Monday, September 23, 2013

Louisiana Educator: Warning! Some Common Core Resource Materials May be Harmful to Your Career

Louisiana Educator: Warning! Some Common Core Resource Materials May be Harmful to Your Career:

Warning! Some Common Core Resource Materials May be Harmful to Your Career



Teachers and administrators found out last week that some of the typical resource materials recommended by some providers for teaching the common core are not appropriate for our Louisiana culture and particularly not appropriate for some student age groups. The only thing that may have saved the Vermilion Parish teacher who sent home common core aligned worksheets to 4th graders containing the words "mobstaz" and "pimp" was that she downloaded them from the Parish web site.When angry parents attacked the school board with the equivalent of pitchforks and axes, local Superintendent Jerome Puyau saved the day by taking full responsibility for not filtering out the objectionable material from the school system web site. Since the incident, central office staff in Vermilion Parish have reviewed all resource materials with a fine tooth comb to make certain that inappropriate or offensive materials have been removed.

Since our LDOE has taken a lassez faire attitude relative to common core resource materials, there may be many more instances of inappropriate materials going home with kids. Until recently, our LDOE prescribed in great detail every GLE that must be taught to each student in each subject and each grade. Now instead of the DOE and local school systems prescribing the precise materials to be used in the classroom, Superintendent White has announced that he wants to "empower" teachers to develop or select their own Common Core materials. Some of the resources such as Engage New York which were developed by