The Common Core Standards -- Blog 3

Prior to returning to school to studying teaching, I had only heard about Common Core Standards second- and third-hand for, at times, some very unreliable sources. As far as many of these sources—most of whom had not, did not, and would not work in education—were concerned, Common Core was the scourge of the earth coming to poison our water supply, burn our crops, and deliver a plague our houses. Much like Bubble-buddy from Spongebob never actually did any of those things, neither has or will Common Core Standards. While Common Core certain has its flaws, it is important to remember that nothing is perfect, and this applies especially to mandated by the government.

One of the actual limitations of Common Core Standards is the rigidity of some of the standards themselves. For instance, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.2.C states that: [Students must] [u]se varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. There is really no other way to interpret that standard then make sure students know their transition words and phrases. Like most readers and writers, I understand that transition words and phrases can make or break the introductory sentences in a student’s paper, but I would argue that the standard itself is rigid and inflexible.

Another issue with the Common Core Standards is the focus on Math and English. Common Core only has standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts, leaving out dedicated standards for the other important classes like Second (or Third, in some cases) Languages, Science, and Social Studies. Common Core also ignores the less concrete academia, like music, theatre, and art, all of which are important to a well-rounded student. Despite the academia it leaves out, Common Core does work to integrate Social Studies and Science writing into the English Language Arts standards.
While Common Core is far from perfect, it lays the framework for an education system that could be nearly perfect, and with some time and effort applied to, Common Core could be the education system of the future.


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