The Common Core State Standards Essay

In order to improve my instructional practices, I analyzed instructional data from district math diagnostic and proficiency assessments. The most recent assessment assessed student’s abilities to count, add and subtract, and their understanding of place value. My students scored below not only the other first grade students at the school, but also all first grade students in the district. 81.6% of my students could count, read, and write numbers to 120. This was an improvement from their diagnostic assessment. However, only 66.7% could relate counting to addition and subtraction, and only 45% demonstrated understanding of place value in two digit numbers.

Since 2010, there were 45 states that have adopted the same educational standards called Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers and seeks to establish consistent education standards across the states. The Common Core Standards is initiative state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English and Mathematical standards. These standards help to educate all of the students equally, they help children who move from state to state, as well as they help to prepare students for college and workplace. The common core standard helps to provide a clear understanding

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a voluntary state led initiative that looks to establish clear expectations for learning in grades kindergarten through twelfth that are standard from state to state. The purpose of the standards is to make certain that there is uniformity in student proficiency and high school graduates have the know-how and ability needed for college and a competitive workforce in the twenty-first century. Along with forty-three other states and the District of Columbia, Mississippi adopted CCSS in 2011 in English and mathematics (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010).

The educational system in the United States was originally developed using concepts from around the world, created using ingenuitive ideas from countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. However, as the United States quickly moved into position as the leading country for state-directed educational standards, America looked less and less to the systems of other nations and more into how we could improve what was locally and currently being applied in education. Consequently, an improved type of education instruction was officially launched in 2010. These new state standards, practically titled Common Core, were declared to focus on developing a child’s skills in reasoning, problem solving, communication, and competition (Conrad, et al. 52). While the standards are professed to be an extremely practical and beneficial method of teaching today, there are issues which have recently surfaced and raised some concerns. The Common Core State Standards are emerging as the subjects of a provocative controversy in society today as they prompt discussion on global economic efficiency, nationwide academic standards, and the ultimate well-being of school-age children.

An American citizen has the right to an education. Every American goes through certain points of an education, and the first being kindergarten then all the way to their senior year. Throughout an American’s education they go through certain assessments during each grade, and all with different assessments with subjects like science, math, and language arts. However, within the past year many schools in the United States of America have switched their state standards to a new standard known as common core. Common core is now a nationwide standardized test with subjects like reading, writing, and math. Some standards that are evident in the common core are, “research and evidence based, clear, understandable, and consistent, aligned with

I believe Math is learned by doing the problems and doing the homework. The problems help you learn the formulas you need to know, to help with problem solving. I have learned from my own personal experience that you must keep up with the Instructor: attend class, read the text and do homework every day. Falling a day behind puts you at a disadvantage. Falling a week behind puts you in deep trouble.

The aims and importance of learning provision for numeracy development are to ensure all students understand that maths is a vital part of everyday life and will continue to be used throughout their life. Primary schools will teach students to learn various methods and techniques to be able to reach the correct answer. The end goal means more students will be able to solve a mathematical problem, independently, using a method that suits them. They can then develop their learning to improve their knowledge and apply it to real life situations; such as counting in groups of numbers such as 5’s or 10’s, which in turn can be applied when paying for

Numeracy development is important for all children as maths is an important part of everyday life. The way in which maths is taught has changed greatly over the years. When I was at school we were taught one method to reach one answer. Now, particularly in early primary phase, children are taught different methods to reach an answer, which includes different methods of working out and which also develops their investigation skills. For example, by the time children reach year six, the different methods they would have been taught for addition would be number lines,

This synthesis paper is examining the direct link between counting and building student’s number sense. The study conducted by Baccaglini-Frank and Maracci (2015), number sense as being vital to learning formal mathematics and stated there was a positive correlation between using fingers for counting and representing numbers has a positive effect on number sense. Students need opportunities to practice counting and establish foundational skills in number sense in order to be successful during their mathematical futures. It was determined that touching, moving, and seeing representations are essential components of the mathematical thinking process (Baccaglini-Frank & Maracci, 2015).

Although most senators, representatives and school officials support common core state standards (CCSS), they have not received or researched the history of how CCSS introduced itself. Furthermore, they do not understand that local control is being taken away, which results in the eventual destruction of excellent, local schools, students, and future generations. Two private trade organizations located in Washington, D.C, wrote the CCSS at the request of Achieve, a company created by Bill and Melinda Gates. Thus, CCSS did not arise from the state level but of an interested organization associated with education. Most Americans do not want their local school district sharing their kids’ personal, identifiable data with the federal

I am assuming the role of a principal and I am questioning the support of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) within my school environment. Based on the information in Issues in K-12 Education Case Study Document 5, there are numerous issues concerning CCSS that a principal must consider for their school to be successful. These issues include: federal jurisdiction over curricula, the time allotted for implementation of federal standards, the impact of test results on professional development and teacher evaluations, and the possible elimination of other essential educational resources when implementing standards. The issues affect all stakeholders and their concerns regarding the process, content, fairness, funding, assessment, and gaps in achievement need to be addressed.

Forty-two states, along with the District of Columbia have adopted Common Core State Standards. These standards were created to focus only on English and Mathematics. An effect of states adopting Common Core State Standards is that all other subjects taught in school were emphasized less. History, Science, and many other subjects are no longer stressed; therefore students are limited to being proficient in only two subjects. The Common Core deprives students’ ability to be skilled in multiple areas. These standards do not provide a slight “break” from the challenging and fast paced teaching of English and Mathematics. In addition to limiting education to English and Mathematics, Jill Bowden explains that the Common Core is affecting kindergarteners by taking them “away from materials that encourage playful learning” (36). Simple, beneficial learning materials typically used in kindergarten classrooms are being replaced with workbooks and textbooks. These standards are not benefiting education; instead they suppress enjoyable learning that one could gain from free learning. All grades are affected, but especially kindergarteners. These kindergarteners are too young for authoritative standards, and should be learning concepts appropriate for a child the age of five. Standards were made “to become the backbone for student, teacher, and school accountability systems and will play an increasingly prominent role in the American educational ecosystem” (Gutierrez 78) Therefore,

The Common Core State Standards are a state attempt to create strong educational standards. The standard are created to ensure that students in the country are learning and grasping the information that are given in the classrooms for them to succeed academically. The Common Core plan included governors and education commissioners form forty-eight states and the District of Columbia. They wanted to make sure the standards are relevant, logical and sequential. For content all subjects must have critical-thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. Some positive aspects of this policy is that it prepares our students for a competitive global jobs. It can provide national connections in education. Designed to shape the best standards so that all states will be taking a step ahead in education. These standards had been created after extensive research by professional educators for excellence in education. The CCS focus on what students expectations of learning, and achievements. Educators do not need to worry that the standards will make their jobs look redundant because they are in charge of creating lessons to teach their students the content and skills that the CCS demands. The teachers do not feel that the standards are one-size-fits-all. Some negative aspects of the policy are that is a program created by solely the government. The CCS is a program put together on idyllic situations in education by individuals who have subsidy and students ahead of the learning

“Nearly a century ago, Andrew Carnegie said that educated citizens were the strength of American democracy. While that fact still remains true today, our competitive twenty-first century world requires innovative education strategies that will enable students to succeed in a global economy.” (qtd. Vartan Gregorian). This is one of many quotes made by Americans today all surrounding the topic of common core state standard initiative. So many opinions have been formulated from the new reform that has been set forth to improve the American education system. Looking at both sides of the fence of the common core regimen, it looks like both sides display an array of reasons why it is good and why it is corrupt. The Common Core State Standards have drawn both support and adverse criticism from politicians, analysts, and commentators (e.g. nga.org). The Common Core State Standard Initiative has now been adopted by forty-two states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (e.g. corestandards.org). Common core is now a common talk in America by many different demographics. The Common Core should be understood as the culmination of a movement that is changing a society (Mcdonnell 492).

- The Math area in the classroom is composed of concrete materials for learning numbers and quantities. Children gain a strong foundation in the basic concepts, and can move on to more complex mathematical procedures and concepts as they are able—at their own pace.