Michael Rothfeld of the Wall Street Journal has written the best, most balanced account that I have seen of the perilous condition of the Common Core standards.
The article
fails to explain adequately why 46 states adopted the standards, as if everyone
was waiting and hoping for the chance to endorse untested national standards;
it happened because of the $4.35 billion offered as a state competition, but
only to states that agreed to do what the Obama administration wanted them to
do, which included embracing the standards.
Rothfeld documents why states are dropping out. A few have
repealed the Common Core standards. Half of the 46 states that signed on to one
of the two federally-sponsored tests have backed out. It wasn’t simply the
political controversy from right and left, from parents and educators. The cost
turned out to be a deal-breaker.
Some states couldn’t afford the cost of retraining teachers.
Some could not afford the technology. Some could not afford the new tests.
“The total cost of implementing Common Core is difficult to
determine because the country’s education spending is fragmented among
thousands of districts. The Wall Street Journal looked at spending by states
and large school districts and found that more than $7 billion had been spent
or committed in connection with the new standards. To come up with that number,
the Journal examined contracts, email and other data provided under
public-records requests by nearly 70 state education departments and school
districts.
“The analysis didn’t account for what would have been spent
anyway—even without Common Core—on testing, instructional materials, technology
and training. Education officials say, however, that the new standards required
more training and teaching materials than they would otherwise have needed, and
that Common Core prompted them to speed up computer purchases and network
upgrades.
“Much more money would be needed to implement Common Core
consistently. Some teachers haven’t been trained, and some schools lack
resources to buy materials. Some states haven’t met the goal of offering the
test to all students online instead of on paper with No. 2 pencils….
“Common Core advocates hoped to make standards uniform—and to
raise them across the board. Their goals were to afford students a comparable
education no matter where they were, to cultivate critical thinking rather than
memorization, to better prepare students for college and careers, and to enable
educators to use uniform year-end tests to compare achievement. They wanted to
give the tests on computers to allow more complex questions and to better analyze
results.
“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which signed on to the
effort in 2008, so believed in the cause that it has spent $263 million on
advocacy, research, testing and implementing the standards, foundation records
show. Vicki Phillips, a Gates education director, says its Common Core-related
funding of new curriculum tools developed by teachers has led to student gains
in places such as Kentucky.
“But after a burst of momentum and a significant investment of
money and time, the movement for commonality is in disarray.
“Some states, including South Carolina, Indiana and Florida,
have either amended or replaced Common Core standards. Others, including
Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, New Jersey and North Carolina, are in the
process of changing or reviewing them. A total of 21 states have withdrawn from
two groups formed to develop common tests, making it difficult to compare
results.
In California, the costs of implementation are staggering.
California has allocated $4.8 billion to local school districts
that they can use for Common Core implementation, but some have asked a state
commission to order more funding for giving the Smarter Balanced test.
“For some urban districts struggling to pay for basic
educational needs, preparing for the standards has been challenging.
“The Philadelphia school district unveiled a plan in 2010 to
implement Common Core and won a $500,000 grant from the Gates Foundation. But a
budget crisis the next year resulted in nearly 4,000 layoffs, including of some
putting the plan in place.”
There is something bizarre about pouring billions into untested
standards and tests at a time when districts like Philadelphia, Detroit,
Milwaukee, and many others are struggling to maintain basic services in their
schools and at a time when privatizers are targeting the very existence of
public schools.
