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    parentologyco, Smartlady60, petercgeelan, eterpstra, Valib90
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    #210917 02/15/15 01:42 PM
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    indigo Offline OP
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    As parents of gifted kids realize the one-size-fits-all approach of common core may be harming their children's education, others are also becoming aware that common core is sub-optimal, and proposing different directions.

    Some stories in the news:

    1. Growing number of parents "opt out" of tests that they say damage their kids
    Cleveland dot com
    February 15, 2015
    Patrick O'Donnell, The Plain Dealer

    2. Jindahl rails against common core
    CNN
    February 05, 2015
    Jeremy Diamond
    Quote
    Though he first supported Common Core, lauding in 2012 standards that "will raise expectations for every child," Jindahl has become a prominent and vocal advocate for repealing the standards.
    Jindahl has offered several ideas for education reform:
    Jindahl emphasizes teacher tenure, school choice in sweeping education reform
    The Daily Signal
    February 09, 2015
    Ken McIntyre

    3. Award winning teacher Stacie Starr quits, cites common core as reason.
    Elyria High's Stacie Starr announces resignation
    The Chronicle-Telegram
    February 10, 2015
    Lisa Roberson
    Quote
    Gasps of disbelief followed the announcement made during an education forum aimed at unraveling for parents the intricacies of the standardized testing system. Starr was at the podium, delivering a talk on how special education students are suffering under the new system based on Common Core standards and more rigorous assessments. She said as a veteran intervention specialist at Elyria High School, she could no longer watch silently from within the confines of a structured school day.

    Instead, she is leaving education in the traditional sense.

    “I am going to teach in a different way,” she proclaimed.

    Starr wants to start an after-school mentoring program for at-risk students in hopes of saving them from the school-to-prison pipeline.

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    Thanks for posting. I've been keeping up with the pros and cons and how it's affecting this year's education for my DS.

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    Flip-flop. Jindal was for it before he was against it.

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    indigo Offline OP
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    Indeed. Some may say that based on what information was available at the time, I was once for it, as well. Live and learn... ?

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    indigo Offline OP
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    Standardized testing is now underway.

    Common Core Testing Trouble: Computer problems, student protests more
    Valerie Strauss
    Washington Post
    March 2, 2015

    Originally Posted by article
    I continue to personally and professionally believe that to administer PARCC this year is absolutely not in the best interests of our students. However, given the threat [of financial sanctions]...

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    I don't see how the testing issues are anything but loosely related to Common Core. I'm not aware that anywhere in the CCSS it says that students must be evaluated with these tests; though having uniform standards makes it easier to engage in uniform testing, it is neither required, nor a new issue. The testing has been going on since NCLB.

    Moreoever, I don't think the CCSS require any particular impact on gifted education. They simply show what children should have learned BY the end of a grade; not what they must learn IN that grade. This situation is no different then before the CCSS, when most states already had their own standards but nobody ever heard about them on the news. Districts having chosen to claim the CCSS requires them to squelch gifted education on account of the CCSS are either acting in ignorance or because they have a new excuse to do what they wanted to do anyway.

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    The CCSS is absolutely tied to testing. It's a talking point to say that the two are separate. Reformers are trying to distance themselves from PARCC because the test is so flawed and the over testing is causing national protests.

    The testing has become ridiculously burdensome (and outrageously expensive). Here is an example of why it is a problem:
    Right now high school kids are enrolled in AP classes. These classes are accelerated and move quickly. The AP exams are in April. The testing will be going on in March and April. The teachers won't be able to instruct the students during testing so the students have to teach themselves at home in order to be prepared for the AP exams. They also have other homework and extracurriculars.

    The CCSS are now more involved (and require different methodology) so teachers take longer to meet the minimum standards. This slows the pace not just day to day but year to year. Parents have to be really savy to know how to work the system to keep their children accelerated. It can be done, but it's exhausting. This is why it hurts bright students. It's definitely a top down approach to close the achievement gap.

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    Originally Posted by NGR
    The CCSS is absolutely tied to testing. It's a talking point to say that the two are separate. Reformers are trying to distance themselves from PARCC because the test is so flawed and the over testing is causing national protests.

    The CCSS are now more involved (and require different methodology) so teachers take longer to meet the minimum standards. This slows the pace not just day to day but year to year.

    Yes, the two are separate. The standards were developed as benchmarks saying, "Here's what a group of experts, aided by dozens of people and thousands of comments, agree on what kids should know BY THE END of a certain grade."

    The tests are made by Big Ed companies trying to increase their profits, and they exist because some non-experts decided that bubble test are America's solution to a poor education system. The same companies write bad textbooks that were one inspiration for the Common Core.

    The people who led the Common Core effort were well aware of the shortcomings of the textbooks and the fact that teacher education is flawed.

    The standards are good. They're what we need. But they've been politicized by a number of different special interest groups and undermined by a decision to let Pearson et al. write bad tests.

    The standards are no more tied to testing than geometry or US History is tied to testing.

    Personally, I'm incredibly frustrated that Americans are so easily swayed by the lies and distortions.

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    indigo Offline OP
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    Regarding textbooks:
    The common core official website (corestandards.org) indicates that textbook developers have been provided with "Publisher's Criteria" for English Language Arts and Literacy, and also for Math.

    Regarding standardized testing:
    The common core official website states -
    Originally Posted by core standards webpage
    "The new standards also provide a way for teachers to measure student progress throughout the school year and ensure that students are on the pathway to success in their academic careers."
    and
    Originally Posted by core standards webpage
    ... validation committee, which reviewed the standards and found them:
    • A sound basis for eventual development of standards-based assessments.
    Statements such as these, along with the statements about more students achieving "college and career readiness" under common core seem to indicate:
    1) the developers of the common core standards anticipated development of common-core specific standardized testing,
    2) the developers of the common core standards endorse the use of these standards-based assessments to measure progress in achieving the common core standards throughout the school year.

    Regarding gifted kids:
    The common core official website directs interested parties to the website commoncoreworks.org for additional information. This website contains "Parent Roadmaps" containing detailed, grade-specific expectations and progressions for the common core ELA & math. Parents could utilize these documents to compare their gifted child's demonstrated skills with the grade-specific expectations.

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    Regarding assessment, they are absolutely separate things. I agree that PARCC testing seems to have some serious flaws, and that a computerized testing system brings up a lot of technical and practical concerns. But PARCC testing is a choice made by certain states. NY common core testing, while certainly not perfect, is not online or computerized (at least not in our district), does not use only multiple choice (indeed, there is a lot of writing required) and is not done here for the high school courses (read- those with AP exams) until June. There are problems with that timeline, as well, but not the time conflicts pointed out by those protesting the PARCC tests.

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