Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Video criticizing Common Core - a bit disturbing!

Ahh thank you! I will be sharing that info with the co-worker that sent me this... That was what gave us some pause.

Could someone please explain why this video exists?

I totally agree, I felt the same way when watching it.

Ditto for me.


My other big concern is how districts implement Common Core; we've already seen some school districts argue that higher standards mean they no longer need to provide gifted programming or allow subject acceleration for gifted students who need it.

In south africa we have had a national curriculum for some years. It doesn't work really. Here we see the standards continually being dropped in order to help more kids to pass. Of course here we also have the historical legacy of apartheid and everyone trying to desperately right the wrongs of the past.

What it has led to now: Majority of kids now wualify for university entrance. Most of these kids require financial aid to go. Most of them cannot cope with university level work and it is having a three fold effect at a tertiary and market level:
1. University levels are dropping now to accommodate the mass average
2. University degrees here are shifting from 3 to 4 years in an attempt to build in a bridging year - there are compulsory subjects in English, essay writing, reading comprehension etc. for first year students REGARDLESS of school leaving exam results.
3. Kids leave school totally unprepared for working life even if they choose not to study further.

I have several friends who lecture at universities and they are all saying the same things - the more our education standards become nationalised (common) across the country the less we have to show for it.

A new curriculum (again) was implemented in recent years - having read through all the documents during our decision to homeschool I realised that there are major gaps and discriminatory jumps in subject matter. It is only going to drop our national standard to the lowest common denominator. Already we have an anti- anything different policy. Private and govt schools don't do acceleration, not by subject or grade without a drastic, major song and dance all round. As one principal said to me "we don't do gifted here". Now it's getting to where we have govt schools hiking fees to be in a position to hire more teachers to try sneak in extra learning. Problem is with our new national curriculum teachers time in a school day is dictated right down to how many minutes should be spent doing what each day (including recess time!)

We even had one of our own dept of education ladies get fired because she stood up and said that the education non-whites received under apartheid laws was BETTER than what the kids are getting today.

of course, at the moment I am totally anti all formalised schooling as even our only gifted school in the country failed my boys. but honestly for me a national (common) core in a country the size of the USA seems not only a monumental undertaking but a questionable one too. If it doesn't work in small countries, how will it work in the land of the brave and the free?

Thank you for sharing your BTDT experience with a nationalized curriculum. Cui Bono?

It is my understanding this video exists because the 1st amendment to the Constitution of the USA protects each individual's right to free speech. (link- http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html) In this video, high school senior Ethan Young is exercising his right to free speech in addressing his local school board. This is a form of educational advocacy. He posted his video to youtube and it has been further distributed by others. (link- )

Hilarious, but you cannot possibly think that answers my question.

Some have found it odd that the Common Core official website does not seem to list or credit those involved in the development of standards. This does not provide transparency in government. For example, the link provided by the poster above is from Arizona, it is not from Common Core.

Bringing up the floor for those who've not been learning at even minimal levels for a variety of reasons may be but one aspect of education reform. Raising the ceiling for those who've not been learning at their challenge levels due to benign neglect in the classroom is another important aspect of education reform, and one which unfortunately may remain largely unaddressed by Common Core.

That is a fairly comprehensive explanation as to why this video exists. What aspects remain unaddressed? What further explanation do you require? If you could be more specific in your request, that may help in tailoring an answer which may best meet your needs. Or perhaps your question was rhetorical? ...facetious? Might that be why you find the answer provided to be hilarious... possibly you are mocking? Nonetheless, the answer provides a foundational background as to free speech and educational advocacy.

For those unable to view the link, TN Student Speaks Out on Common Core, Teacher Evaluations, and Educational Data () 5:21... here is an unofficial transcript. It is by sentence with one-minute intervals marked for reference if someone wants to find a particular statement in its context. This may also make it easier for posters to discuss any particular areas of disagreement, concern, or supply additional information they may have to share regarding any specific point this student made. In viewing the video again, I'm seeing this as a potentially powerful college application letter, distinguishing this young man for his writing, presentation skills, and commitment to teachers and the art of teaching and learning.

1. In a mere 5 minutes I hope to provide insightful comments about a variety of educational topics.
2. I sincerely hope you disprove the research I compiled.
3. Here’s the history of the Common Core:
4. In 2009, The National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers partnered with Achieve Inc, a non-profit that received millions in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
5. Thus the initiative seemed to spring from States when in reality it was contrived by an insular group of testing executives with only two academic content specialists.
6. Neither specialist approved the final standards and the English consultant Dr. Sandra Stotsky publicly stated that she felt the standards left students with an empty skills set, lacking literary knowledge.
7. While educators and administrators were later included in the validation committee and feedback groups they did not play a role in the actual drafting of the standards.
8. The product is a quote "rigorous preparation for career and college" and yet many educators agree that rigorous is a buzzword.
9. These standards aren’t rigorous, just different, designed for the industrial model of school. (1:00)
10. Nevertheless, Common Core emerged.
11. Keep in mind the specific standards were never voted upon by Congress, the Department of Education, State, or Local governments.
12. Yet their implementation was approved by 49 States and Territories.
13. The President essentially bribed States into implementation via Race To The Top, offering 4.35 billion taxpayer dollars to participating States, 500 million dollars of which went to Tennessee.
14. And much like No Child Left Behind, the program promises national testing and a one-size-fits-all education because, hey, it worked really well the first time.
15. While I do admire some aspects of the Core such as fewer standards and an emphasis on application and writing, it’s not going to fix our academic deficit.
16. If nothing else, these Standards are a glowing conflict of interest.
17. And they lack the research they allegedly received.
18. And most importantly, the Standards illustrate a mistrust of teachers, something I believe this county has already felt for a while.
19. I’ve been fortunate to have incredible educators that opened my eyes to the joy of learning.
20. And I love them like my family, I respect them entirely. (2:00)
21. Which is why it frustrates me to review the team in its evaluation systems.
22. These subjective anxiety-producers do more to damage a teacher’s self-esteem than you realize.
23. Erroneous evaluation, erroneous evaluation coupled with strategic compensation presents a punitive model that as a student is like watching your teacher jump through flaming hoops to try to earn a score.
24. I’ve forgot the nature of a classroom: A teacher cannot be evaluated without his students (cough) excuse me, as a… because as a craft teaching is an interaction.
25. Thus how can you expect to gauge a teacher’s success with no control for students’ participation or interest?
26. I stand before you because I care about education, but also because I care, I want to support my teachers.
27. Just as they fought for my academic achievement, so I want to fight for their ability to teach.
28. This relationship is at the heart of instruction, yet there will never be a system by which it is accurately measured.
29. But I want to take a step back; We can argue the details ad infinitum, yet I observe a much broader issue with education today. (3:02)
30. Standards-based education is ruining the way we teach and learn.
31. Yes, I’ve already been told by legislators and administrators, “Ethan, that’s just the way things work.”
32. But why? I’m going to answer that question: its bureaucratic convenience.
33. It works with nuclear reactors, it works with business models, why can’t it work with students?
34. I mean how convenient, calculating who knows what and who needs what.
35. I mean why don’t we just manufacture robots instead of students… they last longer and they always do what they’re told.
36. But education is unlike every other bureaucratic institute in our government.
37. The task of teaching is never quantifiable.
38. If everything I learn in high school is a measurable objective, I haven’t learned anything. I’d like to repeat that. If everything I learn in high school is a measurable objective, I have not learned anything.
39. Creativity, appreciation, inquisitiveness… these are impossible to scale but they’re the purpose of education… why our teachers teach, why I choose to learn. (3:59)
40. And today we find ourselves in a nation that produces workers; Everything is career and college preparation.
41. Somewhere our Founding Fathers are turning in their graves, pleading, screaming, and trying to say to us that we teach to free minds… we teach to inspire… we teach to equip… the careers will come naturally.
42. I know we’re just one city in a huge system that excitedly embraces numbers, but ask any of these teachers, ask any of my peers, and ask yourselves: Haven’t we gone too far with data? (applause)
43. I attended tonight’s meeting to share my critiques but as Benjamin Franklin quipped, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain… and most fools do!”
44. The problems I cite are very real and I ask only that you hear them out, investigate them, and do not dismiss them as another fool’s criticisms.
45. I’ll close with a quote of Jane L. Stanford that Dr. McIntyre shared in a recent speech: “You have my entire confidence in your ability to do conscientious work to the very best advantage to the students. That they be considered paramount to all and everything else.” (5:00)
46. We’re capable of fixing education and I commit myself to that task.
47. But you cannot ignore me, my teachers, or the truth: We need change but not Common Core high stakes evaluations or more robots. Thank you. (applause)