Jean Ann Guliano: Battle Lines Drawn Over Common Core Standards
Saturday, June 01, 2013
There are some interesting battle lines being drawn, and some unlikely alliances developing, over the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS for short or better known as just the Common Core). For those not heavy into the education field, here is a brief overview and history.
Common Core: A brief history
In a nutshell, the Common Core Standards are a uniform set of English and math guidelines that are meant to be adopted by all states. Ultimately, whether in Maine or New Mexico, students will essentially learn the same content in math and English throughout the country.
For a full history, you really have to go back to the start of the standards based reform movement under President Ronald Regan following the 1983 report A Nation at Risk. In 1989, the first of several education summits attended by all 50 state governors and then President George H. W. Bush, resulted in the adoption of national education goals including content standards that could be adopted by all states. In 1994, President Bill Clinton also adopted a standards based education policy.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn 1996, the summit convened once again with 40 governors and 49 corporate executives. The business leaders expressed concern over competing in a global economy where tests showed other countries outperforming the US in basic academic skills. At the 1996 summit, they created a mission:
“To start a national effort to establish high academic standards, assessment and accountability and improve the use of school technology as a tool to reach high standards.”
To help accomplish this goal, the business leaders created an organization called Achieve to serve as an independent “clearinghouse for standards information and benchmarks and public reporting.” The premise was that students who perform well in high school will be rewarded with good career prospects and college admissions. Hence, the ‘college and career’ focus that are the current buzz words for education reform. Businesses dangled an additional incentive to states indicating that they would place ‘high priority on the quality of a state’s academic standards and student achievement when determining business location decisions.”
In 2001, No Child Left Behind was created to implement standards based reform requiring high standards and the creation of student assessments to measure basic skills. However, standards and assessments would be determined by the states. That same year, Achieve joined with other educational and business organizations to launch theAmerican Diploma Project (ADP). In 2004, the ADP issued a report called Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma that Counts. This report identified the benchmarks in English and math that high school graduates need for success in college or career.
The development of the common core standards by Achieve, the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School officers began in 2009; and in 2010, theCommon Core State Standards were officially released. Funding for the CCSS and test development was provided by participating states, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and others. Achieve also served as project manager for creating the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers or PARCC. The PARCC tests have currently been adopted by 22 states including Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 20 states have adopted the Smarter Balanced Assessments, including Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
While states were given the option of voluntarily adopting the Common Core, President Obama took it one step further by tying the adoption of the Common Core Standards as a requirement for receiving Race to the Top funding or waivers from No Child Left Behind. As cash strapped states were eager to gain additional funding, most states signed on board without any lengthy review period or debate. State implementation for the common core is expected by the 2014-15 school year. As of today, 45 states have formally adopted the Common Core standards.
So, what’s the controversy?
Groups as diverse as the Brookings Institute, progressives such as Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier, the libertarian Cato institute and the conservative Heritage Foundation, have all expressed strong opposition to the Common Core. A group of Conservative Republican governors and Tea Party groups have also strongly criticized the Common Core and have started mobilizing to oppose it. A few states have already withdrawn from adopting and a few more are under pressure to do so as well.
For example, the Brookings Institute, citing its 2012 Brown Center Report, stated that while a consistent set of standards is positive, implementation of the CCSS and assessments is not likely to improve student achievement. More importantly, implementation of the standards and assessments would not improve the achievement gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students. They advocate a stronger emphasis on literacy in order to close the achievement gap.
On the right, conservative groups believe this is top down, national education agenda forced upon them by the Obama administration to take control of educational decisions away from states and local school districts. Some are even comparing the Common Core to Obama Care rejecting it as a top down, federal, expensive educational mandate. Others are calling it another unfunded mandate since it requires an extensive amount of technology upgrades to implement. Republican law makers in 9 states have introduced legislation to temporarily block standards from being implemented. Republican governors in Pennsylvania and Indiana have “paused” implementation.
Push back on implementation
Yet, in most states, the Common Core is moving forward at lightning speed and states are still expected to fully implement them by 2014-15. The latest push back revolves around requesting more time for implementation and a moratorium on testing accountability.
Last month, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers called for a moratorium on the consequences of the high-stakes testing aspect of the common core. She stated that students and teachers will be unfairly penalized since they have not been given adequate time to absorb and prepare proper curriculum around the standards.
“When states and districts get the alignment right – moving from standards to curriculum to classrooms, to feedback and improvement—student success will follow. But until then, a moratorium on stakes is the only sensible course.”
She also indicated that while teachers in general support the Common Core, they believe implementation has been rushed. Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association, also voiced support for at least a two-year moratorium.
The same day that Weingarten urged for the moratorium, Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, was speaking to the American Educational Research Association, a group that promotes research to improve educational quality. The group has not taken a strong stand on the Common Core but has been critical of high-stakes testing. Duncan acknowledged to the group that the new Common Core standards and assessments will create “a couple of choppy years.”
When asked about the moratorium on implementation of the common core, he answered:
“We understand this is a difficult tough time of transition. We’re spending a huge amount of time listening to ideas about how to do it.”
Just this week, in a joint statement from the National School Board Association, American Association of School Superintendents, National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, also issued a joint statement urging ‘adequate time” to implement the standards. The letter also urged delay in the use of assessment for federal accountability until the CCSS are fully implemented stating,
“Failure to consider this reality will result in the test-and-punish cycle being repeated, with the same disappointing results of NCLB-era accountability.”
Pushback on high stakes testing
In the same speech before the National Educational Research Association, Duncan also acknowledged the shortcomings of current standardized tests and that the current testing system isn’t working. He stated:
“State assessments in mathematics and English often fail to capture the full spectrum of what students know and can do. Students, parents, and educators know there is much more to a sound education than picking the right answer on a multiple choice question.”
“Some schools have an almost obsessive culture around testing, and that hurts their most vulnerable learners and narrows the curriculum. It's heartbreaking to hear a child identify himself as "below basic" or "I'm a one out of four."
Yet, he hoped that a new generation of assessments surrounding the Common Core would net better results.
Testing companies, educational experts, researchers, civil rights and medical groups continue to insist that using any standardized test scores to evaluate teachers and principals or determine graduation is wrong as the results are only “one measure of performance” and in some cases not reliable.
The national grass roots revolt against high stakes testing continues as students (with support from parents) are opting out of the standardized tests. In other cases, teachers are refusing to administer the tests, and school boards, most notably in Texas, are passing resolutions against high-stakes tests. The Providence Student Union gained national attention for having adults take the NECAP test (which many failed), holding vigils at Board of Education meetings, testifying at the General Assembly and issuing their own state of education speech.
Boston based Fairtest.org has been one of the leaders in the fight against high stakes testing garnering nearly 18,000 signatures from individuals and organizations opposed to high stakes testing with their National Resolution Against High Stakes Testing. Executive Director Dr. Monty Neill, shared concerns specifically about the use or misuse of the Common Core Assessments:
“The Common Core exams will not solve the problems of the overuse and misuse of standardized tests. They will require more tests than does the federal No Child Left Behind Law. The misuse for evaluating schools (required by NCLB) and teachers (required in NLCB waivers) will continue, and states may misuse CC tests as a graduation requirement (half the states now have such requirements).
FairTest's concern is that whatever standards a state may have, the assessments must support and measure high-quality learning. Those who think the Standards represent that will be disappointed when the tests do not, but the pressure to teach to the test continues.
FairTest supports a moratorium on all high-stakes uses of CC exams. However, the goal should not be simply to delay the use of CC tests, but rather to use the time to strengthen the rapidly growing movement against high-stakes testing and to create the opportunity for states to develop and use high-quality assessment systems.”
Push back against the push back
With all of the push back against the Common Core and the implications of high-stakes assessments, the one group that is not giving up any ground on repeal of the Common Core or moratoriums on testing is the Florida based Chiefs for Change. Chiefs for Change consists of 11 current and former state education commissioners including Rhode Island Commissioner, Deborah Gist and Maine Commissioner, Stephen Bowen. Chiefs for Change is associated with The Foundation for Excellence in Education an organization founded in 2008 by former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, to work with decision makers on “developing, adopting and implementing reform policies.” The Foundation provides funding and staffing support for Chiefs for Change.
The mission statement for Chiefs for Change:
“Chiefs for Change is committed to putting children first through bold, visionary education reform that will increase student achievement and prepare students for success in colleges and careers.”
Last week, in a letter to Secretary Duncan, they sharply rejecting any consideration of a moratorium on implementation of both the standards and the accountability measures related to testing on those standards:
“The members of Chiefs for Change reject any calls for a moratorium on accountability. This position overstates the challenge and undervalues our educators. A one-size-fits-all suspension of accountability measures denies the unique circumstances each state faces. We will not relax or delay our urgency for creating better teacher, principal, school and district accountability systems as we implement more rigorous standards.”
Echoing the same stance, the Council of Chief State School Officers also issued a statement this week rejecting a moratorium on accountability:
"We need to continue to move forward in our efforts to ensure that every child receives a solid education, and that we are providing high quality supports to educators," said CCSSO Executive Director, Chris Minnich. "CCSSO specifically rejects a moratorium on accountability, and at the same time, we remain committed to being thoughtful about how we evaluate teachers and use test results in school consequences."
Chiefs for Change praised CCSSO’s statement. It is clear that state education commissioners intend to move forward with Common Core without delay or compromise.
Another group firmly in the no moratorium category is DFER or Democrats for Education Reform. DFER is a political action committee that has encouraged Democrats to support education reforms such as school choice, charter schools and ending seniority based teacher layoffs. The group has often been at odds with its own party which has traditionally supported teachers’ unions. The same could be said for Jeb Bush who, as a vigorous supporter of education reform, finds himself at odds with the conservative wing of his party over the Common Core.
So, who will win the war?
The first battle will clearly be about the delay in using Common Core test scores for accountability purposes until the Standards can be fully implemented. That decision may ultimately lie directly with the Obama Administration and Secretary of State Duncan. And, the decision needs to be made fairly soon. As many states struggle with funding the implementation of the CCSS, with very expensive technology updates combined with a reduction of federal education funding, state governors and legislators may end up asking for the delay, as well. Or, as some states have done, “pause” implementation.
The second battle will surround whether or not the Common Core will be rejected or accepted state by state. Rejection may increase, particularly if there is an overly confusing, burdensome or “choppy” first few years of implementation. In New York City, area principals expressed strong concerns about the implementation of the test recently given to students. The New York Times editorial board also urged caution in an editorial earlier this week.
Right now, both the Common Core and standardized testing have huge PR problems. Even the corporations who pushed for these standards have to be concerned that the whole thing could be a complete disaster if not implemented correctly. Testing companies, as well. Perhaps they might all concede to a slower implementation with less punitive accountability measures in the initial stages, particularly if that means the implementation will go forward.
Ultimately, the war will be won if we as a nation continue to improve how we educate all of our children - and not just those who will end up working for multi-national corporations. Knowledge and skills for the global economy is one way to improve. Making sure every child has solid literacy and math skills is another. Improving creative, critical or analytical thinking may be of even greater importance, but something that cannot be judged by a standardized test. Or, perhaps, if I dare to quote Yeats, ‘’Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
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