I found a noteworthy perspective in Understanding Language: Language and the Common Core State Standards. The section, called Redefining Language (p.2) refers to the typical curriculum model used in ELL programs in schools. Purpose sequenced, and form focuses, it first teach words that children will use most frequently, paying special attention to grammatical correctness. For example, students initially begin by learning the verb be, because verbs are present in every sentence. “Be” would be taught and practiced in its simple present form first, and then as students master it they would move on to learning its variant forms. The article says, lessons in this type of sequence may vary a bit but stay very similar in structure. Generally students do not move into new content until they are able to master everything at their current level.
The negative side of this approach, which just happens to look great in theory and on paper, is that it restricts curriculum to basic speech, even if the students is capable of complex reasoning and creative thinking. The article quotes Valdés (2009, 2010) as labeling this type of scenario as “curricularization” of ESL language courses. It goes on to say that studies have linked this of classroom approach to an extended learning plateau where learner stalls for extended periods of time or indefinitely. My interpretation of this is that the learners have lost motivation.
The introduction of our text book states, “Learning to read and reading
The Common Core education standards were developed by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009, with intentions of creating a more rigorous, concerted program to improve student’s math and literacy skills. Due to poor execution, teachers were left unprepared and lacking resources to teach the new curriculum to their unique students. Emphasis on standardized tests rather than learning necessary tools for the adult world leaves students unprepared for college. By interfering with developmentally appropriate curriculums set by classroom professionals, national education standards fail to reflect every students’ needs and, therefore, should not be determined by the federal government.
RL.9-10.1.1-7 Reading closely informational texts and viewing multimedia to determine how meaning is conveyed and explicit and implicit through language.
Adopted by forty-two out states in 2010, the Common Core State Standard Initiative strives to provide an educational structure which details what English language arts and mathematics should be taught from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The initiative is the federal government’s attempt to ensure all students who graduate from high school are adequately prepared to enter a two or four year college or the workforce. Despite their intentions, the Common Core has caused much controversy in the education community. The thought behind Common Core is very valid and has the potential to help students, however changes must be made to unrealistic standards and wordy statements. Common Core must first be rewritten so that the language is clear and can be easily understood by the general public. Next ask experts on childhood development and elementary school teachers to review the standards and rewrite standards they see as unneeded or irrelevant as well as unrealistic.
Read children’s books (in English and Spanish) and prepared assessments using the Common Core Literacy standards. Prepared assessments according to LightSail requirements, in an accurately and timely manner. Read assessments in English and translated them to Spanish ensuring that all translations were accurate.
The main goal of both No Child Left Behind and the Common Core State Standards are to have students perform better primary in Language Arts and Mathematics, though the Common Core State Standards does branch out into other subjects, like Science. With No Child Left Behind, there is a focus on testing on Language Arts and Mathematics and schools that do not improve would face sanctions. With the Common Core State Standards, there is still a focus on testing primary in Language Arts and Mathematics and a very detailed map on how to teach the subjects, there is also some guidance in teaching other subjects, like Science. Schools and teachers need to try use the new standards and try to cater to the needs of their students as much as
In 2009, states around the country began adopting the Common Core State Standards. These standards were put in place to ensure that each child was on the same academic level by high school graduation. As the global marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive, the United States hopes that Common Core will enable the coming generations to be better prepared. As of right now, my working thesis is Common Core is overall unsuccessful in its effort, and discontinuing or, at the least, replacing it would improve the testing scores /academic progresses, mental health, and attitude towards school of the children in the United States. My two articles, “Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys (Yet!): Motivating boys in the age of the Common Core,” by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith (2014), and “Why Massachusetts Gave Up on Common Core,” by Mary Clare Reim (2015), both provide evidence on Common Core to support my thesis.
requires students to develop higher critical thinking skills. Jobs may be on the line if students do
The new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics bring a new opportunity to the classrooms of the United States that many people view as a controversial. According to the NCTM (2013) “The Common Core State Standards offer a foundation for the development of more rigorous, focused, and coherent mathematics curricula, instruction, and assessments that promote conceptual understanding and reasoning as well as skill fluency” (par. 1). While some people believe that the Common Core State Standards may hinder progress in the classroom for many reasons including too much government control, teaching to the test, an excessive focus on language arts and math, and wasted resources, others agree with the NCTM statement about that claims the standards help increase conceptual understanding, reasoning, and skill fluency.
Common Core State Standards, or Common Core for short, has been making headlines in 2014. Not a curriculum, Common Core is a set of standards defining the skills in which students from kindergarten through 12th grade need to have each year in order to be prepared for the next grade. Creating these national academic standards was a state-led initiative that included a coalition of educators and governors. Administrators, educators and parents participated in the developement of the actual standards. Here's a look at how Common Core evolved.
Within the last couple of years the Education system was introduced to the Common Core Standards. There are many people that still do not really understand what the Common Core Standards are and what they do. I am one of those people. As an education major, I know some about the Common Core, but there are still some things that I do not understand. The Common Core is set up for Educators to use as a plan that will help them teach and assess how their students are doing. The Common Core is set up across the country. All schools have to follow the Common Core. For each grade level, they have different standards that show the teachers what their students should be able to accomplish by that grade level. Each student will all be assessed and graded
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
Forty-two states, along with the District of Columbia have adopted Common Core State Standards. These standards were created to focus only on English and Mathematics. An effect of states adopting Common Core State Standards is that all other subjects taught in school were emphasized less. History, Science, and many other subjects are no longer stressed; therefore students are limited to being proficient in only two subjects. The Common Core deprives students’ ability to be skilled in multiple areas. These standards do not provide a slight “break” from the challenging and fast paced teaching of English and Mathematics. In addition to limiting education to English and Mathematics, Jill Bowden explains that the Common Core is affecting kindergarteners by taking them “away from materials that encourage playful learning” (36). Simple, beneficial learning materials typically used in kindergarten classrooms are being replaced with workbooks and textbooks. These standards are not benefiting education; instead they suppress enjoyable learning that one could gain from free learning. All grades are affected, but especially kindergarteners. These kindergarteners are too young for authoritative standards, and should be learning concepts appropriate for a child the age of five. Standards were made “to become the backbone for student, teacher, and school accountability systems and will play an increasingly prominent role in the American educational ecosystem” (Gutierrez 78) Therefore,
The Common Core State Standards are a state attempt to create strong educational standards. The standard are created to ensure that students in the country are learning and grasping the information that are given in the classrooms for them to succeed academically. The Common Core plan included governors and education commissioners form forty-eight states and the District of Columbia. They wanted to make sure the standards are relevant, logical and sequential. For content all subjects must have critical-thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. Some positive aspects of this policy is that it prepares our students for a competitive global jobs. It can provide national connections in education. Designed to shape the best standards so that all states will be taking a step ahead in education. These standards had been created after extensive research by professional educators for excellence in education. The CCS focus on what students expectations of learning, and achievements. Educators do not need to worry that the standards will make their jobs look redundant because they are in charge of creating lessons to teach their students the content and skills that the CCS demands. The teachers do not feel that the standards are one-size-fits-all. Some negative aspects of the policy are that is a program created by solely the government. The CCS is a program put together on idyllic situations in education by individuals who have subsidy and students ahead of the learning
As our society develops and evolves over time many aspects of our lives change and we find ourselves trying to adapt to new changes. One of the major changes that we have seen over the course of the years is the advancement in technology. We have come along way in many aspects of technology such as wireless internet and we now find ourselves using modern smartphones rather the flip phones. In addition to our technology evolving over time so has the education system in the United States. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has been one of the biggest changes in the United States education system in recent
Being as equally as important as math, English was also the primary focus of Common Core, particularly the English Language Development curriculum. A new program was made that affected English language learners significantly. Those new to our country and do not speak English need to learn English in order to pass school, however learning a new language is not easy and cannot be rushed. A standard language course in high school takes four years in order to hopefully become fluent, however after one year, English language learners are expected to take their first English standardized test. Over a two-week period, they are given a series of standardized tests for reading, writing, listening, and speaking. In addition, teaching conversational English