Melissa Shields
Curriculum and School Improvement, Etowah
County Schools
Nationally Board Certified Teacher, English
Language Arts 2000 & 2010
melissa_shields@ecboe.org / (256)
549-7563
Twitter: mjshields & ECBOE
The Common Core…
·
“will invade student privacy and will track
them until retirement."
·
“dumbs down education."
·
encourages a lack of love for our
country."
·
"removes classic
literature."
·
is like "Obama is teaching the
class."
·
is “un-Christian” and
“un-American.”
·
“makes 50 Shades of Grey look like a G book.” Rep. Jim Barton
I have
read these outrageous claims against the Common Core, and yet….not one iota of
proof to support them. I challenge you
to review our College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS), any grade, either
English Language Arts or Math. You will
only find strong 21st Century standards…no politics, no
anti-religious rhetoric, no liberal (or conservative) ideals. I cannot grasp how anyone can read them and
see these expectations as the ruin of public education.
I
see movement as pure propaganda, a stab against the President and liberal ideals, at the expense of our children and teachers. If
this was such an issue, why didn't opponents speak up three years ago when the
SDE was creating the CCRS documents? Why now after our districts have spent so
much money for CCRS materials and training? Going backward would be devastating
to morale for teachers, students, and our stakeholders, not to mention an
enormous additional financial burden. My system alone spent over $600,000 to
replace the math texts that were literally held together by duct tape.
As
a district administrator, I have spent the last two years studying and
implementing the math and language arts courses of study in our district. These
courses of study do include the Common Core standards, but they also include
our own added Alabama standards. We have complete control of the curriculum,
delivery of instruction, and assessment. And just to be clear, every content
area has always had "national standards.” Our previous courses of study
aligned with them as well.
I
would be the first to speak up if I felt these standards were not in the best
interest of our students and our communities. I am truly outraged that this
movement against them has gained so much momentum. Is anyone visiting our
schools? Talking to our dedicated teachers? I was recently in an elementary
school whose math scores had improved dramatically, thanks in part to the new
standards and CCRS resources. This is the most exciting time to be a teacher;
our schools are the best they’ve ever been.
Thanks to a committed state
superintendent with a "teacher's heart” and staff to match, teachers
finally have a voice, and THEY can decide how to best teach their students
(contrary to what the opponents say).
I
thank you for your commitment to preserving the conservative ideals of our
state. I want the same, but I vehemently disagree that our College and Career
Ready Standards deter from them.
Alabama
College and Career Ready Standards (posted on our website for all stakeholders):
http://www.ecboe.org/mathccrs
http://www.ecboe.org/elaccrs
Excerpts from our College and Career Ready Standards:
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