COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS CONTENT

Concerns have been raised about the actual content of the standards.  Some of those concerns are provided below.

The CCSS Mathematics Standards:
  • Delay development of some key concepts and skills.
  • Includes significant mathematical sophistication written at a level beyond understanding of most parents, students, administrators, decision makers and many teachers i.e., grade levels.
  • Lack of coherence and clarity to be consistently interpreted by students, parents, teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, textbook developers/publishers, and assessment developers.  
  • Standards are inappropriately placed, including delayed requirement for standard well defined instruction's for a final result, which will hinder student success and waste valuable instructional time.
  • Treat important topics unevenly.  This will result in inefficient use of instructional and practice time.
  • The standards are not well organized at the high school level.  Some important topics are insufficiently covered. The standards are not divided into defined courses.
  • Places emphasis on Standards for Mathematical Practice which supports a constructivist approach. This approach is typical of “reform” math programs to which many parents across the country object.
  • Publishers of reform programs are aligning them with the CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practice.  The CCSS will not necessarily improve the math programs being used in many schools.
  • Unusual and unproven approach to geometry which I might add the teachers have not learned yet.

The Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (ELA):

Uses confusing language in some standards.
  • Are not always clear or measurable on expected student outcomes.
  • Are not always organized in a logical way and are difficult to follow.
  • Are not always organized in a logical way and are difficult to follow.
  • Treat literary elements inconsistently.
  • Have some writing standards that are general and do not specify what a student should be able to know or do.
  • Focus on skills over content in reading.
  • Do not address or require cursive writing.