Ms. Olliges, as always, provided a fair look at both sides of the issue, interviewing local school officials, including Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff, state officials, including former Webb City Superintendent Ron Lankford, and Joplin teachers Brian Neugebauer and Brandi Landis, all of whom spoke positively about Common Core Standards.
On the other side of the issue, they talked with Melissa Braun of Joplin and Jill Carter of Stark City, who are vocal opponents of Common Core.
Both sides of the issue were represented, but unfortunately, the story that emerged did not come anywhere near the truth.
For that, you cannot blame Ms. Olliges or KOAM.
Plenty of teachers in the Joplin R-8 School District who have researched the issue are opposed to Common Core, but you are not going to hear one word from them about it on the record. When the recent informational meeting was held at Missouri Southern State University, the message was sent to the teachers loud and clear- you are not to attend the meeting.
Not one teacher or administrator from Joplin attended the meeting.
Concerns about data collection and curriculum were swept under the rug by local and state officials, even though the Race to the Top funding, which has been sought so fervently by the state of Missouri and the Joplin School District requires an adoption of Common Core Standards, the Joplin application asks for hundreds of thousands to collect data, and in recent testimony before a House interim commitee, Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro said that districts will still make their own curriculum, but if it is not centered around Common Core Standards, the districts will not to well during testing. That would indicate our local school boards' hands are tied when it comes to curriculum as well as standards.
Watch the video and feel free to leave comments.
5 comments:
It is somewhat alarming to hear those in the education profession not know that individual data is being collected on students. Maybe they haven't read DESE's website? (even they admit to that, notice phase III moving from aggregate to student level data).
http://dese.mo.gov/MOSIS/overview.html
Or, perhaps they have not read the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia) agreement with the US Dept. of Ed?
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/sbac-cooperative-agreement.pdf
Read pg. 3 #5 "Make student-level data that results from the assessment system available on an ongoing basis for research, including for prospective linking, validity, and program improvement studies"
Pg. 11 #3 "Work with the Department to develop a strategy to make student-level data that result from the assessment system available on an ongoing basis for research, including for prospective linking, validity, and program improvement studies;1"
Pg. 2 B (at the bottom) "Finally, the assessment systems will produce data (including student achievement data and student growth data) that can be used to inform (a) determinations of school effectiveness; (b) determinations of individual principal and teacher effectiveness for purposes of evaluation; (c) determinations of principal and teacher professional development and support needs"
Know that the FERPA laws that would typically protect students data being available for "research" have been changed.
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/12/02/2011-30683/family-educational-rights-and-privacy
The main concerns are loss of local control and loss of local input. Shouldn't your school determine evaluations of teachers, not the US Dept. of Ed? Should information about your children be available to the US Dept. of Ed? and lastly, should our standards for education be dictated and controlled by two private trade organizations, namely the NGA and the CCSSO? Would you like someone else dictating and altering what you do,living by their standards? They own these standards and can adjust them at will.
http://www.corestandards.org/terms-of-use
Common Core is for your children if you answer yes to all of the above, but the decision should be made under full discloser to all involved.
Who exactly are you blaming for what seems to be a positive news story about common core? If you find it lacking in journalistic integrity why wouldn't you blame the reporter or the station. Your obsession has lost any sense of common sense.
6:20 welcome to 2013. EVERYTHING is being collected by the gov. What scares you so much about this?
Everything might be collected. Your ok with that? Land of the free no more, yes?
The ignorance of the administrators who are so complicit in this is unbelievable. For those administrators who are willing to go on record in support of this endeavor and their blind support of DESE and the talking points WILL harm kids. Law suits WILL follow. As an administrator I caution teachers and administrators who put themselves on record as supporting Common Core. You will be found and could be sued in the very near future for the harm Common Core will cause to kids. If you think that data collection is harmless, that is your prerogative. I do not choose to have my child viewed as data for the federal government or Bill Gates. I do not want my teachers viewed as "DATA". When administrators and the leaders of DESE constantly lie about the data collection they need to be very careful. We are watching, and waiting to make them pay for their misleading of the public when it will be proven that they have willfully misled. This will hurt kids. As an administrator who is open to KNOWING and finding the truth it is not a secret where we are headed. Check out the RTTT states such as California and New York. Proof is in the puddin'. We are headed down the same road if we don't put a stop to the madness. And the lawsuits are starting to pour in. Check out the FACTS. Stop spreading misinformation.
Go to http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/technology/education-data-initiative/ And tell us that there will be no more data collection. That is NOT true.
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