Common Core State Standards
Peyton Robb
English 2000 – Red
Professor Drummond
25 April 2014
A Tool for Improving America’s Education System Is a girl in your neighborhood being taught the same things as a boy in another neighborhood? Is a graduating senior in Baton Rouge as prepared to get a job as a graduating senior in Minneapolis? The answer to these questions is “no,” and rightfully so. All children are unique. A student with autism or dyslexia should not be taught the same way as students who have no learning disabilities. Indiana, which adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), is now eliminating those standards because, the state asserts, Common Core “takes control of educational content and standards away from parents, taxpayers, local school districts, and states” (Volsky). The Indiana legislators want to write new standards, which are governed locally, not at the federal level. NEED A TRANSITION?? Forty-five American states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the CCSS (Common Core State Standards Initiative). These standards were designed by a group of teachers, school chiefs, administrators, and other experts. The CCSS are suggested targets in English Language Arts and Mathematics that set the skills a student should possess in order to proceed to the next level of education. There is no clear divide on the standards between Republicans and Democrats; both have expressed their concerns. But, the controversy reached its peak when the Obama administration slowly started to support the CCSS (Bidwell). Proponents of the CCSS argue that the standards ensure that all students will have the same set of skills, the standards will make sure all students are college ready, and that the standards are a new state-led effort instead of a federal effort. I believe that all states should abolish the CCSS because children with disabilities should not be expected to learn the same way as advanced students, the
English 2000 – Red
Professor Drummond
25 April 2014
A Tool for Improving America’s Education System Is a girl in your neighborhood being taught the same things as a boy in another neighborhood? Is a graduating senior in Baton Rouge as prepared to get a job as a graduating senior in Minneapolis? The answer to these questions is “no,” and rightfully so. All children are unique. A student with autism or dyslexia should not be taught the same way as students who have no learning disabilities. Indiana, which adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), is now eliminating those standards because, the state asserts, Common Core “takes control of educational content and standards away from parents, taxpayers, local school districts, and states” (Volsky). The Indiana legislators want to write new standards, which are governed locally, not at the federal level. NEED A TRANSITION?? Forty-five American states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the CCSS (Common Core State Standards Initiative). These standards were designed by a group of teachers, school chiefs, administrators, and other experts. The CCSS are suggested targets in English Language Arts and Mathematics that set the skills a student should possess in order to proceed to the next level of education. There is no clear divide on the standards between Republicans and Democrats; both have expressed their concerns. But, the controversy reached its peak when the Obama administration slowly started to support the CCSS (Bidwell). Proponents of the CCSS argue that the standards ensure that all students will have the same set of skills, the standards will make sure all students are college ready, and that the standards are a new state-led effort instead of a federal effort. I believe that all states should abolish the CCSS because children with disabilities should not be expected to learn the same way as advanced students, the
Cited: Bidwell, Allie. "The History Of Common Core State Standards." U.S. News Digital Weekly 6.9 (2014): 7. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. Common Core State Standards Initiative., 2012. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. Herbert, Marion. "Common Core 's Implications For Special Ed Students." District Administration 47.2 (2011): 10.Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. Krashen, Stephen. "THE COMMON CORE. (Cover Story)." Knowledge Quest 42.3 (2014): 36-45. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. McCluskey, Neal. "No Child Is Standard." Reading Today 31.2 (2013): 30. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. Strauss, Valerie. “Catholic scholars blast Common Core in letter to U.S. bishops.” Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. I HAVENT FINISHED THE WORKS CITED YET