Florida State University Recommendation Report

This experience of addressing the needs of the fourth largest public school system in the country has provided me unique insights into the challenges faced by schools at the K-12 level, including those of English learners” 9, Energy and Environment – “Florida’s 26th Congressional District is home to some of our country’s greatest natural treasures, including the Everglades and Biscayne National Parks and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary” 10, Foreign Affairs – “I have the utmost respect for the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform and work every day to secure the freedoms and liberties we as Americans are privileged to enjoy. Our Congressional District is honored to be home to both the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West and Naval Air Station Key West, along with hundreds of service members who reside in South Florida” 11, Health Care – “I believe that all Americans strive for and deserve a healthcare system that is both affordable and efficient. The dramatically increasing cost of healthcare, troubling classification standards for employer provided plans, and importance of medical research are a few of my top priorities. Ultimately, affordable healthcare must be accessible to every hard-working American family. I will continue to work to ensure that our nation’s healthcare system is serving the best interests of the American people” 12, Transportation – “The need for dedicated, long-term funding for transportation and infrastructure projects is vital to alleviating the congestion problems that plague South Florida” 13, Veterans –“Our nation owes its military veterans a debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifices. Each took an oath, lived by a code, and stood ready to offer themselves in defense of their country. The lives we live today, and the freedoms we enjoy, have been preserved by their protection. Too many of these noble service

While the ESEA made no requirements for core academic subjects, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), reauthorized the 1965 act. No significant academic criterion requirements were required federally under the NCLB. The act required each state to set their own standards for achievement in the standardized testing. NCLB did, however, emphasize core academics standards to include reading, language arts, math and science for assessment of all students to receive federal funds. In 2012, President Obama allotted NCLB waivers to states that agreed “to raise standards, improve accountability, and undertake essential reforms to improve teacher effectiveness,"(NCLB, Wikipedia, ref. 107). Alabama’s waiver initiated the states adoption of the international Core Curriculum along with their own Alabama College and Career Ready Standards which includes English Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies (ACCR, par.1). According to Alabama Board of Education superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice, “Incorporating the Common Core Standards into our already highly regarded content standards brings a new level of rigor and perceptual

In 1965, Lyndon B Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in an attempt to achieve more equity among minority groups within the education system. Along with the numerous attempts to close the achievement gap came America’s first federally funded state assessments, created with the intention of holding the nation’s schools accountable for providing a quality education for every student. This legislation was revisited in 2001 by the Bush administration with the No Child Left Behind Act, which saw the achievement gap that still existed among ethnic minority groups, but also recognised a prominent gap within poverty- stricken communities. With this came state tests that were more difficult and more frequent in an attempt to further

In 2002, the No Child Left Behind act was passed, a government program that required states to regularly give out state-run tests. Children are put through many of these each year. After the law was passed, the United States fell from eighteenth to thirty-first place in the math section of the PISA (CON Standardized Tests). The No Child Left Behind act created a

The Common Core has been developed as a nationwide measurement for student progress. Officially launched in 2009 as a federal funding bill, the standards identify skills that every student residing in the United States should master in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics from kindergarten through 12th grade (Gewertz, 2015). The Common Core itself is not a curriculum, however, it identifies rigorous objectives that must be met by a school’s curriculum. The purpose is to initiate a deeper focus on developmental learning by using interdisciplinary instruction. This redefines the way that students learn because their progress is no longer assessed on the outcome of their performance, but by the process that has allowed them to reach the

Common Core State Standards is being heard throughout the education world. Many cringe when the words are spoken and many fight to support what the words stand for. Common Core was introduced in 2009 by state leaders. Common Core State Standards were developed to prepare children for the business world or the reality after grade school. “The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, also known as ELA” (About the Standards, n.d.). The goals for the standards outline what students should know before leaving his or her current grade level. “The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live” (About the Standards, n.d.). This is an ambitious goal, but with much support can be accomplished. According to Common Core State Standards Initiative (n.d.) The Common Core has been adopted by forty-two states already and is accompanied by District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity. Common Core was developed to improve the academics in society’s schools. Academics in the past years have not been successful and the United States has fallen behind international education. “One root cause has been an uneven patchwork of academic standards that vary from state to state and do not agree on what students should know and be able to do at each

Common Core is built as an infective for education to all schools, but what it is, is a policy that all students learn the same. Common Core has been adopted in forty-three states around the nation. Common Core is designed to get students ready for college and career ready from grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. “The basic definition of what Common Core is, a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy.” (Board)“The college- and career-readiness standards were developed first and then incoporated into the K-12 standards in the final cersion of the Common Core we have today.” (Practices) The construction of Common Core was by seeing which state standards were already the best, using experienced teachers, leading-thinkers, content experts, and also public feedback about their child’s education. Common Core is currently being endorsed by the White House. “Common Core is currently costing the United States eighty billion dollars.” (Board) Common Core was created by state educational chiefs and governors from forty-eight states. Common Core states that it will get students ready for their futures, but has only hurt them by not truly completing the goals set. Common Core is developmentally inappropriate for students because the cost of Common Core, it is pushed by the government for competition between states, and the strong implantation of standardized testing.

George Bush 's "No Child Left Behind Act," which passed in 2002, mandated annual standardized testing in math and reading. If schools received insufficient scores, they were punished or shut down. This fueled the construed concept that a school is only doing well if the students have adequate test scores.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was adapted in 2009, it was made to make the education system more cohesive across the country 43 states have adopted it, there were previously 45 states that used it but 2 of them have dropped it. It was designed to better prepare students for college, their careers and more. According to Burks et al. there was a stud done and 55% of instructors and teachers said there training for Common Core State Standards was insufficient. How do they expect educators to teach in a style that most they don’t even understand themselves? Common Core State Standards is an up and coming change in the education system in the U.S., like all change there is negative and positive effects it will have on education. Common core has a bug focus on students ability to transfer information, it will also help them understand what they are learning and why, however, it will lead to more standardize test which is already overused, some states will have to lower their standards and educators are already leaving the profession to avoid dealing with the change.

The National Review in May of this year in an article titled, Two Moms vs. Common Core explains: “Common Core is a set of math and English standards developed largely with Gates Foundation money and pushed by the Obama administration and the National Governors Association. The standards define what every schoolchild should learn each year, from first grade through twelfth, and the package includes teacher evaluations tied to federally funded tests designed to ensure that schools teach to Common Core. Over 40 states hurriedly adopted Common Core, some before the standards were even written, in response to the Obama administration’s making more than $4 billion in federal grants conditional on their doing so. Only Texas, Alaska, Virginia, and Nebraska declined. (Minnesota adopted the English but not the math standards.)”

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

In 2002, the No Child Left Behind act, was made into a law by President Bush. The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills, and to turn these assessments over to the government to receive funding for their school. This law implemented standardized test that all students needed to take. Many teachers felt that their teaching ability was being based off these test scores. Teachers should not be evaluated on their students performance on exams.

When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law in 2002, the legislation had one goal-- to improve educational equity for all students in the United States by implementing standards for student achievement and school district and teacher performance. Before the No Child Left Behind Act, the program of study for most schools was developed and implemented by individual states and local communities’ school boards. Proponents of the NCLB believed that lax oversight and lack of measurable standards by state and local communities was leading to the failure of the education system and required federal government intervention to correct. At the time, the Act seemed to be what the American educational system

The role of the federal government in setting education policy increased significantly with the passage by Congress of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a sweeping education reform law that revised the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. "Federal policy has played a major role in supporting standards-based reform since the passage of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) of 1994. That law required states to establish challenging content and performance standards, implement assessments…hold school systems accountable…" (Goertz, 2005, pg. 73)

According to Manley & Hawkins (2013) the Common Core State Standards “have been created on the world stage in mind” (Pg. 20, Ch. 1); however, I must humbly disagree with this claim. Although the Common Core State Standards goals are mainly abstract and schematic in structure, they are at its foundation a “one-size-fits-all approach,” which has severely impacted those students identified as having “special needs” or those who have an Individual Education Plan (I.E.P.) – these are the students eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Common Core State Standards were implemented since 2009, and I have been a Special Education teacher since 2007 for the New York City Department of Education, and I have seen