Susan Ohanian on Common Core Standards

By dianeravitch

February 6, 2013 //

If you don’t like the Common Core standards, you will enjoy reading Susan Ohanian’s blast at them.

Ohanian thinks that the CC is a massive error at best, a sordid conspiracy by the elites at worst.

What do you think?

Categories Common Core

41 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

John Young says:

February 6, 2013 at 9:24 am

Reblogged this on Transparent Christina.

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Jamie Highfill says:

February 6, 2013 at 9:29 am

I tried to watch the video. It was too painful.

But as I am teaching Animal Farm right now, the e. e. cummings quotation at the end of Ohanian’s piece will fit nicely, even though CCSS’s implementation frowns on that kind of spontaneity.

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tiedyedeb says:

February 6, 2013 at 10:32 am

Horrifically Orwellian. :-‘( And I’m seeing it now in the kindergarten classes I see for music class – even in my 40 minutes a week, I see the effects.

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Tim says:

February 6, 2013 at 10:42 am

The Common Core Standards suck! Even the right wingers are fighting against it as too much government control. The rheeformers are using this as a diversion tactic as they continue their march to privatization.

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- tuppercooks says:
  
  February 6, 2013 at 11:41 am
  
  Tim, they do suck. What sucks more are people who buy in without doing their homework. They really suck.
  
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- onewomansjournal says:
  
  February 6, 2013 at 12:00 pm
  
  This is so true.
  
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- Madge says:
  
  May 28, 2013 at 5:53 pm
  
  I’m not sure what you mean by “even the right wingers” are fighting against it. If you look at NY state our Governor Cuomo HATES teachers and blames all of education ills on teachers when in fact it is really stemming from failed “liberal” social policies and trying to take away freedoms from individual states and make it one big socialist/marxist state. This is all liberal. You got what you voted for. Get ready because it’s only going to get worse!!!
  
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L. Hill says:

February 6, 2013 at 11:13 am

My 7th grade boy is currently studying The Outsiders. His initial joy at reading and discussing the book has been beaten out of him with outlines of outlines. His teacher says they will learn to get to the “bottom” of every text they read. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of literature? There is nothing wrong with detail, with dissection, but think of the fact that some people spend their whole lives studying one piece of literature. By implying there is a “bottom” to fiction or even historical text these standards are telling our children that it’s all just information to be processed.

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- tiedyedeb says:
  
  February 6, 2013 at 11:29 am
  
  I too have a Bookworm who no longer looks forward to reading – thanks to the Reading Specialist. 😦 Everything is picked apart! And while it can be instructive to learn to make predictions, this doing itone. chapter. at. a. time. already in 5th grade is really sucking the life out of some of the books for her.
  
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- readingexchange says:
  
  February 6, 2013 at 6:30 pm
  
  That is exactly how you kill the love of reading in students.
  
  For the love of everything that we hold dear in education, we must do what is right … “Ignore the Core” !
  
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Ellen Simonis says:

February 6, 2013 at 4:06 pm

Conspiracy. Definitely. I cannot express how heart-broken I am.

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Logue (@manateespirit) says:

February 6, 2013 at 4:35 pm

Susan is absolutely correct. These standards are unproven, untested and unfunded. CCSS will allow trade organizations to hold the copyright to the standards and assessments that taxpayers have paid for….yet these same taxpayers (through their schools/districts/states) have no right to alter them or tailor them to their district students.

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Dufrense says:

February 6, 2013 at 5:15 pm

Close-reading is a fine, useful skill. The problem is that CCSS makes it the end-all be-all of reading. Divorcing reading (fiction or non-fiction) from a discussion of ideas, historical context, contemporary and personal implications, etc., makes it a drudgery for most people.

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- Ellen Simonis says:
  
  February 6, 2013 at 5:55 pm
  
  Here’s the thing that rubs me wrong: the implication that we were not already doing that. Close reading has been a requirement in the last two sets of standards that I have taught through, and I am sure before that. Does every teacher do everything at the same skill level? No. Does this mean that we don’t need refreshers or reminders on necessary skills to focus on? No. However, I also do not believe that we need to reinvent the wheel every decade by re-arranging the spokes and perhaps re-naming some of the parts, all with the result, by and large, of doing nothing more than putting more $$$ into the pockets of testing companies and textbook companies. This is how the rheeformers and that ilk have managed to succeed so well in destroying the image of education – they IMPLY that we haven’t been doing something without actually saying it. Classic propaganda technique. What is especially sad is that so many of us aide and abet them in doing so.
  
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  - Dufrense says:
    
    February 6, 2013 at 9:53 pm
    
    I agree, Ellen. Whenever I hear Coleman or some other CCSS spokesperson harp about a “shift to text-dependent questions,” I have to wonder what high school classrooms they have ever set foot in.
  - Ang says:
    
    February 7, 2013 at 9:33 am
    
    I also agree, Ellen.
    
    It would apparently come as a huge surprise to Coleman and the “elite gang”, that science teachers have been reading/teaching non-fiction in our classrooms since the beginning of time.
    Abstracts of journal articles and news stories.
    Reading popular books such as Hot Zone and the Immortal Life if Henrietta Lacks.
    Reading the textbook.
    
    Yes, even here at the Title 1, heavily ESOL school, we read these things. Have been doing for years.
    
    Now I have to teach the english teachers hot zone (which they seem to feel they must now teach, as it is non fiction) to keep them from junking up the science. (No offense to the english teachers, but I am sure they do not want me teaching literary analysis of Wuthering Heights, no matter how much I love the book.
    
    You are right, total propaganda right before our eyes.
  - Ellen Simonis says:
    
    February 7, 2013 at 11:46 am
    
    English. Capital E. 🙂 Just offering a bit of humor….Thank you for your reply. I am glad I am not the only one seeing it. Did you see the recent article put out by NEA about Common Core? The main question it raised was whether or not teachers were ready, not whether or not those changes were necessary or appropriate. Total sell-out propaganda. I am union to the core, but this is wrong. I think it is past time for membership to send a loud message to leadership. We need to take our union back. I am going to propose a business item at my rep assembly this spring if I get to attend to censure the national organization for taking this stand. I’ll probably be ruled out of order, but it is past time to speak out. I hope others will do the same.
  - Ang says:
    
    February 7, 2013 at 1:12 pm
    
    You are right, I have no business teaching English!
    😉
    
    I am down here is a red state (non union), so I am not too up to date on the NEA. But I have noticed that every “article” about CC is some sort of fluff piece. LIke it is a foregone conclusion that CC is necessary and wonderful at the same time.
    
    Good luck at your union meeting, and I hope the rest of us follow your lead to speak up and speak out when ever possible!
"2old2tch" says:

February 6, 2013 at 7:02 pm

Anyone who thinks it isn’t hitting the elite public schools isn’t looking. Many experienced, dedicated teachers who are close to retirement are hoping they can make it until then. Younger teachers are questioning their choice of a career that continually belittles their ability. Five years ago, I never would have heard the comments that I am hearing now. It is really demoralizing.

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- devon karson says:
  
  April 2, 2013 at 5:56 pm
  
  my sons teacher told me just that. as I have seen the young ladies new to teaching see having babies and marriage as a more fulfilling prospect. I have seen them come and go. my sons teacher is forced to show them CNN for kids and time magazine for kids, propaganda rags both, she was told that kids could not be sheilded from reality. I told her that was my job, not a private catholic school’s. she said that she never thought of it that way and is pregnant so we will see if her mind gets changed, but nonetheless she said she would not recommend teaching to anyone at this point. she’s all of 30.
  
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Jennifer Baker says:

February 6, 2013 at 10:04 pm

I had to console a good friend of mine today who is feeling like a terrible teacher, and I think that CC is to blame. She says she feels like a first year teacher again, and feels like the new standards have no coherence or end goal in mind. As a parent watching my son struggle through these standards, I agree.

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70jamsession says:

February 6, 2013 at 10:56 pm

Child abuse.
I do not use this terminology lightly.
What will it take for us educators to stand up together?
We should be shouting in the streets!
Shame on us.

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- Lehrer says:
  
  February 8, 2013 at 11:25 am
  
  It is child abuse, institutionalized child abuse. No matter how well my second-graders perform, it never seems to be enough. The same children I teach about main idea and author’s purpose/message I see getting strapped into their car seats for the ride home from school. Some of them still wear Pull-Ups at night, but I have to wring information out of them like they were high school students.
  
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  - Ellen says:
    
    February 8, 2013 at 1:57 pm
    
    Hey teachingeconomisot! Where are you here? Is this another example of not pushing kids to their potential??? This is what I talking about in terms of developmental appropriateness.
  - Lehrer says:
    
    February 8, 2013 at 2:22 pm
    
    I believe I have high standards for my students, and I push them when I know they can be pushed. But I am also cognizant of what is developmentally appropriate for young children. We are beginning to see children’s performance on tasks plateauing simply because they cannot possibly do any more. For example, we have weekly timed math fact tests that I must administer. The number of facts children must recall per minute has been increased with the new CCSS. The result is that now 50% of my class cannot pass the tests, whereas most and (sometimes all) passed in previous years.I am not too sure how those few extra seconds could possibly benefit anyone in life, but what do I know? I only teach second grade.
  - Ellen says:
    
    February 8, 2013 at 4:24 pm
    
    I was trying to call out someone from another area of this thread (teachingeconomisot)who suggested that our complaints about developmental appropriateness were just resistance to changing the current standard of tracking. I am cranky about it. I was totally in agreement that what we are doing is wrong. Sorry for any misunderstanding in my perspective.
  - Lehrer says:
    
    February 8, 2013 at 5:03 pm
    
    Oh, no, Ellen, that was not directed at you! I was being preemptive, knowing that someone out there would accuse me of having low expectations. You know, because I’m a lazy and stupid public school teacher.
  - Ellen says:
    
    February 8, 2013 at 5:11 pm
    
    lol!!! And then they tell us not to take it personally….
  - Lehrer says:
    
    February 8, 2013 at 5:19 pm
    
    Exactly. And I am no longer defensive about what I do or how I do it. I am pushing back. I am not making friends with administration, but so be it.
70jamsession says:

February 6, 2013 at 10:58 pm

Reblogged this on 70jamsession.

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Traci Rubner says:

February 7, 2013 at 3:56 pm

I feel like weeping, what are we doing?

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- M. Schneider says:
  
  February 8, 2013 at 11:31 pm
  
  Traci, I can only say that in my class, I deliberately choose to place my students ahead of Common Core. I must, for their own good. I don’t go around parading with a picket sign stating my stance; I simply tell my students what I am being pressured to do, then I tell them, “I choose to put my students ahead of any self-centered focus on my won career. I choose to teach.” I do what I can to best honor the wishes of my administration, but when there is a conflict, I choose my kids.
  
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  - M. Schneider says:
    
    February 8, 2013 at 11:32 pm
    
    own career (sorry for typo)
  - Joe says:
    
    March 18, 2013 at 3:16 pm
    
    I wish more teachers would say that. Thanks!
briverwomanarbara riverwoman says:

February 8, 2013 at 12:37 am

I agree!!! These Common Core promoters aren’t educators, they don’t know children, they remind me of Genghis Khan destroying beautiful old civilizations. Genghis
had pastureland on his mind. The Gates seem to have the global economy on their minds. Same thing. Bill in a china shop, to switch metaphors.

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Traci Rubner says:

February 15, 2013 at 6:28 pm

Thank you M. Schneider,
You are exactly the kind of teacher I would choose for my children. You are the kind of teacher who deserves both respect and job security. Thank you for being who you are.

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2nd Grade Dad says:

March 12, 2013 at 6:51 pm

2nd grade parent here. This CC stuf is all new to me. I can’t get straight answers from the teacher and going over her head doesn’t help. I’ve been trying to understand what this CC is all about for a few days now and I din’t get any of it. It’s all double speak. I’m a retired cop and I know BS when I see it, though I guess I’m not a big thingker like these CC folks.
My daughter is one of the smartest people I have ever met. She is years ahead of where I was at her age due to improvements in the educational system overal since 40 years ago. Her school is considered one of the best in the state, parents from surrounding schools envy us. I’m not trying to brag, just to give some objective information.
We just got her “benchmark” scores and she is in the 53 percentile nationally. Okay, fine. But can someone explain how a kid who gets all “4’s” on her report card, hasn’t missed a word on a spelling test EVER, is only in the middle of the population?
I consitently scored 99 percentile on the standardized tests when i was a kid. I was even told sperately from the other kids NOT to discuss my scores with other students. My daughter is smarter than me and a much better student. If she is smarter than me, and I performed better than 99% of the population, how is it that 50% of the population outperfporms her?
I’m trying to see if my daughter should be moved into more advanced math and reading groups, and her scores are “average” even though that average includes illiterate children in failed school systems. I would just like to get an accurate appraisal of my daughter’s abilities and all I get is mediocre CC scores and vague answers from her teacher.
Overall, I’m impressed with her education. I like her teacher because she is teaching my daughter. It’s just that any time I try to get a handle on how she is doing, I get vague, pre-recorded, message from a teacher with a blank stare. When I contact the Principal, she answers with a link to the CC website.
Sorry for the rant, and thanks for tolerating it!

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- Joe says:
  
  March 18, 2013 at 3:15 pm
  
  I am with you on the frustration, my son is in the gifted program, he is extremely intelligent, and the tests given to him have proven that out, especially in Mathematics. The CC program teaches in an entirely different way, my understanding is that it is not about giving the correct answer as it is providing multiple ways, and the steps for those ways to solve something. I guess the so called higher ups believe it will broaden their minds. Seems very “progressive” to me…
  
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Joe says:

March 18, 2013 at 3:11 pm

In PA this is the first year of implementation. So far, it seems to be very counter productive for my son, I am not liking it one bit. When I voice my concerns to the teachers, they confide in me that they do not like it either…

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devon karson says:

April 2, 2013 at 6:30 pm

it has caused it’s intended “wobble” for both parents and kids at our school. once you start paying attention and looking at the questions, assignments you are overwhelmed with some of the incongruence, idiocy, grammer mistakes and obvious poitical bias. its overwhelming you are right because you get pat answers like, ” we want the children to have an authentic education” we teach all the children”, ” I see that you are looking for more balance” it is total brainwash bs. so parents are bewildered, teachers are frustrated, adminstration are taught pat slogans for questioning parents and educrats are takin it all to the bank. this is unconstitutional takeover of American schools by deception.

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MARK TRAINA says:

September 24, 2013 at 4:10 pm

most AMERICANS feel like the U.S. GOVERNMENT is PULLING the WOOL over our HEADS and doing everything possible to keep U.S. in the DARK

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