From a teacher in California:
“Our class had the “privilege” of taking the ELA SmarterBalance test for common core 4th grade. It was horrible. There were split screens, essays to type (our students have no keyboarding experience) and things to click and drag. So in addition to getting students ready for the CC standards, we will need time for computer and keyboard lessons AND we will need the updated technology in time to get our students familiar with it.
“Oh, and let’s not forget that in CA we are still expected to teach for the CST [California Standards Tests] next year…no transition time to Common Core. Ridiculous!”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It does seem silly to expect students to type essays when they have to hunt and peck. Another detail overlooked by reformers?
Not overlooked.
Students who have learned keyboarding, click and drag, and other computer skills at home will have a huge advantage on this test. The billionaire school reform advocates probably can’t conceive that many children don’t have computer access at home. But the reality is that this test is going to measure social class more than anything else.
It’s similar to the writing test in Utah a few years ago that wanted the students to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using tablets in schools. But my students have barely used tablets, and since the term wasn’t defined, many weren’t sure what “tablets” were. No one had thought of these kids when designing the tests!
My children are enrolled in school in CA and my daughter’s 6th grade class was “chosen” to take the Common Core test. She is a GATE identified high achiever, with almost perfect CA state scores. She found the Common Core test to be confusing. She too echoed the complaints above. She has no typing experience (it is not on the test so why would they teach it) and so did not have enough time to finish the essays. She found the clicking and typing noises of others to be highly distracting. My kids go to one of the larger richer districts in Orange County and even they do not have the funds for computers for everyone. Where is this money going to come from? Oh yes, my first grader sat in a class of 29! This is a travesty.
Your ability to navigate through the testing hoops and obstacle course will be measured more than your ability to gather meaning from the text. Once you click, drag, shrink, minimize..whatever….you can’t even go back and make a change. You’re done and that’s that. This will widen the gap, especially for our children will IEP’s.
This IS legally sanctioned child abuse. These people have no idea the range of disabilities that exist in our schools and there have been little accommodations planned for any of these children and they won’t listen to us.
Clearly on line testing that involves mastering the foibles of a new interface is problematic. But can someone point me to a systematic analysis of how the new common core curriculum compares to existing standard curricula? I can see changes at the margin but are there really major differences among them?
That breeze you just felt was the point, zipping right over your head.
Ha! That’s was funny. Thx for the laugh.
OK, but can you point me to an analysis of differences and similarities in the proposed and current curricula?
Common Core is Not a curriculum.
Yes, they are national standards foisted on the states via federal blackmail.
But look what I found and my interpretation, which I will keep close by me at all times while teaching:
The CCS document states, “The Standards do not mandate such things as a particular writing process or the full range of meta cognitive strategies that students may need to monitor and direct their thinking and learning. Teachers are thus FREE to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment and experience identify as most helpful for meeting the goals set out in the Standards (NGA, CCSSO 2010, pg. 4).
I read that statement and I have been granted the autonomy to figure out how to teach my students as well as craft my own assessments to determine how well they’re learning.
Their portrait of students who meet their standards contain these four aspects (of seven).
They demonstrate independence.
They build strong content knowledge.
They comprehend as well as critique.
They value evidence.
And so should their teachers. We are not robots following orders. We are professionals and should be treated as such.
CCSS dictates how you teach, what you teach, when you teach it. That is a national curriculum.
My question remains: How is the substance of the new curriculum different – recognizing that there are also dramatic changes in how they expect the material to be delivered. I am bemused why I cannot get an answer.
Write or call David Coleman at the college board.
http://www.collegeboard.org/contact-us/
Bernie, if you Google, “Common Core Crosswalk” you will find documents that detail the differences between CA standards and CCSS. You can also Google, “difference between common core and california state standards”. Of course, the differences will vary from state to state.
I have actually been told that I will take my students in 2nd grade to the computer lab daily to teach them to type so they can take the smarter balanced tests. The administrators see no value in writing, then complain middle school students can’t take notes in class and their writing is illegible. I laugh to avoid crying.
I hate that we as educators spend so much time having our conversations around testing. This is the dialogue the reformers have forced upon us all. I rather talk about what great books people are using to get their kids hooked on reading.
Absolutely. On the money. I just finished updating my website and linking many teen reading sites..guys read, teens read, reading rants..here is one good list:
http://www.teenreads.com/teenreadscom-ultimate-reading-list
And here: http://www.guysread.com/books/
And check out this site:
http://www.kathleenodean.com/
One more…great resource…list compiled by kids for kids
Kids Recommend
(updated for spring 2013)
Kindergarten
Gr. 1-2
Gr. 3-4 Boys
Gr. 3-4 Girls
Gr. 5-6 Boys
Gr. 5-6 Girls
Gr. 7-8 Boys
Gr. 7-8 Girls
http://www.c-t-l.org/kids_recommend.html
Our students do not have keyboarding skills either. We gave an interim paarc exam, sounds very similar to the ELA smarter balance. Our district decided to get rid of our full time librarian so that the computers are freed up for keyboarding and NWEA, and PAARC – we are sick about this decision.
Heaven forbid that the librarian assist the teacher with the students in introducing computer skills. After all, aren’t they the experts in research and databases?
I’m a school librarian (recently retired) from the Buffalo Public Schools in New York State. Staffing is an issue, so most computer labs are “unmanned”. It is extremely difficult to teach computer skills alone ( one teacher – close to thirty students). The students have assigned log ins and passwords and it can take ten or more minutes to “boot up”. The majority of the BPS students do not own computers or have the Internet at home. The public library has access, but Erie County decided to downsize their multiple library sites and reduce hours for those which remained opened. This was a library system which had libraries in walking distance to most homes (except in the rural areas). Of course, the city lost numerous buildings, while the affluent suburbs (I.e. Amherst) retained all four of their libraries. All these libraries were heavily used by patrons. In the schools, library services are half time. In Amherst, all students have computer/keyboarding lessons at an early age. In Buffalo there is no assigned time or instruction unless organized by the teacher. How are these poor, inner city children expected to compete? For the majority of students in the city, school is a struggle and test results are poor. Even in Amherst, about 60% of the students did not receive the required 3 or 4 score on the Common Core Assessment taken this past Spring. Add in the lack of computer skills and then see how the Buffalo District fares in the type of test proposed. We are ruining our education system, but what is worse, we are hurting our children in the process. Our government needs to listen to the specialists in the field, learn about child psychology and development, and, most importantly, talk to the teachers in the trenches. (And by the way, if you look at the suggested literature in common core, you will quickly realize that librarians were not involved in the choices since some of the books are out of print, old-fashioned or irrelevant, and inappropriate in content and age level, not to mention lexile, for the intended grade).
Umm. We have several problems here, but one of the main ones I am seeing is that it seems that teachers don’t think it’s their responsibility to teach students keyboarding skills. Last time I checked, keyboarding was an incredibly vital 21st century skill. I use it every day far more than I use handwriting. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t teach handwriting, but it does mean that when someone complains that their 4th graders can’t keyboard, then someone has screwed up along the line.
But WHEN? Should kids have to learn keyboarding in Kindergarten? When is there time for other things? Like music or art?
They need to be on the computers in Kindergarten. There are actually some excellent programs which help in the learning process.
I had my own children on computers at the age of 2. In fact, I attended a mommy and me class at SUNY at Buffalo with my two older children when there was only Apple 2E and floppy disks. They loved Sticky Bear.
The problem is all the logins that need to be memorized – name (the 9 digit student id number) and password (a combination of initials and birth dates) to login onto the computer, then boot up time, finding the correct program on the Internet, then logging into that site with a different name and password is extremely cumbersome. And on top of it, every year the password changed. However, with practice comes learning, and the goal is for them to be independent learners. Yes, even start in Pre-K, because by fourth grade you will see results.
It was a sad day when the Kindergarten teacher told me that there was no time for painting due to the Common Core Standards.
That’s a false choice, Louisiana. We can still teach to standards and include things like art and music as part of project and problem-based learning.
I would have been MISERABLE taking these types of tests and probably would have failed. Not only was a nervous tester, I am not that great at typing (as some of you well know!) Computers are easier than type writers (I worked my tail off to get a C in a typing class in high school) but I’m still not that great with it and can;t imagine having to do it to get through a high stakes test.
I’m just as miserable taking a test by writing longhand. Again, it’s the 21st century. Typing is a skill all of these kids will use. Wy are we implying that it shouldn’t be taught?
It shouldn’t be either or; it should be both. It took me a while to switch to digital composition. I liked to do my thinking on paper. I have adapted. However, as a special education teacher, I have noticed ( and research has supported) that students may benefit from the process of writing by hand gives them that keyboarding does not. I must admit that when I want to remember something, I write it down. I may not have to look at it again. The process of writing it is enough.
AP still requires kids to write the tests longhand. So, which should it be?
Typing your notes is reinforcing learning in the same way as hand writing. You are both reading your written notes or thinking about what was said in class, then using the sense of touch to recreate it on the computer. Plus, it’s harder to lose. I used my typewriter to study in college (unfortunately there were no PCs) and did well. One daughter created index cards, another hid in her room and talked herself into learning. They both did well.