Comments on: Common Sense Vs. Common Core: How to Minimize the Damages of the Common Core

By: campj

campj — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 01:59:35 +0000

So, I keep hearing how common core creates thinkers and is more rigorous then most school curriculums. However, I have noticed that in our state, which used to encourage/have kids go through Algebra in 8th grade has now switched Algebra to 9th grade. Common core lowered our standards and puts kids at a disadvantage coming out of high school not taking calculus. How can this be better for our kids?

By: Evelyn

Evelyn — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:33:43 +0000

The problem is that we are, and have been trying to fix what was not broke when this country started out.
If you look back at the children 200 years ago, our kids can’t hold a candle to them.
Sure we have technology, but our kids depend on it. They average teenager is a walking cell phone/mp3, and they are more concerned about the next new iphone, not the state of the country that is on the verge of inslaving them. Infact they will let themselves be inslaved to get the next new iphone.
Our kids have already been dumbed down, and endoctrinated.

By: The EDifier - Center for Public Education

The EDifier - Center for Public Education — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:34:53 +0000

[...] get any love anymore. In a strange alliance of purpose, critics from both the right and the left are calling on states and educators to reject them, albeit, for different [...]

By: B2slugger

B2slugger — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:03:10 +0000

Teachers should be smarter than to react in a negative manner. The only way CCSS will save schools is if teachers make a change. Other standards have failed, but it was because too many teachers did not implement change. Common Core language is great, and I have made terrific gains with my students since applying the new standards. If you are a teacher that does not like it, you should retire or go teach in a private school. We challenge our kids to open their minds, but can we do the same?

By: Mr. Lynch

Mr. Lynch — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:25:16 +0000

People seem to have missed one of the positive features of the common core: if students enter college knowing a lot of the same things, they will by definition form a more cohesive culture (i.e., the “cultural literacy” idea of Hirsh, et. al.) This isn’t to say that they will be clones of each other, but does suggest that they will have some guaranteed common points of reference when it comes to history and literature. It has been frustrating to me to enter an academic setting in which no two people have read the same book. Everybody wants to talk about what they have read, and when that shared experience is not present, they are deprived of a certain kind of intellectual comraderie.

This can be a boon, particularly if the core is not the “be all and end all” but truly a minimum, *beyond which students and schools are expected to go*.

By: Speakers Bureau » Blog Archive » Five Questions to Ask about the Common Core* - Yong Zhao

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:55:24 +0000

[...] on the future of our children. While I have written about the Common Core many times before (e.g., Common Core vs Common Sense, Common Core National Curriculum Standards) I wanted to ask all of us to ask again if the new [...]

By: Five key questions about the Common Core standards

Five key questions about the Common Core standards — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:00:35 +0000

[...] on the future of our children. While I have written about the Common Core many times before (e.g., Common Core vs Common Sense, Common Core National Curriculum Standards). I wanted to ask all of us to ask again if the new [...]

By: Common Sense for the #CommonCore: Weekly Roundup (weekly) | Engaging Educators

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:32:27 +0000

[...] Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Common Sense Vs. Common Core: How to Minimi… [...]

By: Speakers Bureau » Blog Archive » Is There Evidence to Support the Common Core: My Questions to New York Education Commissioner King - Dr Yong Zhao

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:34:10 +0000

[...] (my 2010 article with Chris Tienken, 2009 article in the J. of Scholarship and Practice, and my recent blog post) pointed out that these claimed benefits are not supported by evidence while the damages (or [...]

By: Robert Evans

Robert Evans — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 08:43:17 +0000

@Ben Heslop

“1) Add a metric called ‘balanced syllabus’ – meaning to ask the kids whether they feel they are taught a diverse range of subjects. This can be done very simply – ask them how bored they are in class. While subjective, bored kids are probably being force-fed. This metric can be published alongside all the others.”

Diversity for some is boredom and mind killing, even though for others it is less boring. I hated the extra “diversity” in high school, because it forced me to make class choices which ultimately had a negative effect on my life.

Had it not been for the course requirements I could have graduated high school with an associates degree after two years of dual enrollment. But that involved choosing between dual enrollment or science and math courses (9 classes per year at college, 12 classes per year in high school, so many mandatory hours in certain courses), and I unfortunately chose the science and math.