The Common Core and Our Schools

Several years ago in a small rural school district, I attended a Board of Education meeting that drew an audience of well more than 100 citizens. The crowd had an assortment of people that included students, parents and community members. At one point in the session, the Board of Education approved and moved forward with a district-wide initiative to replace the current mathematic curriculum with another. This extremely important and relevant topic was presented by administration, and voted upon by the Board within a matter of 30 minutes.

Not a voice was heard from those in attendance, no mumblings, or private discussions. The agenda item was presented and approved almost without notice.

Later in the meeting the agenda piece that had brought such a large group to the meeting of the board was presented: consideration for the district to move from its current athletic conference to another. To say the least there was mass “gnashing of teeth and opposition” from the gallery as this was not a popular idea within the community. The reason for such large attendance had presented itself and the “uproar” had just begun. The next hour-and-a-half was spent entirely on this issue.

This incident is representative to the lack of attention or weight that has been assigned over the years to curriculum in our schools. It also provides fodder for the question: why is curriculum, and more exactly, the Common Core State Standards being so vigorously debated and argued about in our state and nation? A look at the development, implementation and national influences offers clarity to that question.

Contrary to the belief of some, the history of the Common Core State Standards finds its origin at the state, rather than at the federal level. Neither (then) Senator Obama, nor President George W. Bush, had a hand in the conception, development or implementation of the standards. Forty-eight governors of the National Governors Association along with the Council of Chief State School Officers, collectively recognized a systemic flaw in our nation’s educational system, a defect that allowed each of our nation’s states to establish its own educational programming, standards and expectations without regard to the other 49 states.

Prior to its release, the implementation of the Common Core in the state of Wisconsin, had teams of professionals who reviewed and critiqued multiple drafts of the standards. Included in this evaluation were representatives from the Wisconsin State Reading Association, the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English, the University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Technical Colleges, private universities, principals and teachers. Throughout this three-year process the Common Core State Standards were public documents that garnered more than 10,000 comments by members of the public.

In 2010, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute compared and rated the Common Core State Standards to the Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards for English language arts and mathematics. The Fordham Institute is an ideologically conservative educational think tank whose mission is to advance rigor in the classroom for all students. The outcome of the Institute’s work?

In the field of mathematics, the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards earned an F. It’s counterpart, English language arts fared little better by earning a D. Conversely, The Common Core earned marks of A- and B+, in mathematics and English respectively.

Through the implementation of the Common Core around our state and nation, I’ve heard testimony by countless teachers, principals and district administrators who attest to the positive instructional and learning transformations that have been provided because of the implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

Finally, to the critics of the Common Core, I ask patience and a reserve for judgment. The process of development, assessment and implementation of the Common Core is an effort that is debatably the most comprehensive curriculum reform by educational professionals in the history of American public education.

Tim Raymond has been the supervisor of the Washington Island School District since 2011. He’ll finish this school year before starting his new job as superintendent of the Cambria-Friesland School District in central Wisconsin.