that much. But I look at the "wasted" vote of a third-party or write-in candidate as a protest against what's offered. Don't know if it's true or not, but it makes me feel better.
The conservative line has been that Common Core amounts to a federal takeover of the rights of local districts to make curriculum decisions.
That sounds very, very familiar. The irony: the Language 2 standard you listed is something Dad complains about students not knowing on a regular basis. Thank you for more information! (If you have a link to the take-down, I'd love to read it.)
I am a registered Democrat only to vote in the primaries; I'm actually way left of where the Democrats are, and so straight party ticket never works for me either. Bring on the research. :)
On Common Core ... the ironic thing to me is that conservatives tend to be the ones who bitch the most about how school curriculums have been "dumbed down" (always with the implication that this has happened so that minorities can graduate ... and also not true, of course) and complain about kids not knowing "basic facts" that often receive less attention because technology makes them less pressing to know. Then they turn around and bitch about Common Core, one of the main goals of which is raising rigor.
The sad thing is that I don't think Common Core is perfect, but I feel like most of my energy related to it is explaining it and correcting misconceptions about it rather than addressing where it could be improved
( ... )
I'm registered Republican for the same reason. (My thinking is that I can try to keep the really, really conservative people out of office. But also *points to living at home* Mom kept telling me to vote against Grimes.) But I'm a libertarian of some sort.
With my parents, it's not the minority angle (I've never heard that from them), but the "can't make kids feel bad about themselves for failing so let's make everything easier" angle. I just don't know that much about Common Core, so I can't even refute anything. Not that they're willing to listen even if I did it.
the "can't make kids feel bad about themselves for failing so let's make everything easier" angle
Wow, that's a new one to me! I'm wondering the rationale behind that? Data points to the fact that, likely due to increasing exposure to information, IQs are constantly going up (the Flynn effect), so there should be no reason that kids can't keep up with a more rigorous curriculum. The argument could also be made that standards of college and career readiness will not lower because public school standards are lower. That is one of the major reasons behind Common Core: that colleges and employers were finding that high school graduates did not have the skills needed to go immediately into college or the workforce after graduation.
Now I can see the argument--and in fact have made it myself--that holding students to the Common Core standards who have not been taught by those standards for all or most of the school careers is not fair. For example, my ninth graders are the first class to be required to pass the PARCC assessment for
( ... )
I think a bit of it is experience. Quite a while back, Dad was teaching sixth grade, and one of the administrators dinged him in an observation for using a word that was too hard for the kids-- a word that was in the textbook. It probably also has to do with the "trophies for everyone" and such philosophy. I mostly tune out their rants and political discussions, so I really can't be anymore specific. Sorry! (Which means, in theory, they'd be happy with Common Core. In practise, not so much.)
Now I can see the argument--and in fact have made it myself--that holding students to the Common Core standards who have not been taught by those standards for all or most of the school careers is not fair.That is not fair at all. How are they supposed to pass something they haven't learned
( ... )
The conservative line has been that Common Core amounts to a federal takeover of the rights of local districts to make curriculum decisions.
That sounds very, very familiar. The irony: the Language 2 standard you listed is something Dad complains about students not knowing on a regular basis. Thank you for more information! (If you have a link to the take-down, I'd love to read it.)
Reply
On Common Core ... the ironic thing to me is that conservatives tend to be the ones who bitch the most about how school curriculums have been "dumbed down" (always with the implication that this has happened so that minorities can graduate ... and also not true, of course) and complain about kids not knowing "basic facts" that often receive less attention because technology makes them less pressing to know. Then they turn around and bitch about Common Core, one of the main goals of which is raising rigor.
The sad thing is that I don't think Common Core is perfect, but I feel like most of my energy related to it is explaining it and correcting misconceptions about it rather than addressing where it could be improved ( ... )
Reply
With my parents, it's not the minority angle (I've never heard that from them), but the "can't make kids feel bad about themselves for failing so let's make everything easier" angle. I just don't know that much about Common Core, so I can't even refute anything. Not that they're willing to listen even if I did it.
Ah, well. Thanks for looking!
Reply
Wow, that's a new one to me! I'm wondering the rationale behind that? Data points to the fact that, likely due to increasing exposure to information, IQs are constantly going up (the Flynn effect), so there should be no reason that kids can't keep up with a more rigorous curriculum. The argument could also be made that standards of college and career readiness will not lower because public school standards are lower. That is one of the major reasons behind Common Core: that colleges and employers were finding that high school graduates did not have the skills needed to go immediately into college or the workforce after graduation.
Now I can see the argument--and in fact have made it myself--that holding students to the Common Core standards who have not been taught by those standards for all or most of the school careers is not fair. For example, my ninth graders are the first class to be required to pass the PARCC assessment for ( ... )
Reply
Now I can see the argument--and in fact have made it myself--that holding students to the Common Core standards who have not been taught by those standards for all or most of the school careers is not fair.That is not fair at all. How are they supposed to pass something they haven't learned ( ... )
Reply
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