#3 "The Common Core's fundamental trouble" Summary and Opinion

At the beginning of Valerie Strauss' article, "The Common Core's Fundamental Trouble," the nonprofit organization, Rethinking Schools, mentions that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is the next big thing in education reform and the CCSS is being pushed into classrooms across the country. Strauss states many positive claims made for the Common Core, for instance, developing critical learning skills and student-centered teaching. In the article, Strauss' says, "the misnamed 'Common Core State Standards' are not state standards." In reality they are national standards developed by the National Governors Association (NGA). These standards are tied to assessments and the new Common Core test will be considerably harder than current state assessments. This had been seen before because the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) proved failure within school systems. Strauss believes that the engine for potential disaster will be in the Common Core tests. The cost of the test will be expensive and the scores will be an excuse to close public schools and open more private schools. Strauss thinks that the Common Core will cause more kids to drop out of high school rather than prepare them for college. Without help, the Common Core could be another stage in the demise of public education.

I had to read this article several times in order fully understand the concept of it. From the information and opinions provided in the article, I would have to agree with author Valerie Strauss. I say this because I am new to the education program and do not know that much about the Common Core State Standards, but I believe that Strauss does a great job explaining how the Common Core may not be the best policy for our school systems. As Strauss mentions in her article, the NCLB was a dismal failure in both raising academic performance and narrowing gaps in opportunity and outcomes. From what I understood in her article, the Common Core will most likely do the same thing to our schools. Not only fail our schools, but close more public schools and open more privatized charters and voucher schools. It is scary to think that these new standards could have the potential for disaster in our school system. This is defiantly a topic I will research more about in order to have a better opinion about the Common Core State Standards that are coming into play real fast in schools across the country.