Remember the DSTP? Remember NCLB? Soon you will be remembering DCAS! If you haven't heard already, a new standardized testing program will be implemented by the year 2014. This new program is aligned with Common Core and will require the students who take the test to do more than answer multiple choice questions. There are writing components involved, and a new rubric for it. Craft Plus...is evidently being thrown to the curb as well.
The one thing I liked about the DCAS was that the kids' scores were immediate! The kids knew, and we knew right away. We tested 3 times a year, and had some data to measure student growth. This was awesome to me when compared to the DSTP...one testing session a year, scores WERE NOT immediate, and the data was year to year.
This new testing program has similar traits of the DSTP. It will be administered once a year, and the writing components mentioned above. It is similar to DCAS as the kids will take this new test on the computer. This NEW test is linked (Siamese Twinned!) with Common Core. Do you know about Common Core? All of you know that it is in our schools, but do you really know ABOUT it?
The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy. (Mission statement taken from corestandards.org)
Common Core was designed to keep curriculums on a level playing field, and to steer our students towards college and the careers their diplomas promise. Of course we know how that is working out...kids graduating with degrees, and advanced degrees who are jobless, or taking jobs that have nothing to do with what they majored in. I digress. Common Core has everything to do with getting our kids to think outside the box. It is an analytical approach to learning that is geared to make our kids think-deeply over choosing options from multiple choice questions.
The Federal Government offered Common Core to all states, and the schools that reside in them. It was presented as a choice...it was never mandated. However, the choice came with temptation (As all things that look, and feel good do)...Adopt Common Core and you can waiver out of the NCLB legislation, and we will give you some money to boot! If Daniel Webster had been a teacher, I imagine the Devil might have made him a similar offer! Needless to say...only a handful of states opted NOT to take on Common Core.
Regarding Common Core and all of its "This and thats"...my research shows a great divide on how educators feel about it. Many feel that, because it has NOT been field tested properly, there is no real proof that it will improve test scores or send them into the toilet. Some educators hate the idea that the Federal Government is stepping in...controlling education and the way that schools are being Tempted (Made) to adopt something that may or may not work. Others like Common Core.
For me...I have accepted the fact that change is inevitable. I have accepted the fact that somewhere people are running around in a frantic attempt to figure out a way to make our kids smart. I have accepted the fact that our government has adopted "The Grass is Greener" mentality...being covetous is the new proud! I have accepted the fact that we will never have a consistent way of measuring our students' achievement, because what is AWESOME one day is obsolete the next. I have accepted the fact that I am sick of accepting facts!
Regarding Common Core and MY classroom. I believe it has its place, simply because I have ALWAYS taught my kids to think outside the boundaries of what is in the book, or on the paper. Metaphorically...I have always led my students down the path, and I have ALWAYS encouraged them to stop now and again and stray...explore what's NOT on the path. That is when real learnin' takes place, because after I call them all back to the path...each has something to present. Something to think through. Something to discuss. I have always encouraged my kids to talk through what they are un-sure of with me, or with a partner, and I have never "Given up" an answer easily. Keep looking...search for it...I know where it is, now you have to find it...are all things I say, everyday, in my classroom.
That is all about that.
Summer is nearly here. The kids can feel it...we can too! I will be teaching Summer School, and a Summer Theater Workshop at our local Opera House (Great fun!). I hope that all of you have a great summer. Be safe, have fun, rest up, energize yourselves!
I do have to say, when I heard about what I already knew...about DCAS moving out...this is the face I made. My...I absolutely knew it, face!
