Two years ago, we enrolled Rachael in a community college during her Senior year. While we also enrolled her in a Cyber School to allow her to take these classes for free, we had friends who chose to pay for the PSEO classes on their own. The Ohio Graduation Test IS NOT REQUIRED of homeschooled kids to graduate. While Rachael was required to take it because she entered the Cyber School, these friends' kids WERE NOT. ALL of these young people were required to take something I think called the Compass Test to help determine placing in English/Math class especially. This would also determine if a student needed remedial help (which at the community college, turns out to be a high percentage!) ANYWAY, I looked into having Faythe take a class or two there next year, on our own, rather than through a Cyber School. What I learned was that the rules have changed. Now, the college REQUIRES PSEO students to have passed the OGT, a test which hs'ers ARE NOT required to take, as a condition of enrollment. Why? We were already taking the Compass Test, and were not fussing about that. Now suddenly we are forced to follow the same "standard" as those the Government controls. AND THAT IS EXACTLY THE CONCERN!!! These "standards" WILL influence homeschooling, one way or another. And it's more than basic knowledge. IT ALSO MEASURES SOCIAL ATTITUDES.
Wen can agree to disagree, but here is what kills me... If you mention Hitler, or the opinion that the federal government is getting power and control hungry and that one day in the future we will haven given them so much control that that there will be tyranny like there was under Hitler's rule, then your a tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theory nut whot hink the government put a chip in your brain to try to control your thoughts.....which is exactly what such a government would want the masses to think about us... "Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." ~Thomas Jefferson http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html
Looks like a great option. I like the multi-media components. Free is awesome too! As far as common core goes, this country needs some sort of standards that make education a little more equal. I worked in two different schools in one district and the kids received a very different education at both schools. Also, many children move and some move quite frequently. If the standards are the same across the nation it would make these moves much more seamless. Barring learning disabilities, I think the common core standard should be the minimum standard for us as homeschoolers. What I have read is that common core has come about by a collective movement by state leaders and each state is choosing whether to do it. It doesn't appear to be a federal thing. States working together is good, imho.
You're right in that the state decides to do it or not. BUT the Federal Government has the right to withhold funding from any state that DOESN'T adopt it. And the states won't give up their federal funding! Yes, I agree that it will "even out" the field. Instead of some great schools, some mediocre, and some bad, it will make ALL schools bad. Can't get more even than that!
How? If a school is a great school already teaching material that goes beyond the core standards, how would adopting the standards make them bad?
Where can I read about this? I could only find the federal government offering extra grant money to states that adopted it by a certain date.
A good number of years back, the private schools in Ohio went to court saying their students shouldn't be required to take the Ohio Proficiency Test. These school had a near 95% graduation rate, the majority going on to college. The schools felt that their record spoke for its grads. The State disagreed. Now more class time is spent teaching the meaningless crap on the test, and less is spent actually TEACHING. And the quality of those schools have gone down hill. No, I can't document the funding. But I CAN tell you how the papers, NEA, etc., is spinning it! LOOK!!! MORE FREE MONEY!!! If we adopt this, think of all the MONEY our state will get for education!!! If we don't, all OUR money will be going OUT OF STATE!!! So contact your politicians, and tell them not to let our money go somewhere else!!! Money is a powerful incentive!
Yep!!! That is what I am worried about. THEY will tell us what (sexual education, evolution, etc. ) to teach, and when to teach it.
Yes because NCLB and RTTT were so successful and made education so much better and gave all students a more level playing field... Sorry, but our federal government has proven it does nothing but make a mess of education every time it tries to help. It's based on money and grants and tests rather than actually what is best for each school and the children within them. Because THIS is what happens when you motivate school systems with federal funding.
I don't think states have it together either. Districts don't even have it together. Why should some children have lower standards than others? One school may have LOTS more needs than another school and have to put more time and effort to just have kids tread water. I saw that in one district in Texas. If you had enough money to live in a certain area your children received an excellent public school education even with the state emphasis on tests. If you lived in a poor part of town you spent most of the time trying to get kids to pass a test to keep your doors open. Personally, I don't think core standards will fix things. I think it could help especially with kids who move around from state to state or from school to school. I think it will help most if there could be a voucher system where parents could choose a school. There is a lot of money funneled right now into a broken system. Put the power in the hands of the parents and schools will improve to get students (with their money).
I taught special needs children. I had students that, at age 9, where learning how to count to three. They had an IEP, and this was part of their IEP. So what happened when NCLB came along? Those kids had to be tested along with EVERY OTHER 9YO. And guess what? They "failed" the math and reading and science and history and language and (insert whatever) portion of the standardized tests. HUH??? WHY did they even have to take those tests? And WHY did the success and failure of my entire SCHOOL have to be based on the scores of these special needs children? (My school had a full one half of the kids with special needs, not just one or two classrooms!) That's what "standards" gets you. "Standards" will tell you that ALL kids must go to college. "Standards" tell you that it's the TEACHER'S fault if a child doesn't learn. "Standards" sets kids up to fail. My husband taught high school math. "Standards" told him that EVERY child MUST take Algebra 1 no later than 9th grade. So he had a class of Alg. 1 students, half of which thought that adding 1/3+1/3=2/6. What should he do? Does he take the time to teach them WHERE THEY ARE AT, knowing he will never finish the Alg. 1 book and the kids won't be ready for the next math class? Or does he start with the first chapter of the book, knowing full well that half the class is going to fail before they even begin? But there were "standards" to be met, so the needs of the individual child is totally irrelevant. And that's what it comes down to. I'd like to see the teachers have the flexibility to meet the students' needs. Decisions need to be made BY THE TEACHER, not by a government that has never been in a classroom, or by university educrats that are so far removed from the classroom. "Standards" does nothing more than to tie a teacher's hands.
I think we are talking about different things. My whole job in the school system was to personalize education. That still needs to happen for all kids, imho. But I think having national standards for each grade would still be beneficial. Sure, teachers should personalize education and let the child learn at the right pace for that child. But we shouldn't make the standards for the poor school lower than the standards for the rich school. We shouldn't make the standards for NY different than the standards for GA.
But standards is all test-based!!! It is evaluated SOLEY on test scores!!! IT CANNOT BE INDIVIDUALIZED!!! Parents and teachers have NO SAY in what or HOW they teach. My friend has been told that she CANNOT use timed tests to teach her 3rd graders multiplication. She MUST teach them to draw dots. You have to draw seven rows of five dots in each row to teach 7x5. Then they count the dots. NEVER MIND that she has some kids that lose count around 11 or 12, and have to start counting all over again. SHE HAS NO CHOICE!!! She CANNOT make an intelligent decision as to what her kids need. Why? Because the STANDARDS say the HOW to "discover" the answer is more important than the right answer. (And she is being told this by the principal, who is being told that by her superior).
So you are saying that core standards stipulate not only what concepts are to be taught, but also the exact method that must be used to teach it? I haven't heard of this.
My 8th grade girl told me today (she heard it from her ps friends) that 11 kids in the 8th grade class failed the state test. We're in a very small town, with a very small school, so 11 would be a significant fraction of the 8th grade class. I'm guessing that's maybe between 1/3 and 1/4 of the class. And yet, somehow, this school keeps getting highly touted...
Getting back to the OP...... The Saylor Foundation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saylor_Foundation seems to be an organization with an open source mindset. This is the same type of thinking that brought Openoffice.org a project that offers a free office suite of software that is compatible with Microsoft office. Other similar initiatives are the Gutenburg project, many versions of Linux, Wikipedia, and most advertisement and spyware free android apps. Again, I am not sure who will be making sure I do not delete a page or fail to print it if I use these materials. I am unsure who is going to force me to give my student a standardized test. It seems that if I elect to download the materials they offer, I can pick and chose what I teachand do not teach as I do with materials I pick up at used book sales, on ebay or at garage sales. I understand why people do not like the core curriculum concept, but not why it is such a negative in this non regulated context.
This is another topic separate from the opening post, informing me that there are free materials that I might find useful as a homeschooler. Public colleges are funded as much as 90 percent by tax dollars. They are secular institutions that as one might expect teach the "party" line, ie the accepted curriculum. At least it is hopeful that they leave it at that. In my opinion many such institutions have instructors with their own agendas and they use this tax supported platform to execute it in terms of impacting young minds. Since colleges are tax payer funded, it might not be unreasonable that entrance examinations are given to insure that there is a minimum level of expectation that an entered student might succeed. Such examinations are going to be based on the prerequisites of entering college. Having a high school education is one of these expectations. The courses in most lower division colleges are based on what is expected from a high school graduate. When a student takes courses repeatedly because they failed them, tax payer dollars are wasted. If you find it unacceptable that the courses at a given institution are underpinned with expectation of a student having been exposed to and having mastery of the core curriculum objectives, it might be best to seek out a private institution and pay full price for tuition, instead of depending on the upto 90 percent subsidy of the state and fed when to use the local community college. In other words, colleges are also public schools and as with primary education there are options.
There already ARE entrance exams, and those are fine. So how is it the kids supposedly "pass" these entrance test, but can't pass their college classes? First, the government pays them to accept students who fit a certain demographic, regardless of whether or not that student is qualified. They also get federal money to pay for the remedial classes. I also believe schools make money off of drop-outs. They take classes for a few semesters, and then drop and don't finish their degree. So the school gets paid by the government to take them and get them to pass the test, and then they take money (either from the government or from the student) while they take classes, and eventually that student drops out. But not to worry! There's plenty more under-qualified students to take his place! Also, I believe that most students have had someone hold their hand throughout their high school career. They've no idea how to study. And when they get to college, the prof expects them to actually READ THE BOOK. And to WRITE THE PAPERS. And they aren't interested in all the excuses. Today's students simply can't cut it.
