Last week I was at a screening of the film Most Likely to Succeed with several educators and community members at Deerfield High School. The film is very good and suggests some great ideas of what is possible in education. During the Q&A portion of the event numerous questions centered on testing and the Common Core. I was reminded how unfortunate it is that we often lump those two things together – testing and Common Core. I was reminded about the countless meetings that I have been a part of and the videos of community meetings that I have seen all with a common dislike and often rage against the Common Core State Standards. I think as parents and educators we should be careful to understand the differences between testing and the Common Core.

Standardized Testing Is Not New
When I was a child in Kentucky I remember every spring taking the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). In writing this post I consulted some of my colleagues that attended elementary school in Illinois in the 1960’s and 1970’s and even then they recall taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) or some other standardized assessment. In 1988 the state of Illinois mandated the first Illinois Goal Assessment Program test (IGAP) to be given to students statewide. In 1999 Illinois changed to the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) in response to the adoption of the Illinois Learning Standards. Just this past year 2014-2015 Illinois began administering a new assessment – the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers otherwise known as PARCC.

So as you see we have been giving standardized tests for many more years than the development of PARCC or the implementation of No Child Left Behind in 2001. When experts say there has been a rise in standardized testing it is just simply not honest. What did change in 2001 with the implementation of No Child Left Behind was some form of accountability for student performance. This has raised the level and importance of standardized testing each year as it became more and more apparent that schools would not meet expectations.

Personally, I think there are benefits to some common student growth assessments. I find a few yearly assessments, such as NWEA MAP, that help monitor progress of students are valuable to informing our instruction and giving the school a big picture view of our impact. Like everyone else, I do not think it is the most important thing we do, but I do think it is important. Also, I have done the math and the average time it takes students to complete the NWEA MAP assessment 3 times a year, District Common Assessments 4 times a year, and PARCC once a year, all combined is less than 2% of the time students are at school. We are currently lower than the guidelines just released by the Department of Education. We are not over testing students – at least not in DPS109. However, I understand some of the arguments against standardized testing as well. Although I think the PARCC is a quality well designed assessment, I don’t like taking a test in March and not getting the results for 9 months. That is not useful for educators, parents, or students. But let’s be clear – this is a discussion about testing and it has absolutely nothing to do with learning standards such as the Common Core.

A History of Learning Standards
Learning standards are simply what students should know and be able to do as a result of their educational experience. In Illinois, there are learning standards in 7 core areas. However, Common Core is specific to English Language Arts, Math, and interdisciplinary literacy. Learning standards are not new with the adoption of the Common Core in 2010. States have been adopting standards since the early 1990’s. By the early 2000’s all 50 states had adopted some form of learning standards for their students. Contrary to popular belief Common Core was not an initiative of the federal government. In fact, it was the National Governors Associations and the Council of Chief State School Officers that made the decision. The governors and chief school officials from 48 states were involved in the decision to develop the Common Core standards. There were several reasons for this but the most important I think is the realization that we do not need 50 different learning standards in English Language Arts and Math. We know what being a good reader looks like. We know what being good at math looks like. Do we really need 50 different iterations of that definition?

Creating learning standards that are ‘common” between the states has several benefits.
1. As a nation we should not have different expectations of what students are able to do in Language Arts and Math when they graduate from high school and are ready to enter college or the workforce. In today’s world you may graduate high school in Deerfield, go to college in Massachusetts, and then get a job in California. The expectations for your ability to think and reason are the same regardless of imaginary lines on a map.

2. There is more mobility in our country than at any time in history. Students move between states all the time. Maybe their parents are transferred for work, maybe they are moving to be closer to family. Common Core mitigates that factor by ensuring that regardless of where a child moves or how much they move they will graduate high school with the same skills as anyone else.

3. One of my favorites, that is often not even touched on, is that having common learning standards across the states gives teachers and educators the ability to tap into learning opportunities from each other across the county. Prior to the Common Core the benefit to working with education professionals from around the country was limited because the expectations changed with state borders. Now, educators in almost every state are able to put their heads together for common goals toward student learning.

So what are the counter arguments against the Common Core? Frankly, there simply are not any legitimate ones that I have heard. The only arguments that I have heard are based on politics, not education or learning. For example, in 2014, facing political pressure, Indiana took the step to repeal their adoption of the Common Core standards and implement new learning standards for the state. Anti Common Core advocates rejoiced. So what do the new Indiana standards look like? You may be surprised to learn that they are exactly like the Common Core. They took the Common Core, rearranged the order of the standards, changed the look of the document, and gave them a new name. But make no mistake they are identical to the Common Core Standards themselves. The entire process was an elaborate dance to satisfy a political appetite.

As of today 42 states, 4 territories, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Agency have adopted the Common Core Standards.

So What is So Controversial About The Common Core?
If anyone reading this blog can find the answer to that question please tell me. Because for the life of me I cannot figure it out. I encourage anyone with questions to read the standards for English Language Arts and Math at the links below.

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

Common Core Standards for Mathematics

I find most of the times when I talk to people that are against the Common Core the one thing they all have in common is that they have never even looked at them. That is true not only of parents but of teachers and educators as well. I have seen the videos on youtube of parents at board meetings discussing crazy homework and deriding the idea of Common Core math. Some of the things I have seen out there make me agree with them and I share their anger. But their anger is misplaced. The standards themselves do not tell you how kids should learn. They are not a curriculum. They simply say what students should know and be able to do. All of those crazy things you may have seen being shared on Facebook are the results of poor teachers making even poorer worksheets and homework assignments. It has nothing to do with the Common Core standards themselves.

So What Is In The Standards?
The most important thing the standards want students to do is think critically. This is the ultimate goal of all education. We want to teach our students to think critically in all subjects, consider all the information, and make their own decisions.

We have a lot of work to do with teachers, principals, and central office personnel regarding how to teach the standards with rigor and fidelity. This is work we are engaged in every day. The standards are high level rigorous expectations for students that teach critical thinking. As a parent, I want my child to be able to do the things that the standards outline. The standards are not the problem. If people are angry about standardized testing, that is fine. There is a legitimate argument to made there that deserves to be had across the country. However, learning standards should not be part of that argument. If you are frustrated with a homework assignment do not blame Common Core as whole – the standards have nothing to do with it. Instead seek out an explanation from the person that wrote the worksheet or the teacher that assigned it. But don’t indict the entire system. I am passionate about this issue because I believe these learning standards are good for students and I fear losing them to politics. I also believe that the standards can be met with project based, high level instruction as seen in the film Most Likely to Succeed. I encourage everyone to read the Common Core Standards as they are written, for what they are, and nothing more.

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

Common Core Standards for Mathematics