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The New Common Core State Standards

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Voices across the country are raising concerns about the new Common Core State Standards. But if you listen carefully to the conversations, the main concern is not about the standards, themselves, but about the consequences of high-stakes tests attached to the standards. And those concerns are well-founded. Trying to implement goals for deeper learning through an outdated testing model tied to a long list of punishments for children, educators, and schools is like pouring new wine into old bottles. It will certainly turn sour. The Common Core, for those of you unaware, is a set of “standards”, skills and requirements children need to understand by the end of the school year. Here 's the thing, The Common Core standards do not specify the …show more content…

The ultimate goal intended was to ensure that students across the country are prepared to enter college programs or the workforce after high school. Governors Association convened a panel of experts to create the guidelines and standards that became Common Core. Yet, according to Stan Karp, editor for “Rethinking Schools” magazine and education activist, said that “the standards were drafted largely behind closed doors by academics and assessment “experts,” many with ties to testing companies”, Karp also stated that “In all, there were 135 people on the review panels for the Common Core. Not a single one of them was a K–3 classroom teacher or early childhood professional” (Karp 2014). The initiative 's purpose is to implement consistent, nationwide education standards in English and math, with the goal of helping ensure that high school graduates across the country are ready for college or for employment. Although Common Core isn 't a federal law, the federal government supports it by providing grants that are only available to those states that have adopted its guidelines and standards. The joint issue for the common core would the new wave of high-stakes Common Core tests. What has been the norm when it comes to test prep will no longer be enough. This means that students will take a benchmark assessment at the beginning of the year, with the option of ongoing progress monitoring throughout the year, and then a final summative assessment towards the end of the

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