I received an announcement this past week from the California Superintendent of Public Instruction telling us that we were now moving to the national common core standards. I find that somewhat curious as we have been told for years that California standards were the best in the land (do you recall any better?). So are the federal core standards better (only in draft form and also not available until late last week)? How could they be better, if you don’t know what they are and could not have known about the draft before the decision was made in Sacramento? Is there any evidence that these new standards are any better OR more effective than the last set?
The other item that seems to be consistently linked to these National Core Standards discussion (which I guess are our new standards in California) is that they are “internationally benchmarked.” Really? What does that mean? How were they benchmarked internationally and to which countries and competing standards? I’m not sure I understand.
Do these new standards replace the "English learner Master Plan that ensures continued growth of our English learners at an accelerated rate"?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the National Standards sound like we are going backwards. They should let all the districts review them and then comment on the pros and cons. Then be able to intertwine the existing with the new.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean new text book adoptions to be aligned with the new standards?
ReplyDeleteIf it does mean new textbooks, where will the money come from to order them all? That is quit a large sum.
ReplyDeleteIf the recent Press article is correct in reporting that students will be evaluated on their growth, then something good finally come out of proposed changes.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous, 3/15/10, 6:14 pm:
ReplyDeleteHear Hear! Tracking individual growth of students makes sense! Bringing students up to grade level proficiency is always what we strive for, but we need to celebrate personal bests as we work to help close the gap.
The educational goal of having all students prepared for college OR a career is also a positive change. Does this mean funding for vocation education will increase?
PS-Thanks to all in the community who supported education by going to today's Board meeting or honking approval for their own RUSD education.