Here is what he had to say Sunday:
Common Core solutions
In an
opinion published on May 26 in the Daily Herald titled "Keep discussing
the issue", several points were raised by Shauna DeBuck which should be
addressed regarding Utahns Against Common Core. The primary question
Shauna raised is to ask if we are complainers or have actually offered
solutions. Yes, all the time.
Our math standards prior to adopting Common Core were actually more highly rated than Common Core, and they were created here in Utah. Why did we leave them if they were better standards? Because the federal government offered states a chance at $4.35 billion if they would agree to sign onto Common Core. We applied and agreed to, but got no money. We should return to those Utah standards or adopt another highly rated set.
For ELA standards, Dr. Sandra Stotsky has offered to come to Utah and work with Utah teachers to create the best standards in the nation. She has credibility because she did this for Massachusetts several years ago and those standards helped take Massachusetts to the top of the nation in standardized test scores. (In fact, they were at the top for math as well and scoring on par with countries like Singapore and Japan.) Stotsky has recently released a set of free public domain ELA standards we could also choose to adopt which are based on the Massachusetts ELA standards but with a few revisions to strengthen them.
A question you should be asking, is why, if the USOE really cares about strong standards, are they adopting what have been determined to be mediocre standards? There is hardly a soul in Utah county that doesn't detest Investigations math, and yet how many people know that the USOE adopted the integrated version of Common Core math instead of discrete years, just so they could roll out investigations style math statewide?
Here's another solution. The federal data tracking model that Herald reporter Caleb Warnock recently wrote about is a big deal. It's intrusive and set up to share personally identifiable information on our students. Utah should terminate our P20w database right now and keep all our children's information at the local level.
You said if people aren't happy with educational options, they can always homeschool and "There isn't even an argument about costs with this choice." Really? Homeschool families pay property taxes like everyone else, but in order to homeschool, they have to pay for materials that would otherwise be provided at a local school. It's a lot more expensive and time consuming to homeschool. Yes it's an option for some, but not for single parent families who are struggling to stay afloat. What we are trying to do is make sure even the poor and needy get the best education possible in our public school system. Common Core is not that.
You state, "Why should the opponents of the CCSI remove the choice I have to send my kids to the local public school and the standards it now espouses from me just because they don't agree with this new shift?" Indeed, the question could easily be reversed upon you for forcing mediocrity upon other children. The solution? Individualize education by restoring true local control. Under Common Core, standards merely standardize children on the same content at the same pace. Standards should be a pathway which all children have the ability to progress down as fast as they are able. Unfortunately, Common Core's path doesn't lead to college and career readiness, it barely leads to a high school diploma and will likely continue to cause high remediation rates in college. Under Utah's Common Core, fewer children will complete algebra by 8th grade, and fewer will complete calculus by 12th. It doesn't have to be this way. Utah can and should lead the way with the best standards.
• Oak Norton, Highland
Our math standards prior to adopting Common Core were actually more highly rated than Common Core, and they were created here in Utah. Why did we leave them if they were better standards? Because the federal government offered states a chance at $4.35 billion if they would agree to sign onto Common Core. We applied and agreed to, but got no money. We should return to those Utah standards or adopt another highly rated set.
For ELA standards, Dr. Sandra Stotsky has offered to come to Utah and work with Utah teachers to create the best standards in the nation. She has credibility because she did this for Massachusetts several years ago and those standards helped take Massachusetts to the top of the nation in standardized test scores. (In fact, they were at the top for math as well and scoring on par with countries like Singapore and Japan.) Stotsky has recently released a set of free public domain ELA standards we could also choose to adopt which are based on the Massachusetts ELA standards but with a few revisions to strengthen them.
A question you should be asking, is why, if the USOE really cares about strong standards, are they adopting what have been determined to be mediocre standards? There is hardly a soul in Utah county that doesn't detest Investigations math, and yet how many people know that the USOE adopted the integrated version of Common Core math instead of discrete years, just so they could roll out investigations style math statewide?
Here's another solution. The federal data tracking model that Herald reporter Caleb Warnock recently wrote about is a big deal. It's intrusive and set up to share personally identifiable information on our students. Utah should terminate our P20w database right now and keep all our children's information at the local level.
You said if people aren't happy with educational options, they can always homeschool and "There isn't even an argument about costs with this choice." Really? Homeschool families pay property taxes like everyone else, but in order to homeschool, they have to pay for materials that would otherwise be provided at a local school. It's a lot more expensive and time consuming to homeschool. Yes it's an option for some, but not for single parent families who are struggling to stay afloat. What we are trying to do is make sure even the poor and needy get the best education possible in our public school system. Common Core is not that.
You state, "Why should the opponents of the CCSI remove the choice I have to send my kids to the local public school and the standards it now espouses from me just because they don't agree with this new shift?" Indeed, the question could easily be reversed upon you for forcing mediocrity upon other children. The solution? Individualize education by restoring true local control. Under Common Core, standards merely standardize children on the same content at the same pace. Standards should be a pathway which all children have the ability to progress down as fast as they are able. Unfortunately, Common Core's path doesn't lead to college and career readiness, it barely leads to a high school diploma and will likely continue to cause high remediation rates in college. Under Utah's Common Core, fewer children will complete algebra by 8th grade, and fewer will complete calculus by 12th. It doesn't have to be this way. Utah can and should lead the way with the best standards.
• Oak Norton, Highland
1 comment:
Hmmmm...interesting.
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