Hi ZeroLot, welcome to the discussion!
Unfortunately, the "Common Core" backlash should have hit TI much sooner. Our officials metered out very little information for the longest time and only recently began communicating on this, let alone sharing any of the objections or anything from the other side of the argument. Seems how we got Common Core in CA and in Irvine could be even more troubling than the standards themselves.
Other CA districts have been holding public town hall forums -- Irvine should have one, with equal time to both sides of the issue. Let the truth come out about how we got Common Core, who developed it, what alternatives there were, whether or not Irvine parents were ever told both sides and asked if they wanted it, etc. Lots the public doesn't know.
Have you reviewed the standards (not just the sample test questions)? I have. For 5th graders currently under the current CA math standards, many of the topics will be repeated again in 6th grade under Common Core...at least one not again until 8th grade. It's as if the kids all failed 5th grade math and will be held back a grade...putting them almost a year behind where they were. How is that "more rigorous"? Maybe for Kentucky. Not for California and certainly not for Irvine.
Kentucky Common Core seems to be a mess, thanks for sharing the (unbiased) Time article. KY and New York both link teacher evaluations to kids' Common Core test scores. Perhaps that is coming to CA too? Wonder how that would go over here?
Try also this Boston Globe op ed:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...ss-has-more/GMHHU8FdXLwR46qtAM7TgL/story.html
Listen to anything from Dr. Sandra Stotsky (architect of Massachusetts' #1 in the country standards), Dr. Bill Evers, Dr. James Milgram, Ze'ev Wurman, etc. They are very credible and have been knee-deep in Common Core for the past three years.
If you like having your kids' school data records stored in the CALPADS database, to be extracted and used by a bunch of folks, with collection methods potentially in violation of FERPA, then yes, you'll love the data mining that comes with the Common Core systems. Also, it seems you cannot opt your kids out of CALPADS (unless you pull them out and send them to private school) and once your child is assigned a "SSID" number (linked to more data than their Social Security number, it seems), it seems it cannot be changed unless there is a "mistake" of some kind, even if compromised:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/
Why did Irvine decide on Common Core vs. improving the existing standards? Federal (which became state) money seems to be the primary factor vs. getting better standards than we already had or could have had.
You like the Smarter Balanced test methods? Great! Why not have CA spend a fraction of the ~$2B+ common core price tag for some fancy new STAR tests instead? Why not make the existing CA standards even better? You are aware that California's existing standards and STAR tests were already rated, along with Massachusetts standards, as the best in the country, right? Well, now they are gone in favor of a program that is unproven, experimental and whose standards are lower than what CA already had. And now we will be without meaningful test data for about three years... Irvine's home prices rise and fall based on the API, it seems. What now?
Give Irvine parents and taxpayers ALL the information on both sides and use a public process to give folks input. Then have the elected School Board decide whether or not to adopt it. Then let voters vote on their School Board members or use the Irvine or CA proposition process if they are not being heard. Unless, of course, we have abdicated responsibility for our own school standards to federal lobbyists groups and Sacramento politicians (don't be fooled that Common Core was "state led"). We have some pretty smart folks right here in Irvine, we should be able to debate and create our own best standards.
Per CDE, they say, by state law, IUSD is not obligated to follow Common Core. We can do as districts across the nation have done or are contemplating, like Manchester, NH just did--they threw out the Common Core in favor of developing their own higher standards. If $260M can be spent on one school through a public information process and vote of the Board, surely it is worth it to thoughtfully take time to create the best standards for our kids, not accept, without question, unproven standards from D.C.
Our Irvine kids are not "common." So why should our standards be?
