Clyde-Green Springs Superintendent David Stubblebine said he supports the Common Core standards because they emphasize critical thinking, collaboration and communication — skills he said will help prepare students for 21st century careers...Schools have spent countless hours and dollars preparing for the Common Core. " Ohio opposition Rep. Andy Thompson, R-Marietta, recently filed a bill to cleave Ohio from the Common Core standards, which was co-signed by 13 other legislators. Thompson told the Cincinnati Enquirer he wanted to place Common Core on hold to better assess its tests. (T)he testing arrangements limit the freedom of Ohio schools to develop their own curriculum. "Clearly my biggest concern is it’s not the federal government who should be educating our students,” he said. The national and most state teachers unions have endorsed Common Core standards and academic supports. Stubblebine said the standards are broad enough to give educators the freedom to teach and chose their own resources, however he added he is concerned with his district’s ability to issue computerized tests to the standard. “We believe we are ready with the recent technology adoption that we made, but there’s always glitches with technology and anything that is untried and untested in broad form,” he said. Ohio has joined more than 20 other states in working with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, to develop assessments related to the Common Core standards. WHO DO YOU BELIEVE? One side says: ✰The partnership not only erodes local control of education but also allows the federal government to collect data on children. The other says: ✰The education committee chairwoman said the only data collected will be test results, and individual names won’t be shared. BOTTOM LINE TRANSPARENCY Damon Asbury, director of legislative services with the Ohio School Boards Association recommended superintendents and school boards hold community meetings to speak to their parents about Common Core and answer questions. While he didn’t anticipate Ohio going away from Common Core, having an open discussion would help people better understand what is happening in their schools. “The parents need to know what is being taught and why,” he said.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 13:56:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015