Common Core Concerns

I've bookmarked, favorite, liked, shared, tweeted and retweeted many articles about the dangers of Common Core. Parents, teachers and administrators need to be informed.  Here are some links that reveal Common Core concerns and why it should not be used. 
Many of these links reflect my vocation as a Lutheran high school English teacher and dept. chair:


 

• Common Core and Progressive Domination of Math Instruction  (Added June 8, 2015)
• Kindergarten and the Common Core State Standards (Added 1/14/2015)
• University of Arkansas, Department Head and 21 Century Chair in Education Reform, Jay P. Greene testifies before the US House and explains various problems with CCSS.  (Added 1/5/2015)
• Top Ten Things Parents Hate About Common Core by Joy Pullmann (Added 9/24/2014)

What the Common Core Will Do To Colleges by Peter Wood.  (Added 4/11/2014)

• Dumbed-Down Core: Available evidence indicates Common Core adherents may be disappointed in all of these expectations. (Added 3/12/2014)

• Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios  corrects some of the myths about Common Core. Excellent video discussion. (Added 2/19/2014)

• How Common Core Devalues Great Literature  by Anthony Esolin, Crisis Magazine. (Added 2/6/2014)

• Full facts needed on the Common Core. "The (Washington) Post certainly makes clear how some states are trying to cover the Core’s stench with perfume rather than attack its rot." (Added 2/1/2014)

• Here is a presentation by Neal McCluskey, the associate director of Cato’s Center for Educational Freedom, explaining that Common Core is neither "voluntary" or "state led." (Added 2/1/2014)

• Obamacore: The Nationalization of K-12 Education: In 2005, Massachusetts students became the first to score best in the nation in all grades and categories on the NAEP assessments. Since then, they have repeated the feat each time the tests have been administered....Yet strategies embraced by Common Core’s proponents are the opposite of those that worked in Massachusetts. The Bay State’s success was based on a golden triangle of rigorous academic standards, the high quality tests students must pass to graduate from high school, and teacher testing all aligned to the same liberal arts-rich content. (Added 1/28/2014)

• Common Core Education Standards Face Bipartisan Backlash.  Here is an interesting article from NPR.  (Added 1/28/2014)

• I presented information from this paper to Lutheran North's faculty. Dr. Mark Bauerlein and Dr. Sandra Stotsky are voices that need to be heard.  How Common Core's ELA Standards Place College Readiness at Risk.

• “We are a very naive people. Everyone was willing to believe that the Common Core standards are ‘rigorous,’ ‘competitive,’ ‘internationally benchmarked,’ and ‘research-based.’ They are not.”  Dr. Stotsky reveals more Common Core dangers.

• History professor, Dr. Moore explains why Common Core is “window dressing” to make us think students are reading full works of classic literature. 

• Jason Zimba, one of the three drafters of the Common Core math standards, explains why CCSS aren’t designed to prepare students for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) studies, but also that they’re not designed to get a student into any selective college, even in a non-STEM discipline.

• Oakdale Academy also has a list of great Common Core links

• I just ordered Dr. Moore's book, The Story-Killers: A Common-Sense Case Against the Common Core.  I'll give it a read and let you know what I think.

• "The numerical demands for 50-50 or 70-30 literature vs. informational text should be eliminated. They serve no useful purpose and they have no justification." -Diane Ravitch

• Dr. Terrence O. Moore's ACW AWC Family Foundation lecture: "Story-Killers: How the CommonCore Destroys Our Minds and Souls."

More links are on their way.  Check back soon