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Monday, August 05, 2013

BRENDA HELLER: THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD INITIATIVE

Within the last three years, every state but Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia has adopted Common Core State Standards, a set of requirements for what elementary and secondary school children should know in each grade in math and English language arts. They comprise a dramatic centralization of authority over the nation's historically decentralized K-12 education system. One must wonder if this is the start of a federal takeover of our educational system.

The Common Core standards were initiated by private interests in Washington, DC, without any representation from the states. Eventually the creators realized the need to present a façade of state involvement and therefore enlisted the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, another DC-based trade association. Neither of these groups had a grant of authority from any particular state or states to write the standards. The bulk of the creative work was done by Achieve, Inc., a DC-based nonprofit that includes many progressive education reformers who have been advocating national standards and curriculum for decades. Massive funding for all this came from private interests such as the Gates Foundation. The state legislature never even had a chance to vote on whether or not to implement this complete change in curriculum and testing.

As people begin to realize what the Common Core State Standard Initiative is and what it will mean for our state and our children, they are growing increasingly concerned. Currently there are five states rejecting the common core initiative in part or in whole and nineteen states that are questioning full implementation. States are realizing that Common Core is another expensive unfunded mandate from the federal government. One size government programs don't always fit small rural states like North Dakota, and most importantly, North Dakota students have always had top scores in reading and math.

While our local district may continue to have control of their own curriculum, the testing consortia we belong to will be aligned with Common Core standards. Therefore, if students are expected to do well on the Common Core aligned tests, teachers will be required to teach in alignment with those standards. Virtually all textbooks in the United States are currently under revision and will contain the Common Core standards. The standards will drive what is included and emphasized in the textbooks, online materials, and the assessments. Since Common Core standards are copyrighted, states will not be allowed to make any changes and there is currently no defined course of action for any objections. Common Core requires that 85 percent of what is taught be from the Common Core curriculum, so teachers have little flexibility in teaching what they deem to be important. In essence, parents and teachers will have no recourse if they see that the new curriculum is not satisfactory in the classroom.

Also in question is the data mining that will take place with the implementation of the Common Core Initiative. It will require the state to turn over massive amounts of private family and student information via North Dakota's State Longitudinal Data System. Our state education officials are saying that this information will not be shared inappropriately, but they have no way of controlling what happens to the data. North Dakota signed a contract with the testing consortium to share all data information with them. The consortium has signed a contract with the United States Department of Education to turn over all the student information they receive, and the Department of Education has changed regulations to be able to share that information with whomever they deem appropriate, leaving North Dakota unable to control how private information is used.

Finally, there is the cost of implementation paid by responsible hard working taxpayers. Our state education officials are saying there will be no additional cost to implement this new initiative. Completely changing curriculum and testing is an expensive proposition. There needs to be greater transparency related to the cost of implementing the Common Core standards statewide. Keep in mind there is absolutely no concrete proof that these new sweeping standards will prove successful.

In closing, the Common Core Initiative should not be taken lightly or brushed off as a "new" approach to more successful outcomes. Are there too many unanswered questions? Is it too experimental to risk our children's education? Please be informed and get involved. For more information on both sides of the issue go to www.tinyurl.com/HaltCommonCoreNow North Dakota State Representative Brenda Heller, District 33 (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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