November 7, 2015

Word: Common Core

Jean Jaykus taught for the Ridgefield Public Schools for 36 years in grades 3-6. She was Ridgefield’s Teacher of the Year, and won a Connecticut Celebration of Excellence Award for her curriculum project in Science and Technology. AnneMarie Surfaro-Boehme taught in the Ridgefield Public Schools for 34 years. Her teaching career includes the Early Childhood levels kindergarten, first, and second grades. She was Ridgefield’s Teacher of the Year,

Jean Jaykus & Ann Marie Surfaro-Boehme, Stamford Advocate, CT - Common Core has caused the depersonalization of the teaching profession, resulting in less effective time on teaching, slower productivity, and a rigid classroom environment which cannot be sustained. It has taken the joy of teaching and learning away because of mandated computerized lessons, assessments, excessive data recording, and inflexible block-scheduling. Instead of a mentor/collaborative relationship with administration, the binding teacher evaluation system is confrontational, preventing teachers from speaking out. Collaboration is not encouraged among colleagues because of the dictates of this national curriculum. Those in managerial positions remain controlled by the Common Core. So do our public schools, teachers and students.

Common Core has disrupted the learning process. It has replaced inspirational and innovative instruction with a curriculum that is not educationally and developmentally appropriate, disregarding the research which documents how children learn in concert with their development. Starting in kindergarten, it is pushing curriculum to levels for which students are not developmentally ready. The recent SBAC tests failed with disastrous results. Of greater concern is a new SAT test aligned with the Common Core for all students. At least Connecticut’s CAPT tests were fair and measurable, and represented what was taught in Connecticut schools. The SAT test is designed for the college-motivated student. But not every student is heading for college. What about meeting all students’ needs and America’s needs for jobs? We cannot ignore the students who want to explore diverse career paths and entrepreneurial opportunities via community colleges, tech education, manufacturing programs, and business initiatives and apprenticeships.

The underpinnings of effective teaching and learning exist inside an outstanding classroom where student needs are being met and instruction is dynamic and inspirational. Many gifted and distinguished teachers are leaving the profession, or biding their time to retirement. Experienced and creative teachers are still trying within their classrooms to do what is right for their students, but soon they will be lost to us as mentors. Districts will find it more difficult to hire well-qualified teachers. National trends show there will be a teacher shortage because fewer college students are choosing education as their career path. New teachers will be trained to follow the Common Core program as designed and not encouraged to innovate and employ multiple effective teaching methods.

The thread that is running through our schools from elementary to high school with Common Core, doesn’t align with an educator designed curriculum, and conflicts with educational pedagogy. From K-12, we have a top down, one-size-fits-all, ,set in stone, system with mandated teacher evaluations which include Common Core tests results. This Common Core system is undermining public education and disrupting the learning process for students, while wasting millions of tax-payer dollars. Connecticut is diverting public funds to promote the myth of charter schools that do not really address socio-economic inequality and the achievement gap. Everything is upside-down in education. It is time for the educational community to come together, take a stand, and speak out to decentralize public education and have local districts run local schools. It is time to fund more public magnet schools, set up inter-district partnerships and make use of our distinguished classroom teachers and retirees to facilitate school, community, and parent mentorships.

Common Core has taken over our schools impacting teaching and learning. An educated child is a free child, a responsible and independent thinker ready to take his/her place in the community. The goal for our students should be their learning, not the test results. Every child’s educational life matters, and every classroom teacher makes a difference.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

W. Edwards Deming had strong views on testing and ranking, developed over a lifetime of investigating and then teaching how to get a better result: don't test, don't rank, rely on the natural desire on the part of those doing things (learning, teaching, building widgets) to do well.

He determined that something on the order of 95% (Out of the Crisis, p. 315) of any outcome is predetermined by the structure of the system, not the individual who gets praised or blamed for that outcome.

LarryC said...

I agree with the article, with a caveat. Common Core is a symptom; the deadly virus is the U.S. Department of Education. Common Core is just one of the many diseases DoE has injected into the education system. Perhaps one day there will be a cure.