Common Core "State" Standards

[NiteRunner81]

Finally something that has me hating Bill Gates and Microsoft.

Whether you're a conservative or progressive you should be PISSED. In February of 2009 the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers under Achieve Inc. birthed a set of educational standards called the Common Core State Standards. CCSS has been heavily funded (in the upward of 150MILLION dollars) by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These are standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics. These standards are being labeled as "rigorous" but more and more parents are coming out and calling them the same thing "frustrating".

45 states have adopted the CCSS. Why? Because 2 years ago Obama gave all 50 states a way to waive the "No Child Left Behind" program. Along with that waiver each state has been given tens of millions of dollars each to fill budget gaps. These standards are being labeled as being "College and Workforce Ready".

You may be asking what the big problem is. Well, I don't have the time to get into all of them (I've been getting stomach aches over all this mess the last few days) so I'll provide some links:

http://www.arizonansagainstcommoncore.com/index.html

http://www.stopcommoncoreinoregon.com/

http://watchdogwire.com/colorado/2014/0 ... arvesting/

Every state that has Adopted CCSS is responsible for building databases that gather information about our children's medical history, educational history, behavioral history. Some schools want to go so far as to implement devices such as blood pressure sensors (and eye scanners and posture detectors and pressure mouses) that will detect if your child gets aggravated while discussion social issues such as sexual orientation or race so that they can charge parents with child neglect/abuse for possibly raising a bully. My state, Oregon, has issued HIPPA/FERPA waivers to get this information. Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Idaho will be using database software developed by Microsoft for their SHARED databases.

http://www.wiche.edu/longitudinalDataExchange/prior

Also part of CCSS is an established set of Sex Ed standards that teach kids by the second grade how to masturbate:

http://www.futureofsexed.org/documents/ ... ds-web.pdf

...............

Something tells me I'm in for a ride with this discussion here...

[Duel of Fates]

Not too much discussion from me. This is a total invasion of privacy, blatant over reach of the government, and a loss of liberty.

[haasd0gg]

PS4 is pretty sweet

[NiteRunner81]

PS4 is pretty sweet

If I had the $$$ to drop on one I would make my first youtube video of me shooting my 360 with my great grandma's 410.

[(SWGO)SirPepsi]

[The following is off-topic]:

With respect to this in one of the links posted,

Where in the "enumerated powers" of the US Constitution does it state that the federal government can dicatate education standards or assessments to the states? In the US Constitution, it does not state that the federal government has these powers, so the Common Core standards are unconstitutional and the states should have never adopted NCLB, Common Core, nor any other education madates that have come down from the federal government through the decades! We should "nullify" their actions and "restore our states rights" and "protect our state sovereignty!"

...

There is something called "fiscal federalism," wherein the Federal Government offers grant money to states and/or other institutions for development. These grants are classified as either block, categorical, etc. and are perfectly constitutional. They violate the principles of Federalism but in no way actually exceed the power proscribed to the Federal Government. Setting aside whether or not this particular policy is positive or not, the federal government is not "forcing" schools into anything. They are saying that, in order to be eligible for money from the state, you must meet these standards. That's different. It's coercion, but it's still different. And many states are doing this regardless. Most disturbingly, the states cannot and should not "nullify" federal law...I thought this was settled in McCullough v. Maryland (1819).

[(SWGO)DesertEagle]

The temporary solution is called homeschooling, but I think they will try to control that too.

However, unless they start forcing kids to take tests on every one of their "agenda-type subjects," I wish them luck. Actually, I don't.

I know a teacher whose school has started to implement this stuff, and she was telling me how horrible it is.

CCSS actually stands for Completely Cruddy and Stupid Standards.

[NiteRunner81]

I'm considering homeschooling myself. It all depends. I think I may be biting off more than I can chew. I'm raising the money I need for his materials just incase. Homeschooling with a newborn just seems a bit intense.

[[NH]Shadow]

I'm considering homeschooling myself. It all depends. I think I may be biting off more than I can chew. I'm raising the money I need for his materials just incase. Homeschooling with a newborn just seems a bit intense.

I'm homeschooled.its worked great. I think it's better than the public education system. Just my $0.02 though.

[CommanderOtto]

I don't know, but I have noticed that public schools in the U.S has excellent facilities, but in general, the education itself seems very low quality. However, universities here are literally the best in the world (in facilities and education).

[IdealistCake]

NiteRunner's links obviously come from reputable, reliable, and unbiased sources

By itself, The Common Core State Standards are solid standards that are broadly written to ensure students across the nation are learning the same skills while at the same time giving teachers flexibility in teaching them. The weak part of the CCSS overhaul is the focus on high-stakes testing that are connected to a large of a teacher's evaluations. These tests/assessments are being hastily made and implemented in order to satisfy the needs of people who control the $$$$ in this whole process and to get them ready for the 2014-15 school year. If unfair standardized testing was not so rigorously tied to the CCSS there would be immense potential to have something great here.

Unfortunately, these real criticisms of the CCSS are instead being hijacked by conservative/tea-party affiliated groups who view this process as an evil "big government" takeover while brushing aside the real benefits it could bring to 21st century learning.

States should certainly have control over some aspects of its' educational institutions. But there must some level of uniformity to make sure every learner is learning what they need. The CCSS are broad but just specific enough to make both sides satisfied in my opinion. Take a look at these standards for yourself!! Below are the English/Social Studies standards for a 9th/10th grade learner. Please tell me how these do not make sense or why a student should not be learning them?!

Key Ideas and Details:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
Craft and Structure:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5
Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6
Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.7
Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.8
Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author's claims.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9
Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.10
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.