Excerpt
To the Editor:
Re: “Debut of School Standards Is Rocky, and the Critics Are Pouncing Left and Right” (news article, Aug. 16):
As a high school science teacher, I welcome the Common Core initiative and its near national adoption in curriculum and instruction. Its emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving over memorization is essential to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Although putting the Common Core assessments into effect has been a challenge, as any educator will tell you, adjusting for the kinks in testing comes with the territory.
Politicians and policy pundits frequently point to international rankings as a sign that our schools need improvement to become more competitive.
Most countries outranking the United States have a national curriculum that provides a unified vision for public education. Only through such a vision can schools assume the critical role of meeting the needs of higher education, business and society.
Common Core is a step in the right direction.
ETHAN AKE
Philadelphia, Aug. 16, 2013
To the Editor:
My experience with the Common Core is far different from the picture painted in this article. As a group of classroom teachers who came together to build a new public school several years ago, my colleagues and I saw the Common Core standards as an opportunity to grow as professionals and create transformational experiences for our students.
Our school took advantage of what the standards have to offer and did an excellent job resetting our curriculum so that students could acquire the skills these exams are testing for. We used the standards to continue to establish collaborative learning groups, school leadership teams, and thoughtful coaching and professional development.
My biggest concern is how politics has replaced practical experience and common sense in shaping this debate.
SARAH BEVER
Brooklyn, Aug. 18, 2013
To the Editor:
If the educational community wishes to avoid the “terrifying prospect” of an anti-test rebellion led by both the right and the left, it should consider turning over the composition of these “high stakes” standardized tests to teachers. Currently, these tests are composed by educational big business. They adhere to a formula that results in confusing and artificial content.
While standardized tests are here to stay, primarily because they are a necessary way to track education, stronger teacher input is needed in their composition, in the skills to be tested, and in how they are to be graded and used.
MITZI WITKIN
New York, Aug. 17, 2013
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