Abstention and Kool-Aid Drinking: CCSS Adoption

According to CommonCore.org (McGraw Hill, 2014), 45 states, 4 territories, and Washington D.C. adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). 89,890 public school districts with 2,972,000 public school teachers implemented and taught lessons anchored to the CCSS, and 45,750,000 students took one or more end of course tests based on the CCSS. With all of this participation from states and teachers, some states have abstained from drinking the Kool-Aid for various reasons.

While Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Alaska never adopted the CCSS, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Indiana adopted then chose to repeal the CCSS. Other states that were early adopters have since reviewed, revised the adapted or even repealed the CCSS  (Bidwell, Common Core Support in Free Fall, 2014).

Focusing on the states that decided against the full adoption of the CCSS, their reasons were and are based on local, state, and federal politics. At the time Gov. Rick Perry of Texas explains, “Texas is on the right path toward improved education, and we would be foolish and irresponsible to place our children’s future in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and special interest groups thousands of miles away in Washington, virtually eliminating parents’ participation in their children’s education” (Bidwell, The Politics of the Common Core, 2014). His sentiment and fear is shared equally by other states that refuse to relinquish state and local control to federally backed standards.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence intimated similar concerns as the state was considering a repeal of the CCSS, "Hoosiers have high expectations when it comes to Indiana schools," Pence said. "That's why Indiana decided to take a time-out on national education standards. When it comes to setting standards for schools, I can assure you, Indiana's will be uncommonly high. They will be written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers, and will be among the best in the nation" (Bidwell, The Politics of the Common Core, 2014).

While state pride seems to be a central reason and controlling the content another, the CCSS is a thoughtful idea that was ruefully implemented as its adoption was tied to federal Race to the Top considerations. States that are choosing to forge their paths is fine. Having worked in Virginia and actually worked with a committee to develop state standards of learning, the process was one of community and consensus that took several years to implement and refine. The money and time invested could not be washed away with simple adoption of the CCSS.

References

Bidwell, A. (2014, Aug 20). Common Core Support in Free Fall. U.S. News and Report.

Bidwell, A. (2014, Mar 6). The Politics of the Common Core. U.S. News and Report

McGraw Hill. (2014). What everyone needs to know about Common Core State Standards. Retrieved September 17, 2015, from CTB.com: http://info.ctb.com/commoncorewhateveryoneneedstoknow

Stephens, C. (2013). Unlike Alabama, these five states didn't adopt the Common Core. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/11/unlike_alabama_these_five_stat.html

My Psychology of Learning Redux

I wrote this as end of class reflection for Teaching in Higher Education course with Dr. Tomei. At the beginning of the course we were asked to articulate which learning psychology we supported - Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, or Connectivism. At the end we were ask to revisit the original assignment. Here is my response:

My Personal Psychology of Learning Redux

I am now an ardent connectivist. So much so, that it was hard at times to sit through presentations on the other learning theories when they woefully fall short to how I now learn and teach. 

I floundered in those theories during the 70’s and 80’s as a student and perpetuated them early in my teaching career with great dissatisfaction. It wasn’t until I had enough confidence to start to experiment with class culture and Gardner’s multiple intelligences that I really started to connect with my students and  my pedagogical practice. 
The appeal of Connectivism, beyond the common sense aspect, is that a learner can grow and learn exponentially by simply plugging into and connecting with a network of like-minded learners. The power in that simple precept of Connectivism inspires me and propels my philosophical learning belief that anyone at anytime anywhere can learn anything – what is more flat than that? A connectivist knows how to find the information and “see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts (Seimens, n.d.).  Moreover, a Connectivist not only can access information and see connections, this is the consumptive part of learning, but the connectivist contributes to the knowledge base through their own perspective by redesigning and redistributing and releasing their understandings for other Connectivists to do the same.  

The shifting economy from an industrial/manufacturing to an information/innovation economy demands we prepare our students for the future (Building a 21st Century, n.d.). Our current practices and pedagogical beliefs are antiquated and underserve our students. According to Microsoft, “our education and workforce development systems are . . . not equipped to meet the needs of the 21st-century economy (Building a 21st Century, n.d.. p. 7). So what? We have to shift the way we teach to the way we learn. The emergence of Personal Learning Networks and the proliferation of Massive Online Open Resources, and the abundance of Open Educational Resources indicate our demand for this change.

I know we still have a wide spectrum of philosophical stances with a majority of us are contructivists, but I know there is a growing number of connectivists out there. I see this in the growing networks of educators sharing, learning, resourcing, and pioneering new technologies into their pedagogy. 

References

Building a 21st-Century workforce: Working together to meet today’s skills development challenges (Issue brief). (n.d.). Retrieved http://tinyurl.com/pq4kao5

Siemens, G. (n.d.). Connectivism. Retrieved June 20, 2014, from http://www.connectivism.ca/about.html

Why I want to be . . .

My father was the first of his family to go to college. He completed 2 years at a junior college then entered the military. Mom graduated high school and worked before meeting Dad and quickly became an Army wife. Growing up, schooling in my house was not central to the discussions in our family. Often moving every 2 or 3 years, my parents – more my mo

m – excused our mediocre performance to this and the destructive cliché of “boys will be boys.”

The common theme in my early academic travels after school was rushing home with book bag in tow busting through the door slinging the bag into a corner and turning on the TV. Mom would have a snack ready, which would be received thanklessly, and in all earnestness she would ask, “How was your day at school?”

“Fine.” my brother and I would retort as we fought to pick which channel of the 10 we would watch until Dad would come home and we would surrender our dominion of the living room.

Fast  forward to high school – senior year. As the weeks turned into months, all of my friends were making plans for college. I didn’t have a clue. After 12 years of mediocrity, in the room of opportunity there weren’t many doors left for me. In a panic, I remember a conversation with my father.

 He was sitting in his chair. I said in all shaky confidence, “Dad, I want to go to college.”

He took a drink, turned the TV off, placed his drink on the TV tray where the leftovers of his dinner remained. He cleared his throat then rolled to his left and removed his wallet from his back pocket. He slowly opened it to the center billfold.

“Boy, I don’t have money to throw away on you for college. I’m not a fool. ”

I was stunned.

He continued, “Your not ready for college. You have no idea what you want to do or the discipline to make it happen.”

He went on for about 30 minutes, but I my 17 year old mind had tuned out after that.

I ended up spending 4 years in the Air Force behaving very badly. Spending my money carelessly and coming very close to a dishonorable discharge. Luckily I figured it out, but in all, he was right. I was not ready.  

Chelsea, Darby, London

Thankfully, early in my life I met a smart, driven women who didn’t see mediocrity in me and demanded growth in our relationship, family, and our careers. Education was and still is the foundation and driving force in our lives. I have taught for 18 years. Between us we have one associate, two bachelors, two masters, one EdS and one EDd. My daughters are all in the top 5% of their class and each have an immense room of opportunity with many many doors waiting for them. Now, two are in college on scholarship and the other on her way.

Nearly 1% of the world’s population holds a terminal degree.   That young man in my father’s basement has come a long way. I want to continue my journey in scholarship because that is where I found opportunity, love, family, and myself.