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Monday, March 25, 2013

Look what Susan Ohanian started about the #commoncore. – @ the chalk face

Look what Susan Ohanian started about the #commoncore. – @ the chalk face:


Look what Susan Ohanian started about the #commoncore.

Most days I try to post meaningful quotes concerning education on my Facebook page.  Today I posted:
The issue is trusting teachers, trusting kids, and trusting them to find the books they need. The Common Core trusts nothing but computerized programs that train teachers and kids to do what they’re told. Susan Ohanian
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This what followed:
Rick. The Common Core reduces teachers to low level techies.
Steve. Why are some educators embracing Common Core?
Judy. Steve, I think that it’s fear and intimidation that is pushing educators towards embracing Common Core.
Steve. Fear and intimidation from legislatures or administrators?
Me. Steve, because they refuse to do the simple research .
Delbert. I think many teachers were initially receptive to the Common Core because it had some 


What Do #CCSS State Tests Really Test?

I heard from a parent recently who reminded me of a big reason that the Common Core tests are so wrong.  This New York parent, Kathleen, wants to know: What do these tests really measure?
My daughter has dyslexia. There was absolutely no way she was going to read this test correctly. I started asking the teachers in September how to opt her out of it, but they said that there is no way. In January, the teacher basically told me that they did not expect her to pass the tests.
So, basically, all this stupid test prep is a big waste of time. The teacher was so wrapped up in [Common Core] curriculum and test prep that she did not have the time to make sure that my daughter understood the subjects. The best accommodation I could get for her was to have the test read to her, but the reading comprehension [test] is not allowed to be read to her. READING is the problem, not comprehension. It is clear that this one-size-fits-all test was not going to “test” my daughter’s intelligence, but her disability.
Her disability.  We spend a lot of time talking about poverty and privacy, but sometimes I think we kind of forget