Christian Science Monitor had an article last week point to three states: New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington who are forging ahead linking Common Core assessments to graduation. For those of us who have been watching Common Core implementation we are not surprised by speed bumps that they are encountering: The challenges being encountered by New […]
New York Principals Send An Open Letter to Parents
An open letter signed by 545 Principals across New York State was addressed to the parents of elementary, middle, and high school students in New York. They address several points: NYS testing has increased dramatically. The tests were too long. Ambiguous questions appeared throughout the exams. Children have reacted viscerally to the tests. The low […]
Two States Delay Fully Implementing PARCC
Two states last week made moves to address Common Core concerns, specifically the implementation of the PARCC assessment. Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White announced a 10-year plan which would do the following: Test scheduling. The state will propose that in 2015 students take the PARCC test in grades 3 to 8 (online in grades […]
Santa Fe Students and Teachers Left in the Dark on Common Core
Common Core implementation has been rough on students and teachers as this story in the Santa Fe New Mexican illustrates. The story points outs struggles some high school teachers and students are having in Santa Fe, NEw Mexico. But do teachers and students know what they are getting into? Santa Fe High School math teacher Charles […]
Common Core Headaches: Not Enough Resources for Implementation
Via Politico from yesterday: Many of the states phasing in Common Core are finding that they don’t have enough staff — or cash — to train teachers, develop new curriculum materials or support online assessments aligned to the standards, according to a report due to be released today by the Center on Education Policy at […]
Schools Are Not Tech Ready for the Common Core
Ed Week reports that school districts are raising concerns about being technologically ready to give Common Core State Standards assessments to their students. Understatement of the year perhaps? Administrators say they remain uncertain about the types of devices to buy, the bandwidth they need, and the funding available for technology improvements. An initial round of […]
Spinning Failure Before It Happens
I read an article last week that made me chuckle… a common core supporter is already spinning the inevitable failure of the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Kathleen Porter-Magee writes for the Education Gadfly Daily. There isn’t a Common Core supporter in the nation who hasn’t qualified her enthusiasm for what the standards […]