Grades have been a deep, mysterious secret language, understood by only those who maintain them, yet used widely by parents, universities, scholarship committees and students as a sure indicator of what a student knows and can do. It has been only within the last decade that the foundation of the all-powerful grade has been questioned. In addition, student performance and particularly effort of learning has been placed under a microscope and observed by stakeholders at all levels, from classroom teachers to the President of the United States. In 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, placing education on a course for reform. In 2009, President Obama issued a call to all
Americans to complete at least one year of post-secondary studies, and his Race to the Top legislation renewed the drive for further educational reform (Strauss, 2012). Students in American schools are performing at a much lower achievement level than their counterparts in other countries (Duncan, 2012), and state education leaders have been under pressure to show evidence of
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For the first time in American history there is a sense of a national curriculum and an urgency to reach a level of proficiency. Across the nation public school educators have searched for new and better teaching methodologies, assessment methods, and instructional techniques to address the needs of a diverse student population in meeting these expectations. The creation and adoption of Common Core Standards (CCS) have caused many teachers to pause and consider the degree to which their instruction is aligned to these standards. For many, the thrust toward heightened alignment has provided an impetus to deliberate the instruction presented to students, the techniques of assessment used to determine student achievement, and the communication of student performance and
In the article, “Quarrel over Common Core: A Pennsylvania Primer” by Randy Kraft (2014), Common Core and the controversy surrounding it are discussed heavily. Kraft’s thesis is to inform the audience about Common Core and explain, impartially, the arguments for and against it. In 2010, Pennsylvania took on the Common Core Standards. These standards were put in place to ensure that students of Pennsylvania were on the same academic level by graduation, and enable them to be better equipped to compete in a global marketplace (p. 1).
In “How Grading Reform Changed Our School,” author Jeffery Erickson, the assistant principal of Minnetonka High School in Minnesota, discusses why and how he and his colleagues changed the way students received their grades. Erickson’s main argument in his essay is, “What should go into a grade?” His answer to this is that a student’s grade is solely reflected based on what a student knows and his or her ability to perform. Erickson opens up his essay by giving a scenario from a personal experience of when his daughter took swimming lessons. It was a challenge for his daughter to master the class, but in the end she finally passed on the last day.
Grade inflation is a reality throughout the United States. This means that students are being awarded with higher grades than they deserve or worked for. This phenomenon is affecting the quality of education throughout the country. Students insist on getting ‘’their money's worth’’ when it comes to receiving grades. Teachers don’t want to be nagged by students and administration for low grades.
Sawchuk discusses the massive task of getting all the public school K-12 teachers ready for the standards. Professional development and the roles of the states and school districts are reviewed. This article is clearly demonstrates the amount of work it will involve to make the Common Core Standards a reality across the United States. Wilhoit, G. (2012). Make-or-break state action.
In most great schools, assessment is at the heart of educating students. Not only is assessment used to support students in their learning, but it is also leveraged by Boards, administrators and teachers to certify the level of student learning. During the 2014-15 school year, there were many assessment-related changes. Some schools transitioned to administering the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP) for the first time, other schools enhanced their skills in using the Performance Series assessment, and all schools made a successful transition to the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP).
The United States of America has, and will always be the dream as long as the population stands for ones beliefs. Education has been a popular subject for a while, yet, where is the action? In President Obamas State of the Union Address, he used rhetorical devices to convey his intentions to advance the education system such as logos, utopia, and pathos. President Obama used logical appeal to reference current events along with statistics. He claims the “[l]atino dropout rate has been cut in half over the past 10 years,” and this shows how much the graduation rate has increased in a specific time (Obama).
It was discovered that in education there were certain areas that were universal and common among learning. The two main subjects of concern were English language arts and mathematics. Common core is the new curriculum implemented now in school systems to develop learning. Common Core Standards are a clear set of shared goals and expectations for the knowledge and skills students need in English language arts and mathematics at each grade level so they can be prepared to succeed in college, career, and life. Although, Common Core seems to be here to stay this article addresses concerns in reference to content, instruction, and assessment.
The Common Core State Standards (2010) for writing in fourth grade address text types and purposes, production and distribution of writing, research to build and present knowledge, and range of writing. Students are expected to write arguments, informative/explanatory texts and narratives; develop and strengthen writing using technology to produce and enhance writing; engage in reading and writing from sources; and write routinely over different time frames. In the text message and translation activity the teacher’s goal was to help students produce clear and coherent writing while including the important components of effective writing such as setting a purpose for writing, allowing choices in how and what to write, and addressing audience
Over the years education has transformed into something it never should've been. About the money. It has become more about the money rather than the true education. An article featured on the website education week started off with a great comparison. It went as follows "
Mrs. Kim Lallemand, a Saint Benedict alumna herself, has been teaching 8th grade math at Saint Benedict School for 18 years. In that time, she has become known for her outstanding teaching style which prepares students for the sometimes difficult transition from middle school math to high school math. “I AM VERY PLEASED TO SAY THAT MANY ALUMNI AND THEIR PARENTS REPORT THAT STUDENTS FELT PREPARED FOR HIGH SCHOOL MATH, IN BOTH BISHOP CARROLL AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.” In most cases during middle school, students have had the same math teacher for four years.
The California Common Core Standard I chose was Reading Standards for Foundational Skills K-5 on pages 17 and 18. I specifically chose first grade students. This grade level is appropriate for my teaching area when I begin to student teach and for the classroom I currently work in. First grade students should be able to identify the key components of a sentence (the first word, capitialization and ending punctuation) on a piece of paper. Phonological awareness is important for students to learn early on.
The world of mathematics is changing and with it comes the integration of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the five process standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and the 21st Century Learning skills that all teachers and students must now have an in-depth knowledge of. In their pathway for teachers, these three standards have woven a framework of instruction that can help instill a deep conceptual knowledge of mathematics to actively promote students to think more critically. The main focal point of the CCSS is to advocate values about learning math by contributing different standards that will focus on conceptual understanding in which students must participate. Within the CCSS mathematics framework,
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has become a household term and yet many educators do not understand what it means” (Karge & Moore, 2015, p. 1). Teaching in the United States for the last three years, under a different education system and classroom practices, I am still trying to thoroughly understand, what actually is the CCSS. Until today, teachers, parents, students and other educational entities across the Unites States (US) are still struggling to understand what really is the purpose of the CCSS, its relevance to teachers, parents, students and stakeholders and what sort of adjustments must be made in terms of training and instruction in order to achieve these standards. Further, even educators and the general public are still trying to understand how these new standards benefit both general and special education learners given the gap in their learning styles and levels. I believe, that knowledge of the CCSS and ways in which teachers are trained to implement them are crucial if our children are going to be college ready as the CCSS emphasize and
Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) under Lyndon B. Johnson administration’s War of Poverty. The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to administer an annual assessment, and ensure that schools are making Adequate Yearly Progress, a set of measuring tool to determine if schools are successful. One of the primary goals of the No Child Left Behind Act is to close the students’ achievement gaps by 2014 through the four main pillars: stronger accountability for results, more flexibility for states, more choices for parents, and proven education methods. (U.S Department of Education, 2004) However, the NCLB is exacerbating the gaps with its strong emphasis on the use of standardized testing as a measurement.
Education Reforms Education reform is legislation to improve the quality of education in the United States. Once, grades were the most important achievement for students. However, politicians and the public were concerned that our standardized test scores were not as good as those of other countries. Therefore, state and national governments started making laws to make school more challenging and to test kids more. One of those laws was “No Child Left Behind”.