Discussion Response

Instructions

Measuring the effects of Common Core standards has been difficult, as the initial effects seem to have faded and even those effects cannot be tied directly to the standards’ implementation. Common Core has been controversial since the beginning. While some people hailed it as a much-needed educational reform that would correct equity issues and improve education in a global society, others saw it as an infringement on state’s rights issues, especially in light of way it was tied to federal funding. Educators disagreed on the specifics of the standards, while parents were frustrated at the way the math standards especially made helping with homework difficult. The Common Core is a set of academic standards, expectations for what students should know and be able to do at every grade level in language arts and math.

Based on the information found in the article “Is Common Core “Working”? And Where Does Common Core Go From Here” (Polikoff, 2017), it seems as if there’s no substantial evidence to prove whether or not CCSS are working.  Polikoff (2017), stated that focusing on the implementation index, there were no evidence found to prove that states which implemented the CCSS were seeing great achievement gains.

  According to Best (2013), “to be effective, the CCSS should address the academic needs of students with disabilities,” and find ways in which to modify and accommodate the needs of these students.  It has been stated that teachers working with student with disabilities have found great difficulty aligning the CCSS with student IEPs (Samuels, 2013).

The Common Core State Standards have led to an increased value on standardized test performance. High stakes testing is already a trending issue, and now that states are able to compare their performance against other states accurately, the stakes have only become higher.

The Common Core State Standards are vague and broad. The standards are not particularly specific, but many states have been able to deconstruct or unwrap the standards making them more teacher friendly

The Common Core State Standards have been a tremendously difficult adjustment for students and teachers. It was not the way many teachers were used to teaching and not the way that many students were used to learning. There have not been instant results but instead, has been a slow process with many almost refusing to get on board.