Common Core Issues

Common Core Pressure

A recent article in USA Today addressed the issue of the added pressure on schools and students to improve test performance under the new federal Common Core Standards. The New York State Commissioner of Education recently released student test results in Reading and Math for students in grades 3-8. The reported results showed a significant decline in student scores. “Only about one in three in the tested grade levels met or exceeded the designated proficiencies.” The Common Core program has established a new baseline of what is considered proficient. New York and Kentucky are the only two states to release their results.

We are dealing with an oft discussed issue here. One the one hand statistics indicate that American school students are falling behind their contemporaries in other countries. Business executives complain that graduates are under prepared for today’s work force. On the other hand political scientists note that this yet another federal government incursion into public education, something that has been relegated to states under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution.

In some states student promotions are keyed to performance on these tests and of course this opens up additional argument are about teaching skills, student readiness and socio –economic factor in school performance. As the new school year begins, the Common Core issue is just an additional issue for teachers to deal with.