Why I Like the Common Core

A year and a half ago, I was playing with my kids at the park when a lady approached me with a flier. She told me that if I cared about the future of my children's education, I would attend this meeting to support the cause for ending the common core. Why, I asked her, did she think the common core was so bad? She told me all about how Obama had created all these standards that are impossible for kids to reach, then forced all the states to adopt them. Then I informed her that actually, the Council of Chief State School Officers were some of the ones who led the development of the standards, so in essence, all the states put their heads together to create the best standards possible. I told her a few reasons why I really liked the new standards and asked her what, specifically, her issues were with them. She told me she didn't have time to argue with me because she had to pass out all the fliers and her kids were waiting in the car, then she hurried off. I planned to attend the meeting with my common core standards in hand, but the meeting conflicted with another family engagement. As I've read and listened to complaints about the standards, I've found that there are a lot of complaints that aren't founded on facts. In fact, there seem to be some pretty big lies being spread around. I am shocked with some of the things I've read and I really wonder how many of the people opposed to the standards have actually read what the standards are.

UPDATED TO ADD: I also understand that a lot of the dislike for the standards comes from not understanding why we have to change education from the way things were when we were in school. But considering how fast the world is changing, I think it's good for education to grow and change along with it. (It's so funny to hear myself say things like this because I struggle to even change my plans for an evening and I love the charm in doing most things the old-fashioned way.)

Are the standards perfect? No. But I believe they are a step in the right direction. Here's why . . .

The standards are meant to bridge the achievement gap between high school and college.

Maybe I understand this need so well because I experienced it. I was a straight A student in high school and knew how to get by. When I got to college, I began getting failing grades. I had to teach myself new ways to study and learn before I was able to become more successful. There was a huge gap between the type of learning and studying high school seniors and college freshmen were expected to complete. The new standards focus on getting all children prepared up to a college-entrance level.

The standards are consistent across states.

Okay, this is obviously great because when/if your child moves to a new state, their new class will be working on the same standards your child was learning at their old school.  But this is especially great because there are now so many companies/districts/teachers creating great teaching resources that can be shared. We couldn't do that before. Everything available had to be taken and tweaked to fit your particular standards. But now every big company creating resources for education are fitting them to the needs of all the states who've adopted the standards. There is so much available out there now.

The standards are focused on preparing these kids for jobs that don't even exist yet. 

When I started school 25 years ago (wow I'm old), my teachers had no idea that they were preparing me to be a contributing member of society in a world with internet, smart phones, email, digital movies and music, gps, email, Facebook, or FaceTime. I heard someone say the other day that our teachers always told us we had to learn math because we wouldn't be carrying calculators with us everywhere our whole lives . . . but we do now, don't we?! I can't even imagine what the world will be like in another 25 years for my kids. These new standards focus more on teaching our kids to think, communicate, understand, and problem-solve so that they can be prepared for their future jobs and future lives, even if we can't entirely guess what they might be.

This morning, when my husband told me that one of the leading congressional candidates for our state is telling everyone she's going to get rid of the common core and decrease funding for education in our state, I got frustrated. When I read about many of the opposing opinions to the common core (on anti-common-core sites and articles), I often start to wonder if there is a different "common core" out there that I don't know about because most of the complaints on there about worksheets and sex education and indoctrination don't really have anything to do with the standards I know. I have read the Common Core Standards and their Addendums cover-to-cover and I honestly believe they are a good thing for education. But of course, everyone's entitled to their opinion.