More armament has been added to the battle over the standards of reading, English and math proposed by the nation’s governors, and being taught at schools throughout Oakland County and Michigan.
Proponents say the so-called Common Core curriculum, which is meant to provide high-level standards of education that all students should achieve, will increase students’ job skills and abilities so they are successful in the new global market.
However, critics disagree.
One critic, state Rep. Tom McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, this week called on Michigan Board of Education President John Austin to ensure that public school teachers in kindergarten through third grade know they have the flexibility to not implement Common Core standards that they think could be harmful to children’s future success in school.
This comes after the Michigan Legislature held up funding for the new curriculum and the proposed testing program to have more time to review the standards.
McMillin cited an article in the Washington Post that is written by two Massachusetts educator-authors who are critical of the standards for the youngest students. It was written by Edward Miller, co-author of “Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School;” and Lesley University Professor Nancy Carlsson-Paige, author of “Taking Back Childhood.”
The two are quoted as saying, “The promoters of the standards claim they are based in research. They are not. There is no convincing research, for example, showing that certain skills or bits of knowledge (such as counting to 100 or being able to read a certain number of words) if mastered in kindergarten will lead to later success in school.
They said, “Two recent studies show that direct instruction can actually limit young children’s learning. At best, the standards reflect guesswork, not cognitive or developmental science.”
However, educators who support the common standards said districts can be flexible in how the standards are taught.
Opponents include the group Stop Common Core in Michigan, which has called the standards “progressive indoctrination of our students,” and proponents include Business Leaders for Michigan and its president Doug Rothwell.
Program began in county during 2010
Administrators and teachers in most Oakland County public school districts started the conversion to the common standards initiated by the National Governors Association and approved by the Michigan Board of Education in 2010, according to Michael Yocum, executive director of learning services at Oakland Schools intermediate district.
Teachers at Auburn Elementary in Avondale school district are among those following Common Core standards that are expected to help prepare students to do more research and teamwork.
Students learn English language arts to provide facts that back up their opinions in their writing and discuss what they have read.
In math, students are taught fewer mathematical concepts in each grade but cover them more thoroughly. The goal is to learn the content of each concept so well that review is not required each year as is the case now. Instead, students can continue to move on each year to more difficult math and reach a higher skill level that is now common before high school graduation.
The issue over funding is now in the Senate Education Committee. A House subcommittee held four public hearings over the summer. But two hearings scheduled for August and September by a Senate subcommittee have been canceled.
Yocum said the testing of how well students are achieving with Common Core standards is supposed to start in the spring of 2015.
“If they don’t restore the spending for that, that’s where things could really put us behind, If we still use MEAP, it is not going to work. You want standards aligned to the curriculum you are using,” Yocum said.
“I’m just hoping our legislature does the right thing and let’s us continue on the path we’ve been on for the last three years and that the tests are the kinds of tests we want.”
Bob Maxfield, former Farmington school district superintendent, now interim dean of the School of Education and Human Resources at Oakland University, said students who plan to go into teaching are being made aware of the Common Core curriculum in the introduction of teaching course.
And some OU student teachers are learning the standards and how to teach them during their student teaching at area schools.
“Teachers that really appreciate it say, ‘We are finally teaching at a higher level of teaching skills,’ and some people are saying, ‘Do we have to change again,’ ” Maxfield said.
“We are preparing teachers to be familiar with common core standards in school where they are a reality and preparing principals to lead it,” Maxfield said.
For more information on Common Core standards, go to http://www.american.com/archive/2013/july/5-things-every-parent-needs-to-know-about-the-common-core.