Respond to this post. 250 words. 2 apa cites no older than 4 years. Ever since the establishment of the Department of Education in 1980, there has been controversy over federal involvement in the p

Respond to this post. 250 words. 2 apa cites no older than 4 years.  

Ever since the establishment of the Department of Education in 1980, there has been controversy over federal involvement in the public education system as there has been with the establishment of Common Core a public education initiative sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers and National Governors Association. The initiative is designed to promote standards-based education reform, with the end goal of bringing state educational curricula in alignment with the standards used in other states as set forth by the federal government.  Even though most states are already in the process of adopting Common Core Standards, every week there seems to be a new issue threatening to undermine the adoption of Common Core nationwide. Just recently, a new debate was raging in Michigan regarding the adoption of controversial common education standards many parents, lawmakers and educators wanting to trash the already adopted Common Core Standards. We are moving into an era that will link Common Core standards with a Common Core curriculum taught by teachers who will assess student learning through a slate of Common Core exams and be evaluated with a common rubric that uses scores on these exams as measures of teacher quality. The Common Core standards themselves are not the problem. In fact, the standards are aligned with the kind of constructive  teaching and learning observed in the classrooms. The Common Core State Standards Initiative goes far beyond the content of the standards themselves. The initiative conflates standards with standardization. For instance, many states are mandating that school districts select a standardized student.   The standards recognize that both content and skills are important. Standards are not new, and they are not bad. They are old, and they are good. It is the Common Core State Standards Initiative that is miscast as the epicenter of education reform. Meaningful education reform is not something you can mandate, standardize, or easily measure. It requires a collegial  culture in which teachers are continually advancing their practice and making adjustments based on their students’ current levels of understanding, readiness, and responses to inquiry-based instruction. This is what good teachers have always known, and what good leaders encourage through shared leadership and shared accountability for student learning. Reaching agreement on what constitutes effective instruction and what it looks like at the classroom, grade, school and district levels are not easy. Educators may find themselves at odds with one another and those in authority when they honestly discuss issues such as, is there a difference between achievement and learning.The Common Core State Standards can play a helpful role in these conversations, as teachers and administrators analyze and apply them to their unique sets of needs.

References

Ballotpedia. (2019). Common Core State Standards Initiative - Ballotpedia. Retrieved from https://ballotpedia.org/Common_Core_State_Standards_Initiative 

Henderon, M.B., Howell, W.G., & Peterson, P.E. (2014).  Information fuels support for school reform. Retrieved from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-education-next.org

Porter-Magee, K. (2019). Seeing Common Core from a parent’s perspective. Retrieved  from https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/seeing-common-core-parents-perspective