Lekha Tantry09/29/15Pd. 5/6

Annotated Source List

Amos, Denise Smith. "Duval Parents Stumped by Elementary Math Blame Common Core Standards, New Curriculum." Jacksonville.com. The Florida Times Union, 20 Oct. 2015. Print. 21 Oct. 2015.

Some parents, earlier this month, from the county of Duval in Florida, began complaining to the School Board about the difficulty of elementary math work their children were receiving. They blamed the Common Core standards and the new math curriculum of Duval Country. They felt defeated when they could not assist their children with these new standards that seemed to be more difficult than what they had learned in their childhood. They could not help their children with the same steps as their teachers’ told them to use. Families have found it difficult to adapt to these new standards that the Common Core imposes on the students in the subject of mathematics. Before, students were first taught algorithms, the steps that were needed in order to solve their math problems. Following this, they would learn how and why the algorithm works. However, with the new Common Core standards, these steps are flipped. The conceptual understanding is put first, while the algorithm is put last. The point of doing so is to allow students to understand how these tools work in order to get higher level math problems and how to think like a mathematician. The new curriculum in Duval, which strictly adheres to the Common Core, teaches children the underlying concepts regarding addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and are taught multiple ways of solving one problem. The article states that American students usually under-perform in math compared to those students in other countries because they are unaware of why the algorithms work and why they use them. The article compares the algebra exams of the U.S. to those of China, remarking at how much more conceptually based and therefore challenging these tests are. These techniques that are taught within the Common Core are meant to arm students with not only the information of math but the confidence to do higher level problems. The article calls for action, stating that districts should prepare parents more for these new and more challenging curricula by conducting more parent math nights, sending materials home, or putting up tutorials online. Teachers also need the necessary training, especially those who are specialized in the field, to effectively teach this instruction.

This article effectively took both sides of the issue of Common Core, addressing both the benefits and drawbacks of the standards. As in my previous research, it was found that the standards, although harder, are created in order to prepare students for the outside world, as students of this generation of under-performing in the subject of mathematics considerably compared to those of other countries. They prepare students to think like mathematicians, and make them interested in science, math, technology, and engineering subjects. However, as the article centers on, parents are having a hard time understand these methods. We all were taught the algorithm before the explanation as to why we use the algorithm, so it is difficult for parents to help their children at home when they ask for help. Parents play an incredibly important part in a student’s education, from helping them with homework to encouraging their children to succeed in education. Much of the effort must come from the home to educate children and help

children receive a good education. However, students are at a mighty disadvantage when these parents who they expect to teach them are unable to do so. I think the last point the author makes, the call to action, is extremely important now. It is essential for districts to help parents become educated in the new Common Core standards, in order to help them help their own children when it comes to school homework.

Bowdon, Jill. "The Common Core's First Casualty: Playful Learning." Phi Delta Kappan 96.8 (2015): 33-37. Print. 24 Oct. 2015

In this article, Jill Bowdon points out the numerous problems that arise regarding the Common Core standard when implemented in classrooms, specifically affecting kindergarten classrooms. She explains that the adoption of these standards has cut out an extremely important aspect of a child’s life: play time. This is because the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) advocates for more teacher-centric activity and less play. It has required teachers to prepare their students for the standardized testing that occurs in 3rd grade. It puts pressure on teachers in disadvantaged schools who not only have limited resources, they need to make up much ground to meet the rigor of the CCSS. This pressure reduces the chances of teachers diverting and using experimental approaches that may actually have a more beneficial effect on students. Schools also are under pressure to meet the necessary requirements and therefore put their funds into buying textbooks and workbooks rather than play toys and art supplies. The rushed adoption of the CCSS in most states and the lack of early childhood educator or researcher have resulted in the unpreparedness of teachers who are unable to meet the standards using appropriate curriculum that is both developmentally accurate and playful, while still meeting the standards. There is also a large pressure from parents who read certain things recommended by psychologists and believe their children should reach a certain milestone at a specific point. Teachers, due to all of these pressures, adapt to have a narrow focus on just the curriculum and what is needed to pass the test in reading and math, and center all of their activities to mimic the test. She calls for action by stating that teaches need to draw on the expertise of early childhood researchers to design play-based instruction that aligns with the CCSS, modify the CCSS to reflect the understanding that children learn at different speeds and reach milestones at different times, and stop compensating teachers based on standardized testing. She ends by saying that “as long as we judge teachers by standardized testing scores, there will be a trickle-down of accountability pressure to accelerate curriculum and reduce play. Let’s redefine what it means o be a “good teacher” based on our understanding of child development and how children learn, and build instructional support for this definition among principals, teachers, and other parents.”

This last quote appealed to me very much, for it is true, we should not be judging a teacher’s abilities based on how their students do on a standardized test created by some outside group of people that dictate supposedly how much students should know at certain ages to be successful in life. Although this article speaks to early education and mostly about reading skills rather than math, I think this can pertain to all levels of education regarding the Common Core State Standards and its fallacies. One main point about these standards is that they have been implemented too quickly, a point which has been resurfacing in many many articles. Many say that these standards should have reevaluated and tested on a smaller scale instead of simply creating pages of standards based on statistics and expecting teachers to instantly comply to them. Their lack of consultation with actual teachers from the field and researchers from the field is appalling. This article also reminded me of Mr. Siegert’s experience at another school, where everyone learns at their own pace. Some students learn slower, others learn faster, according to sound research, so it is unfair to have students all expected to be standardized to learn the same material and grasp all of it at the same time and pace. In the school, students learned the material, then, when they were comfortable, they took the test. If they failed it, they simply took it again until they passed, and they could go on to the next chapter. By the end, everyone knows the lessons, and everyone is knowledgeable. However, I feel like this would only work if it was

started at an early age. At this point, we would simply take advantage of the system and not work with it to the best of our abilities. However, if started at a young age, children would learn for the sake of learning the subject, rather than simply learning for the sake of passing a test. This article was one of my favorites so far, because it addresses key problems that are very relevant and need to be addressed.

Calkins, Lucy, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman. Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2012. Print. 21 Oct 2015.

Within this book, a discussion is provided on the Common Core State Standards in literacy, leading to a better understanding of these standards. As discussed in the previous sources, these standards seemed to have many gaps in regards to the curriculum and exact practical usage of the standards. The CCSS rather just give an outline of the expectations the students must have at each level of education. This book is helpful in providing a filling for these gaps, providing information on the instructional approaches. The standards outlined are explained as challenging and daunting, but with this book, will be explained in an easy manner, walking through each standard and how they will be accessible for teachers. It displays how to read the standards, how they are organized, and how they can be implemented in the classroom. They address the Common Core State Standards Literacy Initiative, which provide a wake up call, supposedly, as to the need for higher levels of literacy that are essential in today’s job market.

Although this book seems to be extremely helpful, it seems as though it will not be useful to me. It provides clear outlines as to what the CCSS are exactly and how they can be used practically for teachers. However, it only focuses on the literacy aspect of the Common Core State Standards. I am concentrating on the math aspect of Common Core, or at least I believe I am at this point, as I am interning in a Common Core math classroom, not an English one. Therefore, I am able to receive a first-person point of view on how the standards are now implemented into the curriculum. I am able to use my knowledge, that I am acquiring from these sources, and developing my stance on the standards based on what I see of its practical implementation. Therefore, this book, although helpful if I were looking at the English CCSS, are not helpful to me, as I am trying to research the math CCSS.

"Common Core State Standards Initiative." Core Standards. Common Core State Standards Initiative, n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2015. <http://www.corestandards.org/>. 

This website provides an overview of all of the information regarding the quite controversial, Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). There are numerous tabs that give a whole picture of what it is about. The main guidelines, the developmental process, as well as the debunking of falsified myths are given, shedding light on the actual intentions of the program. The aims of the standards are given under the tab “What Parents Should Know,” enlightening parents on why the Common Core has been instated as the standard. A map is provided of the overwhelming amount of states currently under the Common Core as of now. In another tab, the specific guidelines are explicitly stated for Common Core Math and English, as well as those covering both subjects. Other resources are given to learn more about the program. Key shifts are also included within this same tab, in both English and math. In order to further substantiate their stance, the Common Core has provided a comprehensive list of organizations that back the Common Core as a viable standard for students.

The entire website is useful in giving clear information about the Common Core. Its main goal, it seems like, is to provide students with an equal amount of theoretical knowledge as well as practice knowledge, producing students that can not only work with rote memorization, but can also be able to explain and apply these integral math skills in the future. Because it is such a controversial yet relevant topic if I decide to teach any grade lower than high school, this website will assist me in debunking the well-known mockeries of the standards. Although I am still skeptical about it, as I have seen it work and not work with students first-hand, I will now be able to use this website to further my knowledge of what exactly the Common Core is, what it preaches, why it was created, and why it is being scrutinized to such a level by parents, students, and teachers. I have read articles both opposed to and for these standards, and looking at the Common Core’s side of the issue, with just information on it, I will be able to base my judgments on the information presented in the website. Aside from my use of this in the future as a teacher, I can also use this to assist me in writing my essay or coming up with a potential project.

Conley, David T., Kathryn V. Drummond, Alicia De Gonzalez, Jennifer Roosebom, and Odile Stout. "Reaching the Goal: The Applicability and Importance of the Common Core State Standards to College and Career Readiness." ERIC. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2011. Print. 20 Oct. 2015.

In this article, the authors state that the benefit to common standards is the fact that states can more efficiently share their best practices in the curriculum and assessments, while still remaining more flexible in their teaching. However, the main question that needs to be answered is, do these standards really reflect what is needed to be college and career ready, as they state. The study centers around the Educational Policy Improvement Center, which designed a study examining the applicability of these standards to postsecondary readiness. The method created was to have postsecondary instructors from a wide range of courses and institutions rate each standard based on its applicability and importance. More than 1897 responses were received, where almost all the ratings had the standards as applicable and important. However, while the English language arts subjects’ ratings were rated much higher, the math standards were rated lower. The higher ratings within these math standard were related to reasoning quantitatively and interpreting functions, such as algebraic equations that describe numbers or relationships, interpretations of structure, and solving problems with different equations. Geometry was, however, rated lower, calling for the need to eliminate or consolidate some standards. Geometry needs to be reviewed once again to increase the subject’s applicability. The study suggests that children who are well proficient in the common core standards, they will be ready for postsecondary courses. However, a danger is present in assuming that this is synonymous with students who have learned the standards are fully ready to take on the challenges of colleges and careers, for there are other important aspects that this readiness relies on, which the Common Core does not cover.

First and foremost, it is interesting to note that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded this study. I am not sure how to feel about this. Other than that, this study was very informative as to the actual reliability of these standards. As mentioned in other sources, it is very unreliable to simply judge the importance of these standards based simply on the assessments students take. The actual input of teachers is extremely important, the teachers who spend their time creating lesson plans and see the results first hand of their students learning the material. Therefore, the method in which the study went about gathering information was effective, in my opinion. They also received a large amount of responses, adding to the reliability of the study. I found it interesting that the study found that geometry was found to be unreliable, but the rest seemed to be reliable. I need to find more studies that may lead to this same conclusion, and maybe find action that has been taken to re-evaluate these standards. Overall, this study was very useful to find information, based on teacher evolutions rather than student test scores, on the reliability to the Common Core Standards.

Dessoff, Alan. "Are You Ready for Common Core Math?" District Administration 48 (2012): 53-54. ERIC. Print. 13 Oct. 2015.

As the new Common Core State Standards bring new assessments to math students in grades K through 12, many teachers and administrators are unaware of how much that will affect them, do not know much about them at all, and most of all, do not know how to prepare for them, according to Alan Dessoff. These assessments are based off of the CCSS that states are using to review their curricula and instruction in the subjects of math and English, and will delve more deeply into what students are learning and how they are learning these math concepts. Coupled with this, these assessments will be administered online through computers instead of paper, something that most districts are unaware of but should be aware of. This will provide direct and immediate results as soon as students are completed with their assessment. While this may be a beneficial thing, this also means that school districts where many computers and other technological tools needed to complete these tests are not available, will need to install and implement more of these tools to take these tests. This will pose a question as to the budgets that will need to be increased to pay for these equipment. With schools that have lower budgets, this will seem to be a large problem in how students will complete the test, let alone succeed in it. Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Careers (PARCC) and SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) are two of the organizations working to develop these assessments. These assessments still have not been released in their final form, which is one of the reasons districts have not been aware of the amount of change these assessments will implement. Districts are even more confused due to the internal discord; some teachers seem to love the assessments while others hate them, some are more aware of what is to come while others are not even ready to take these tests on a computer.

The Common Core seems to have a wide array of problems, and this article presents the problems dealing with testing. Many teachers in my experience have had much frustration with the increase in testing, as it has kept teachers from actually teaching and kept students in front of computers, testing. Days of lessons are cancelled because of these assessments which are supposedly supposed to help the state decide whether or not the school is accurately teaching the students. Before I begin with this analysis, I pose a question, quite rhetorically, at the ostentatious nature of the names of these organizations. Consortium? Partnership? Why such long names with such weird acronyms? Aside from these names, this article does pose a good question as to how much districts are really prepared for these tests. Again, this article seems to be part of the “con” side of the Common Core, commenting on its testing and the ability for students to be able to take the test and their readiness in completing the material at all.

"Education Week: Teacher." Education Week. Education Week, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. 

This entire database provides information on a variety of sources all pertaining to education. The tabs include information about teachers, digital directions, industry and innovation, top school jobs, etc. Within the “Teacher” tab, a multitude of articles can be found regarding different news articles on teachers and education. One example is an article titled “What Bullying Victims Don’t Need From Teachers: Silence.” Other than bullying, topics on tax breaks, LGBT issues in the education field, the SAT, how to teach, all are encompassed within this one tab. Under the “Digital Directions” tab, readers can find a multitude of articles on the use of technology in the classroom. Under “Industry & Innovation,” articles on current events in these fields can be found. Under “Top School Jobs,” a database for searching for school administration, superintendent, education director, school principal curriculum, education technology, math, science, special education, bilingual education, world language, and other teaching jobs can be found. A “Shop” tab brings information on the newsletter “Education Week” and merchandise.

Overall, this entire website provides me with a multitude of sources and articles for any topic I would want to search in the future, whether it is on Asian-Americans in the work force or the Common Core. The latest, most recent articles of current events can be found regarding education. From reading on other teachers’ experiences to uncovering information on different educational topics on a wide range of topics, this database provides a vast amount of information on anything I need. Even for the future, it provides a nice database and way to find jobs. With just a name, city or zip code, I can easily find jobs in my area in my area of expertise. All in all, this entire database will surely help me find articles that will assist me greatly no matter what I choose my research paper topic to be on. This website will help me greatly in formatting my lesson plans as well. I will be exposed to experiences of other teachers and research articles of other teachers or those in the education field and be able to use this to develop clear and more effective lesson plans when I go to teach Common Core math at my mentor site. I can gain insight on what other parents and teachers think of the Common Core, which has been recently getting a lot of criticism on how they teach math specifically. As a math common core teaching intern, I can use my knowledge of what I will be teaching coupled with articles from this site to further my knowledge of Common Core and its benefits and drawbacks.

Educators Rising. Educators Rising. Phi Delta Kappa International, n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2015. <https://www.educatorsrising.org/>. 

This website contains a plethora of recourses for the aspiring teacher. Formerly known as Future Educators of America, Educators Rising provides high school students and undergraduate students with information from highly qualified teachers and others in the education field. From scholarships to competitions, this website can provide students with a way in which to contribute and enhance the teaching field which they are interested in. The website contains numerous videos of teachers in their own environments, teaching in their classes. There are lessons on communication skills and lifetime physical competence taught through creative, fun, and enjoyable ways which can inspire other teachers. There are videos on teacher empowerment, such as those from “Kid President,” TedTalks, and other “viral” videos on teaching. In another section, there are resources that can be used by new teachers, on basic teaching skills such as learner development, differences, and environments. A page is dedicated to college hunting, with tips on how to find the best college for you, as well as tips on how to write the best college essay. There is information given on choosing a college, applying to college, paying for college, and even college life. Under paying for college, a student can find scholarships for aspiring teachers. The last tab contains information about the competitions that take place under this organization, with contests on lesson plans and presentations on a variety of subjects. There is also information about the honor society associated with Educators Rising. A separate page is also dedicated to the merchandise offered, including t-shirts and sweatshirts.

This entire website is the perfect resource for me, as an aspiring teacher. It provides me with information on college, paying for college through scholarships, what schools offer education, and the dynamics of college life. This particular information is incredibly useful to me as a senior applying to colleges right now. The videos of TedTalks and other presentations inspires me to continue my journey as an aspiring teacher, instilling a sense of pride in wanting to pursue this noble profession. The teaching skills and lesson plan videos give me an idea of what I need to do in the future as a teacher in the real working world. Although my internship gives me a good idea of all the pressures of being a teacher in this country and in this education system, these videos give me a broad picture of what a new teacher must do and the skills they must acquire to become an effective educator. Overall, this website will be of great use to me only for my paper, but for my endeavors into the world of education.

Germain-McCarthy, Yvelyne, and Ivan P. Gill. Bringing the Common Core Math Standards to Life: Exemplary Practices from High Schools. New York City: Routledge, 2015. Print. 16 Oct 2015.

This book, Bringing the Common Core Math Standards to Life, focuses especially on the math common core state standards in high schools, describing how these standards are changing the curriculum for high schools, and mainly how high school teachers can prepare and remodel their classrooms to fit the new standards. The shift in the curriculum calls for paying less attention to teaching procedures without understanding the concept, and a greater focus on conceptual understanding of the topics covered in class and connecting this mathematics across other disciplines, using it in daily life. The new standards also encourage the use of probability, statistics, and technology when necessary in order to address societal needs. Other changes include those in learning, teaching, and assessment. The learning shift involves students gaining access to problems that are authentic and tools that support their reasoning. The teaching shift supports a variety of approaches to reach all of the students, and the assessment shift supports a coupling of teaching and many types of assessments to test progress. From these basic statements, the book goes into detail about these points, building on them and explaining how these new shifts will affect their own classroom and strategies as to how to implement these new shifts.

This book will surely be incredibly useful to me in the future, not only when I am researching now for a topic, but also when I become a teacher in the future. I hope, in the future, to be a math high school teacher, and this book, as it is very recent – published in 2015 – will be able to paint a picture of what I might expect when I start teaching. Unless the standards change again in the near future, which is quite possible. Reading this book so far, I am not sure of the viewpoint on the Common Core, and I believe this book thus gives a nice, unbiased, and practical view of these mandatory standards and how teachers can practically use these standards in their classrooms. It has input from numerous other teachers and administrators in the education department, giving it more credibility, and making it more useful to me to use for my paper.

Gordon, June A. "Asian American Resistance to Selecting Teaching as a Career: The Power of Community and Tradition." Teachers College Record 102.1 (2000): 173-96. Print. 16 Oct. 2015.

This article from a peer-reviewed journal from the “Teachers College Record” provides an in-depth study on the reasoning behind my Asian-American teachers are not prevalent in the Unites States education fields. Asian-American students in teacher education programs were interviewed on this topic, and these individuals were then asked to interview Asian Americans in California committees. This article focused more on the role of Chinese Asian-Americans in the education field. The interviews found that the reasoning behind this lack of representation stems from the parents’ pressure to go for careers that are perceived as having a higher status, such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc. The financial stability and rewards proved to be another attractive quality, along with the prevention of feeling a sense of inadequacy because of standards set by the Chinese culture on what it means to be a teacher. Overall, the customs of Chinese households have kept Asian-American students from pursuing jobs in this field.

Personally, I can agree with everything written in this article. This article, although only mentioning Chinese-Americans, can pertain to all Asian-Americans in the Unites States. We all go through the same issues with our parents. Our parents want us to become rich and successful, and thus urge us to pursue one of the three choices for a suitable career, doctor, engineer, or lawyer. It does not matter what you want to do, it matters more on which job gives the most money. Another aspect I have also experienced is the issue of social status. When parents tell others what their children do, Asian-American parents especially yearn to be able to brag to their fellow Asian-Americans that their children are rich, successful, and well-off, not underpaid, lower-in-status teachers. I, myself, am going through this same dilemma, with my parents wanting me to become a doctor or at least a professor in order to accumulate the money needed to “survive.” I have been told that it is important to keep personal wants separate from financial needs. However, like other Asian-Americans who go through this as well, it is important to realize that one must do what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Teachers are a valuable aspect in our society, and a lack of good teachers is resulting in the downfall of this country. Asian-Americans have shown intelligence in the STEM fields, fields which the Unites States needs to improve upon. By coming out of this mindset that teaching is a lowly job because of the lowly salary, Asian-Americans can be encouraged to not become just a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, but also be part of a group of highly esteemed people known as teachers, educating the next generation.

Guthrie, James W. "National Center for Education Statistics." Encyclopedia of Education. 2nd eed. Vol. 5. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. 1756-757. Print. 18 Oct. 2015.

This source, found through Gale Virtual Reference Library, is found in the Encyclopedia of Education, by Macmillan Reference Library. Within this book are numerous articles on various topics regarding education. This source in particular, known as the “National Center for Education Statistics,” gives an overview on this federal agency that is responsible for “collecting, analyzing, and disseminating statistical information related to the U.S. educational system.” It is a division of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Essentially, they are responsible for keeping the public up to date with the latest information and data on the newest progresses and conditions of the public education system. This information keeps the public, professional educators, policy makers and the media well aware of the current state of conditions. There are also reviews of other countries’ education systems. The article touches base on the information provided within this program, such as student enrollment, graduation rates, teacher staffing levels, and teacher shortages, student skills and levels, and school expenditures. This information is obtained through numerous surveys on the educational system. One example is the Schools and Staffing Survey which monitors teacher supply and demand and the composition of the work force in education. In another survey, the knowledge and skills are evaluated of fourth, eight, and twelfth graders in various subject areas, also evaluating high school transcripts and interstate comparisons. Government officials on all levels use this data to plan educational programs, while the media uses the data to inform the public. This data can be found through the online NCES Electronic Catalog, the National Education Data Resource Center, and other publications.

This article gives incredible insight into how our major policies are constructed. Although simply a list of information regarding the ways in which this government agency works in the broad picture of the educational department, it shows how these educational policies which many parents, teachers, and administrators despise of so much, are based on. Rather than basing their fundamental educational policies on first-hand reports from teachers and insight as to the practical uses of these policies, their policies are based upon the statistics of testing large groups of students and basing their findings on that. Testing can be incredibly flawed, some students do well intellectually but fail when it comes to standardized testing, and these are just a few of the plethora of flaws that come with policy-makers basing their policies on these subjective findings. Apart from this, this source also helped me find another department that plays an incredibly large role in the education system and the process of creating the policies we see implemented today, such as the Common Core. With the information presented in this article, I will be able to track exactly how this highly controversial policy was created based on these statistics.

Hartquist, Danielle. Personal interview. 22 Oct. 2015. 

Danielle Hartquist graduated East Carolina University in 2013 with a double major in Mathematics and Secondary Mathematics Education. She worked at a senior high school in Plano, TX as a behavior interventionist for one year. This is now her second year teaching middle school mathematics at Burleigh Manor Middle School.

Main, Laura Fricke. "Too Much Too Soon? Common Core Math Standards in the Early Years." Early Childhood Education Journal Early Childhood Educ J 40.2 (2011): 73-77. Print. 19 Oct. 2015.

Within this article, Laura Fricke Main discusses the caution that is needed when implementing the math Common Core curriculum for younger children. She explains that the standards have very lofty goals which contradict their supposed “fewer, clearer, higher standards.” She proposes that much work must be done before completely using them in the school systems. The standards, she explains, are over-ambitiously planned, and will only hurt the younger students in their lack of a solid, base foundation of math skills. Implementing these standards will pose a high risk for United States students, as the government is essentially performing a national experiment at the risk of the students. There is a need for not only standards, but also effective curriculum, classroom practices, and teaching strategies, which seem to be absent in the Common Core standards in their rush to implement these standards. Not only assessments but also teacher expertise and curriculum resources are needed, which do not seem to be present currently. She also points out that these standards are not curriculum essentially and will be ineffective if not implemented currently. Curriculum is needed in order to implement the standards effectively, and thus these standards must not be issued so quickly. Overall, Main strongly recommends holding back on the implementation of the Common Core Math standards, which do not have the essential components to be successful in the long run, and will simply be detrimental to the future students.

This article is very helpful for me to receive an accurate representation of the other side of this issue. The Common Core State Standards Initiative has been under much criticism for their outlandish standards and curriculum, but this article was very informative as to why this was. I was speaking with Ms. McAllister to check my sources, and she gave me her two cents on the Common Core. She explained that her (I do not remember exactly who it was but it was a child at home) “child” was asking her for help with math and she noticed the complexity of the work. She told me that she believes the Common Core introduces too much too quickly. This side I had not heard of before, as I had usually heard of the weird and convoluted ways in which the Common Core has students solve problems that are seemingly easy to us now, in order to make it easy for them. The article went through this as well, with the Common Core rushing too much to implement these “experiential standards” on students without thoroughly solving all the problems within it. I will be sure to use this in my research to define the pros and cons of the Common Core, which I think I will do my research on.

"Maryland College and Career Ready Standards (based on the Common Core State Standards)." Maryland College and Career Ready Standards (based on the Common Core State Standards). Maryland State Department of Education, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Maryland has adopted the Common Core State Standards into their own College and Career-Ready Standards in 2013-2014. Maryland is stated to have been one of the first states to have adopted these standards into their reading/English language arts and mathematics, after the Board of Education of Maryland voted unanimously to implement these standards in the June of 2010. These Common Core State Standards are coordinated by the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, which set out the expectations for what students should be able to understand in K-12 in order to be better prepared for success in college and eventually in the workplace. They are based upon the research gathered through evidence and internal benchmarks. From this brief introduction, this page on the Maryland State Department of Education’s website provides a list of links for more information on resources for teachers and parents on the assessments and lessons that go along with these standards. There is also a press release on the adoption of the CCSS and the frameworks of the implementations of CCSS to the College and Career Ready Standards.

This page provides a good overview of the standards in relation to Maryland in specific. As previously stated in the Common Core State Standards Initiative website, the standards provided are not defining how these should be taught in the state level. This is defined by the states. This website provides a good outline of how Maryland has adopted and implemented these standards into their own curriculum. Using this resource, I can research the standards specific to Maryland, the problems associated with the standards, and the benefits of using these standards.

Mathis, W. J. (2010). The “Common Core” Standards Initiative: An Effective Reform Tool? Boulder and Tempe: Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit. Print. 13 Oct. 2015.

In order to make students “College and Career Ready,” administration has put pressure on the states to adopt these measures developed by the National Governors’ Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers (NGA/CCSSO). The standards were developed very quickly, in only one year, raising concerns about its development, content, and use that are all within the 500 pages of documents on these standards. The standards have not been field tested, and pose to have high-stake consequences if all does not go well (as we see the repercussions now). It does not seem likely that the common core standards will even have any positive effects on the quality of education or equality with the lack of essential resources in all local, state, and federal levels. It is recommended that these standards be continued but only as assistance tools for states rather than mandated standards. They can be used simply for the purpose of improving the curriculum and professional development. These standards should also be put under extensive validation and trials before being implemented into the school system. Careful examination must be made to examine and experiment with the broad-based school-evaluation systems. These high-risk accountability systems, unable to be completely tested with the new assessments, should thus not be implemented as a result of the overwhelming amount of weaknesses to these policy measures.

This article provides more resources and research on the lack of resources and planning that has gone into these very rushed standards. Education is a vital aspect of one’s life, and school administrators and the board of education have essential roles in the lives of future generations. So for them to hurry this process of implementing drastic changes to the school system that have not only been incredibly rushed with a lack of consideration for schools that cannot keep up with these standards, they have not even been tested properly beforehand. This is essentially, therefore, a mass “guinea pig experiment” on all of America, or rather 48 states of the Unites States. This article provides me with much information on how the Common Core may have good intentions, but must be looked at and revised once again with much more attention to detail and slowly be implemented into schools in order for it to have success.

McClenney, Lauren. Personal interview. 23 Oct. 2015.

Lauren McClenney graduated from Syracuse University with a BS in Psychology in 2009 and a Dual Masters in Elementary and Special Education in 2011. Then, she taught 4th grade for three years at a specialized private school in the suburbs of Atlanta to dyslexia and language differences children After leaving Atlanta, she moved back home and taught at The Lab School OF Washington which is another specialized private school to 3rd/4th grade with severe literacy and written expressive needs. After a year at Lab, she wanted a public school experience and starting working at Burleigh Manor as a 7th grade Special Ed teacher.

Merryfield, Merry M. "Pedagogy for Global Perspectives in Education: Studies of Teachers' Thinking and Practice." Theory & Research in Social Education 26.3 (1998): 342-79. Print. 15 Oct. 2015.

Americans are beginning to think of American education in the context of the globe, and have an increasing concern on the quality of education their children are receiving to prepare the for the interdependent world. Although many articles have been published on the need to infuse global perspectives in education for children to understand the interconnections of the world, there are none on the role of social studies teachers as they teach about these global perspectives. This article portrays the perspectives of current practices used in the classroom in global education. Some of these include well established, renowned teachers, known to be the best global educators in their respective school districts, and teachers who have recently had their formal instruction in this subject. Also included are perspective teachers who are just now beginning to teach these social studies instruction in their certification program. In the article, commonalities and differences present themselves among these three varying groups of teachers. The commonalities include the teaching of the teachers’ own cultures and other cultures through other perspective, connecting the knowledge of the world to their own students’ lives, and making connections across other time periods throughout history and world regions. However, master teachers seem to hone in on global and local inequalities, higher level-thinking, approaches involving inter-disciplines, and cross-cultural experiential education.

This article, although useful for social studies teachers, had no use for me. As I am now deciding to pursue an approach in the subject of Common Core Mathematics, as it relates to me directly and my internship, this article provides no useful information to me. However, it is interesting to note the last part of the article. In my internship, I heard teachers speaking about the ineffectiveness of having teachers who teach longer, teach in higher level classes, because with more experience they should be put in classes where the students are harder to teach. This article however speaks about the master-level teachers teaching higher level-thinking skills, more than the teachers just now having started teaching. Therefore, there is some basis as to why more experiences teachers are put in more advanced classes, for there are more complex topics with complex thinking needed for teachers in order to teach students higher level topics. However, I am not sure how this works in the practical sense, as I am not yet a teacher and cannot hold any major opinion on this.

Schiller, K. S., and C. Muller. "Raising the Bar and Equity? Effects of State High School Graduation Requirements and Accountability Policies on Students' Mathematics Course Taking." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 25.3 (2003): 299-318. Print. 14 Oct. 2015.

As a result of the recent push nationally for an increase in student performance, most states have begun to adopt certain standards that have been created for the purpose for raising academic standards and monitoring the progress in order to meet those standards. This monitoring holds schools and students responsible for successfully attaining these levels. According to this article, the education process is a complex one, and these policies will thus have mixed effects when practiced in school districts. These mixed effects will depend on race or ethnicity and social class. This article explains the association between students’ mathematics curriculum and high school graduation requirements and accountability policies of these new standards. The conclusion has found that students learning in states with more graduation requirements enrolled in higher level math courses as freshman and take more advanced level courses throughout. Such trends were also found in states where test performance was linked with consequences for schools. Extensive testing did not have much effect on the course other than an increase in differences based on socioeconomic status. Differences based on racial and ethnic groups were smaller in states where test performance was linked to consequences for students.

This article provided me with yet another view on the Common Core standards. The article did not seem to take much of a “side” with this issue, explaining that the standards will have mixed effects on the states. It also focused more on the aspects of socio-economics of school districts and race and ethnicity. Consequences on the schools also were researched, and how that affected test scores. It is interesting to note the lack of effect extensive testing had other than the increase in those based on socioeconomic status. I would like to, after reading this article, find more information about the effects of this type of standardization on different districts and how they differ when compared to the socio-economic structures of different districts. In the United States, there are vastly different schools that have varying resources. Some schools are well privileged, while others do not have the budgets to afford computers for all of their students. This is an interesting factor in how these students will be affected in the implementation of the Common Core, and I wish to research on that, and may decide to have this as my topic.

Viadero, Debra. "Asian-American Teachers on the Decline, Study Finds."Education Week. Editorial Projects in Education, 18 June 1997. Print. 27 Sept. 2015.

Within this article, Viadero explains the lack of Asian-American representation in the education work force. As the number of Asian-American teachers has decreased, the number of Asian-American students has nearly doubled every decade since 1970. This is because most Asian-Americans opt for higher paying jobs in other fields. Although this may seem like a problem, many policymakers argue over whether or not this really is a problem. Asian-American teachers can allow immigrants from other countries ease their way into the adjustment of school, allowing themselves to relate to the feel of a completely new country which they experienced as children. Also, Asian-American expertise in the STEM fields can benefit the information and increase the number of teachers in these areas. Viadero writes about the change researchers have been calling for in order to attract more Asian-Americans to teaching. These include higher pay, grants for Asian education school students, outreach programs, and programs for Asian-Americans who want to switch careers.

Although this is a pretty dated article, it provided useful information about the severe lack of representation of Asian-Americans in the education system as teachers. The fact that this article was written in 1997 and still can pertain to today shows how little has changed to bring about some reform for teachers’ benefits, including raising teacher salary and providing grants. Asian-Americans still go for the higher paying jobs in the STEM fields, rejecting jobs in the education field manly due to low pay. I personally can relate to this article as well, speaking as an Asian-American who wants to go into the education field. The prestige of being a doctor or engineer, or any other high paying job is very important in the Asian-American community, along with the money that comes along with it. However, as this article suggests, it can be truly helpful for Asian-Americans, who seem to go into STEM fields, to teach STEM subjects, where good education is lacking in the United States, to educate the next generation. However, this article also suggests that some researchers believe that this lack of Asian-American representation may not be a real problem. This issue is an interesting one, and this article can allow me to further research about this topic. This article can provide me with useful information if I decide to write about the issue of the lack of Asian-Americans in the education field.

Xin, Yan P. Conceptual Model-Based Problem Solving: Teach Students with Learning Difficulties to Solve Math Problems. Rotterdam: SensePublishers, 2012. Internet resource.

This book is geared towards teachers having trouble finding materials for the new math standards for elementary students who are struggling in the subject. Teachers who want this book are needing of effective instructional strategies that will help the students who have a conceptual gap in additive and multiplicative math problem solving. This book will help generalize problem solving approaches to help those left behind in meeting the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. The book uses the conceptual model-based problem solving program to put more importance on mathematical modeling and algebraic representation in equations, the new line that the Common Core uses. The book builds on the most fundamental aspects needed to understand additive and multiplicative reason. It connects ideas of concrete and abstract molding so students are prepared to excel concrete levels of operation and use mathematical modeling to solve real-world, more complex problems, which is the goal of the Common Core. This book gives the reasoning behind the math to transfer knowledge with applied learning.

This seems like an appropriate book for students who are the “children left behind” who cannot understand the high level concepts of the new Common Core Standards. It may be helpful to those teachers who are having a hard time to catch up all their students and have them all on the same page. This may help with the Seminar students. Seminar is a class during 7th period for me, which students who were struggling in math are referred to. Many students here are severely impaired in the basis of knowledge comprehension, and are unable to understand the basic properties of multiplication, division, addition, or subtraction. They understand how to complete the operation, to some extent, but are unable to decode the language of world problems to uncover the operation being asked for in more complex word problems. It may be too early for students to be expected to do so, but it also might be helpful, through this book, to help these students link their knowledge with their applied skills. However, another problem arises. Some students do not know how to do the operation in the first place. Some, as Ms. Hartquist stated, may never understand some of these concepts. But this book may help teaches uncover what they can do to help them try to understand these concepts.

Zhao, Yong, PhD. "Comments on the Common Core Standards Initiative." Journal of Scholarship and Practice 6.3 (2009): 46-52. Print. 16 Oct. 2015.

Within this article, Yong Zhao gives as introduction on the formation of the new standardized Common Core State Standards with Obama administration’s “Race to the Top.” He explains the effects of states adopting these standards not to prepare their students to compete globally, but rather to accept the money that will be given to those states that do adopt these standards. In an economic crisis like the one this country is in now, it is tempting for states that previously did not accept the national standardization of education, like Missouri, to accept them to receive the surplus of money. Zhao explains that the adoption of these standards, because they are adopted on false assumptions, will not be enough to have students succeed in the global economy. His main stance stands that any sort of national standardization of America’s education will pose a risk to the diversity and creative citizenry. He explains that these standards are an over-simplification of the highly complex educational issues and “pursuit of political convenience.” One of the main issues in the education system in America is the wide gap in educational achievement with students of differing backgrounds based on race or environment. Research has shown that this gap is not the result of simple academic expectations, as the Common Core seems to think, but is much more complicated, involving social and psychological issues.

I think this article has one of the most comprehensive outlooks on the issue of the Common Core. Simple changing of some standards, raising them and making teachers accountable for the assessments of their students, whether or not they will ever be capable of reaching them, regardless of their teachers, will not be beneficial for anyone. The supposed goal of these standards are to allow students to be ready for the global standards that have risen for the past ten years. However, the politically easy standards that have been adopted will do nothing of the sort. This article is perfect for me to develop an argument as to why the Common Core Standards are not beneficial for the students, the teachers, or anyone, although it seems to be an oversimplification of the standards. After reading this article, I think I will hone in my topic on the positive and negative outcomes of using the Common Core Math standards, and more specifically, the Maryland’s College and Career Ready Standards.