Is Common Core a Bad Apple?

Last Thursday evening, I attended an information meeting at Hazelwood Central regarding the implementation of Common Core in the state of Missouri. DESE, Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, sponsored the event offering one meeting in each Congressional District all across the state. This particular meeting had about 70 or more people in attendance. The purpose of DESE holding the meeting was to address mounting concerns from the public regarding the acceptance of the Common Core State Standards.  

If you’ve never heard of Common Core, you’re not alone. Common Core is a set of educational standards that are being adopted state-by-state all across our nation. So far 45 states, the District of Columbia, and four American territories have adopted these standards. Even though a handful of states that haven’t yet adopted Common Core, many of them have programs similar to Common Core. One example of a state like this is Texas with their CSCOPE program.

Those who oppose Common Core worry that the adoption of these standards is a way to push for a nationalization of our educational system.

According to the Constitution, education is an area that has long been delegated to the states. Because of this, each state until recently has set their own individual standards. Many opponents of Common Core also fear the “data collection” component of Common Core, as they say that over 400 data points of information could be collected on our kids.

At the meeting, a presentation on Common Core was given by Dr. Tim Ricker, the Area Supervisor of DESE for the St. Louis Region. The information that was provided was labeled by the presenter as a “non-specific,” as it was just an overview on Common Core. We were also told that a “script” for the meeting must be followed in order that the same information would be presented at all eight of the DESE meetings across the state. 

Cell phones and other devices were asked to be shut off, but I was given special permission to record the meeting. During the presentation we watched videos of testimonies of State School Board Members and Missouri Teachers about how Common Core will impact our kids in a positive way. Something I heard over and over was that "informational text" (non-fiction) will be stressed in order to help prepare our kids for "participation in our global economy.” The goal of Common Core is to better prepare kids for college and entering the workforce. It was stated at the meeting that around 60% of Missouri’s High school graduates have to repeat remedial classes when they enter college. One of the hopes for Common Core is that implementation will help eliminate this need for repeat classes. 

We were told that the Common Core State Standards are supposed to provide Equity, Opportunity, and Clarity to students. They are said to be more “rigorous” and easier to understand than our former state standards. An overview of the Standards can be found the on the Common Core webpage, but I will warn you, finding complete information on the site is difficult. http://www.corestandards.org/

The thing that disturbed me during this meeting was the inability of the public to ask questions openly. I have attended a gamut of public meetings and this is the first where the public was not allowed a real forum to speak on the matter at hand. During the presentation, I tried to ask one question to obtain some clarification on a point, but was completely ignored by the presenter. Instead of being allowed to ask questions, we were told we would be broken up into groups later for smaller, more intimate discussions. Once divided into tables, each table had a Common Core “facilitator.” This facilitator helped to “steer” the small group discussion around that of Common Core. Our table facilitator repeatedly said that she was not “an expert” and therefore couldn’t answer our specific questions, only jot them down.

When we were broken down into groups we were asked to do two things: 1. We were supposed to write down one thing we liked about the Common Core State Standards, and 2. We were also supposed to write down any questions we had regarding CCSS. The clincher however, was that as a group we had to come to complete “consensus” regarding our questions and statements before they could be written down.

A friend of mine wanted to know more about students having to take remedial classes in college, but was told by our facilitator that that question didn’t related directly to Common Core. After the group discussion was concluded, the facilitator would read our concerns and comments aloud. We were told that our questions would not be answered that evening but instead would be submitted to DESE and addressed online. As of this writing, no questions have been answered on their website, www.dese.mo.gov. 

I am no longer a public school parent, as we now homeschool. However, had I been a parent at this meeting with their child attending a local public school, I’d have been much more upset about how this meeting was handled. The lack transparency and of meaningful public involvement was mind-blowing.  Despite the room being full of administrators, school board members, teachers, and district employees, and for a district that has already begun implementing Common Core, I didn’t buy the line that there was no one present who was not “qualified enough” to answer questions on Common Core. 

After the meeting was adjourned, I approached Dr. Tim Ricker to address my concerns. Although I couldn’t get him to answer any of my questions directly, I was able to get him to verify several statements that I read to him. Dr. Ricker confirmed these facts to me regarding Common Core:

1. I was told there was a “Consortium” that consisted of State Governors and Education Commissioners who sat down together to write the Common Core State Standards. From the Common Core website, “The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The standards were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts, to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce.”
   
   
2. DESE, our State School board voted to accept CCSS standards in 2010. We did NOT adopt these standards through the involvement of the Missouri legislature.
   
   
3. For accepting the CCSS standards, Missouri received a waiver or exemption from the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) requirement that all Missouri students be 100% “proficient” by 2014. It was unclear for howl long we would remain exempt from this portion of NCLB.
   
   
4. Missouri has accepted the Common Core State Standards in their entirety. As a result, Missouri can adapt the curriculum and is therefore not subject to the copyright on these materials.
   
   
5. Missouri has only started to apply the Math and Language Arts segments of Common Core. The remaining state standards remain the Missouri Learning Standards. Eventually all standards will be updated standards to reflect CCSS as they are written. Examples of these areas would be science, social studies, and fine arts.
   
   
6. Math and Language Arts Common Core testing will begin to replace MAP testing in those areas starting this year. Eventually Common Core testing will completely replace the MAP testing.
   
   
7. Officials at this time do not know exactly how Common Core testing will be implemented as deciding these testing portions are still “in process.” The state is also not sure how they will pay for the additional expenses of Common Core testing, as most of the testing will be accomplished online. It is unknown at this point whether or not these expenses will be passed on to our local schools.
   
   
8. Missouri has not yet signed up for the data collection portion of Common Core. As of this writing, about 20 % of the Common Core states are participating in this facet of CCSS. I was told that our schools already collect a massive amount of data on students, but only information regarding special school district students is turned over to the federal government.