Common Core Meeting Draws Crowd And Questions

[Jim O'Bryan]

Roxann Ramsey-Caserio - Director of Teaching and Learning kicks off the meeting on
Common Core Learning to a good crowd of parents.


Anthony LaCerva comments that he is for the Common Core from what he sees and has
read, but wonders how the Schools will keep track of progress.


Superintendent Jeffrey Patterson answers that progress will be monitored through all of the various tests that currently are out there, and then by how well students do with placement in colleges and jobs.


One slightly irate parent parents says, "You ask the students to use evidence to answer
problems, but you have given us no evidence that this works."


Another parent asks about books, and how they will check the progress of their students.


Paul Hieronymus, Lakewood City Schools' Google tech advisor, shows Dr. Kevin Bright the latest from Google, Kevin seems more interested in the meeting. Paul explained that everything related to the Common Core will be accessible online through Google Docs.


"Pssssssssssst, why is O'Bryan taking a picture of us?" Christina Gill McCallum says to
Superintendent Patterson. Well maybe she did.


Jeff then led the ex-School Board member and President out of the room.

It was a good night for a meeting, which made it well-attended, questions were asked and answered but many questions still remain. No matter, Common Core is what the state is doing, and our schools, in the end, have to answer to the state.

To find out more about Common Core Curriculum click below.
http://www.lakewoodcityschools.org/dept/19/

.

[marklingm]

Jim,

Thanks for the post.

Last night's "Common Core State Standards" presentation by the Lakewood City Schools was very informative!

I look forward to hearing what others have to say about last night, as well as the topic in general.

Matt

[marklingm]

Attached is the handout that was given to folks as they left the meeting last night.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I have heard a lot of talk about this this week, and over the past month.

One of the things everyone needs to understand. This is not Lakewood redesigning our learning
system, and how kids are taught. This is the State Of Ohio, working with other states to change the
way children are taught.

Lakewood, cannot opt out of the program. But we can work to be really good at the process and
how it is implemented.

There are some aspects I am not over joyed about, but I do appreciate the schools have taken it
on head on and are working to implement it as best they can. I appreciate them working to help
residents understand it. But 100% of the angry questions last night would never have been asked
if the residents had realized it is a mandate.

Read the program, and tell me that it doesn't make sense 80% of the programs and where they
are offered in the learning curve. I love the way it teaches kids thing through practical methods
years before they take the science of it later. I kind of like the way they integrate math, english,
science into a seamless educational program. I hate their huge disregard for the arts, but perhaps
that is best left to a local area?

Let's not blame the schools, let's just support them and ask them to do it the best!

.

[Grace O'Malley]

I wonder if Roy Pitchford attended. He was VERY concerned about Common Core.

[marklingm]

To find out more about Common Core Curriculum click below.
http://www.lakewoodcityschools.org/dept/19/

The following video was played at the meeting and is also located in the above link that Jim shared with us:

[Roy Pitchford]

I thought about it, but ultimately, I had other things going on.

Since I have no kids and no prospects (even if I did, I'd be doing some kind of independent homeschooling), I would probably be viewed as having no skin in the game and my concerns would have been marginalized and/or dismissed. As Jim said, "Lakewood, cannot opt out of the program." If there are concerned citizens in Lakewood, they have very few options.

I will disagree with Jim on one thing, this did NOT come from the states. Sure, they signed on to it, some of them only because they accepted the "Race to the Top" Federal funding, but ultimately, it came from others. I'll post this video again...

[marklingm]

From http://www.lakewoodcityschools.org/districtNewsArticle.aspx?artID=2222:

DISTRICT SHARES COMMON CORE STRATEGY WITH COMMUNITY

The Common Core Standards were somewhat demystified for a room full of parents and other community members at a meeting led by the district’s Teaching & Learning Department on Dec. 4.

While much debate has gone on in the media about the merits and implementation of the new, more rigorous national standards that have been adopted by 45 states, including Ohio, parents have not received a lot of information on how they directly impact the teaching of their students in the classroom.

Audience members heard from Assistant Superintendent Kevin Bright about the background of how the Common Core Standards came to be, the mission behind them – to better prepare students for college and careers – and how their emphasis on creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking will result in school districts producing graduates ready to compete in the 21st century global economy.

Next, Director of Teaching & Learning Roxann Ramsey-Caserio explained how the Common Core Standards only lay out what skills each student must master, but that it is up to each district to determine the path and methods of how to get students to that point. In Lakewood, the district has five instructional coaches and five digital literacy teachers to help teachers and students navigate the new waters of Common Core when it comes to the classroom learning environment.

Technology is an integral component of the new standards, and district Technology Coordinator Paul Hieronymous shared with the audience how Lakewood is well-prepared to meet the new challenges required by the Common Core. Students are already delving into tech applications through Google Apps for Education, which allow students to create, communicate and collaborate through shared drives, blogs, and much more. Because the new state assessments will be done completely online, it is critical that students are comfortable navigating the online world in an educational context. Lakewood is committed to providing the tools necessary to have our students ready in this area.

In order to understand just how differently our students will be asked to approach learning, those in attendance were given sample test questions in math and language arts that compared the old version of assessments (Ohio Achievement Assessment) and the new Common Core version (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC). This exercise gave community members a chance to see how the new Common Core assessments require deep critical thinking skills to navigate more complex tests and ask students to provide evidence or justification for their answers. As Ramsey-Caserio pointed out, the old ways of textbooks and memorization of facts is no longer acceptable or desired under Common Core.

Before concluding the meeting and answering audience members questions, Ramsey-Caserio emphasized that everyone – students, parents, teachers, administrators – will experience a steep learning curve with the Common Core and that patience is needed as the school year progresses. Professional development regarding the new standards is ongoing and intensive for district staff and the district is doing everything it can to support its teachers and students as they cope with completely new methods of teaching.

To find out more about the Common Core Standards, you can visit http://www.corestandards.org/

To view the presentation given at the Dec. 4 meeting, click here.

To view handouts given at the Dec. 4 meeting, click here.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I thought about it, but ultimately, I had other things going on.

I will disagree with Jim on one thing, this did NOT come from the states. Sure, they signed on to it, some of them only because they accepted the "Race to the Top" Federal funding, but ultimately, it came from others. I'll post this video again...

Roy

I did not mean the states dreamt this up. But signed on, and if you are a public school in a state
which is 49 of them I believe, then you cannot opt out of it, unless you have a very wealthy
community and can pass on state funding.

While I love the lesson plans, and some of it wakes sense to a certain extent, the rest is not as
warming and fulfilling and I have real issues with some of it.

However it is the cards Lakewood Schools were dealt, and now they must get on and do it.

And as a community that has invested millions in our public schools, we really need to get on with
this and do the best we/they can.

The change has to be on state and federal levels, and I do not see how you separate all of the
agendas from the students, without giving into their agendas. Home school, you get the reults
"the power brokers want" charter schools, they have just separated you from your money, while
still not serving the students.

It is all nuts, but at least this makes sense as a way to learn.

I question any student that questions their learning, I also have serious reservations about the
reports of first and second graders having nightmares over common core teaching.

Roy, at what age were you allowed to dictate how schools taught you? At what age did you decide
the school system was not serving you and started to have nightmares?

Way to many people projecting through their kids.

I am not saying you. Just parents.

.

[Tim Liston]

So here’s what traditional education/curriculum has gotten us….

1) Our country is endlessly at war.
2) Our “healthcare” system costs twice what any other country’s does and delivers mediocre results.
3) Our education system produces math/science graduates right up there with Bulgaria.
4) Our infrastructure is deteriorating.
5) We have the largest national debt in world history.
6) The environment is crumbling around us. Monster carp are about to invade Lake Erie.

It seems to me that we have to challenge the basic model that delivers “education.” Common Core, whatever it is, is more of the same. We need something different. Something that addresses important problems. Problems like the six I have mentioned above. Not just memorizing the quadratic equation.....

[Jim O'Bryan]

So here’s what traditional education/curriculum has gotten us….

1) Our country is endlessly at war.
2) Our “healthcare” system costs twice what any other country’s does and delivers mediocre results.
3) Our education system produces math/science graduates right up there with Bulgaria.
4) Our infrastructure is deteriorating.
5) We have the largest national debt in world history.
6) The environment is crumbling around us. Monster carp are about to invade Lake Erie.

It seems to me that we have to challenge the basic model that delivers “education.” Common Core, whatever it is, is more of the same. We need something different. Something that addresses important problems. Problems like the six I have mentioned above. Not just memorizing the quadratic equation.....

You are killing me. You are laying that list on the education system?

Have you read the Common Core plan? Have you looked at the lessons?

At the least is is a two year advancement of studies. One of the very real issues is that 5th grade students will now be studying 7th 8th grade level studies and problems.

The other two things I liked was how it teaches things before they are lessons. For me math was
very hard, very abstract but after a couple years in business and life and needing math all day
it started to make sense to me. What it does is give students real life thought processes before
the scientific side.

The other thing it does is incorporate real life english, lessons into all of it. How did you get that
number, explain? Pushing critical thought, information finding, and english all at once. Much as it
is needed in real life.

Lakewood Observer, Gordon Brumm (RIP) used to stop by the office with a plan he had for Lakewood
schools to teach critical thought and physics(lite) in grade school grade 1 or 2 two simply because
those are the two most important things to grasp, for everything that follows. This is a step in
that direction.

But again, I have much to not agree with. Same group bringing you "No Child Left Behind" one
might call this NCLB on steroids. The fact that everything has to be accessed through Google
docs, which means every student, teacher, and parent needs to sign up with Google, that openly
brags about reading everyone's email. Which is the same for yahoo, facebook, etc.

But opt out, and you have to create your own lesson plans, materials, system, that can be proved
to colleges and universities, and then find a way to make the money up from the state. There
has been an all out war on public schools for some time. Mostly by people with something to gain
financially from destroying them.

This is just another attack, but I see no way out of it.

Charter schools failing to live up to the hype. Private schools failing to live up to the hype. Home
schooling never living up to the hype except for spelling bee champs.

.

[Roy Pitchford]

Couple quick things before I head to work:

1. Matthew, I watched that video and I found so many things that troubled me in it. I will have to come back to addressing them though.

2. Jim, to answer your questions:

Roy, at what age were you allowed to dictate how schools taught you? At what age did you decide the school system was not serving you and started to have nightmares?

First question: I suppose that depends on the degree of my dictation...As early as 8th grade, I was able to choose which foreign language I wanted to learn. I picked German and carried that through to 11th grade at LHS. However, I would say it was at LHS, probably 11th or 12th grade when I had a greater control over what classes I wanted to take. My minimum graduation requirements were pretty much met by then.

Second question: It was probably 11th grade sitting in my math class, Functions, Statistics and Trigonometry that I felt I was not being well served by the cookie-cutter program. I have never, in the last 16 years, used Functions or Trigonometry outside of school in my daily life. This was wasted time. I could have spent more time focusing on those subjects that interested me.

[Tim Liston]

Jim, do I blame the “educational” system in this country for the issues we face in health care, education, endless war, the economy and the like. Of course I do! Where do you think our young people spend 90% of their time being “taught” and how to think “critically?” The thought of big government being charged with teaching our young people to “think critically” scares me to death. The realization that our one-size-fits-all curricula will be made even “more rigorous” is dumbfounding. Now, every child will be required to read Huck Finn in 8th grade instead of 9th grade. Even those young people who for whatever reason would rather be replacing a toilet flapper. Woo hoo!

If I asked the typical high school graduate to recite the binomial equation, I’m sure many could do so. (To this day I remember the denominator: “2A” but that is the easy part. I don’t remember the numerator or why it is even important and I was a math major at Northwestern.). But if I asked those same graduates what “quantitative easing” is, I’d bet less than 5% know what quantitative easing is and why it is SO IMPORTANT to their future. No government controlled school will EVER teach our young people what quantitative easing is, or how social security works, or the extent to which public employee pensions threaten their economic well-being.

Hey Roy do you speak German? No? Maybe we’d all be better off if your several years of forced foreign language “education” had instead been how to cook a casserole or rewire a lamp. Or why it is important to concern yourself with others. (99% of foreign language education is a big waste of time and money. Its only purpose is to employ teachers, occupy a school day and enlarge union bank accounts.)

Young people these days are honestly just dumb. My two daughters included, which pains me to say, even though they undertook a non-traditional education. Jim, our generation (plus maybe a very few years) singlehandedly ended the Vietnam war. Today’s college students don’t even care.

There is a solution to our pressing problems: warfare, health care, infrastructure, debt, etc. It starts with our young people. But as long as the old people and their vested interests are in charge, it’s not gonna happen. Jim you mentioned private/charter schools. Not even an issue. The issue is the curricula that the planners are forcing on us. Can we please let parents decide how our children learn, and not bought-off politicians?

[Jeff Dreger]

My mother couldn't help me with my calculus but she did teach me how to cook a casserole. My father couldn't help me with genetics but he did teach me how to rewire a lamp. Public education shouldn't be 200 days of home ec - stuff you should be getting at home from your family. It should be something that gives everyone an opportunity to do anything - plumber to physicist.

It's OK to learn just for the sake of learning too. Why assume that someone that aspires to be or will end up being a plumber won't appreciate Twain? It's also conceivable that perhaps expanding their horizons would change their life's path. My grandfather was an electrician and carpenter but he was also well read and appreciated his educational opportunities.

One of the best ways to better understand English is to study another language (which has many other cognitive benefits as well). Nations with better academic results almost all have bi/poly-lingual education from an early age. (Not that I embrace the testing comparisons - the same ones that showed us at or near the bottom in math and science since they began - even when we were leading the world in innovation and winning the space race.)

I also doubt that a sizable portion of the population of any age really understands quantitative easing. It's not a generational thing.

In any case, I'm very happy with Lakewood schools. I did very well in school myself but my kids are kicking my primary education's butt right now. (Especially with regard to synthesis and critical thinking.) Common core isn't the best but it's not the end of the world either.

[Roy Pitchford]

Hey Roy do you speak German?

Ein bißchen.
I remember a little of my German, but not enough for real conversation with someone.

I would tend to agree with Tim. There's a lot I don't see being taught, and up near the top of the list is "life skills." History has been pretty butchered as well. I've learned more about the founding of this country in the last 6 months to a year than I ever learned before. I bring it up because I think this ties into what Tim is talking about when he mentioned the neglect of quantitative easing and social security. By manipulating history, you can set the people along a path they may never recover from.
It's like the Michael Moore-ish character from "An American Carol" said, "I love America. That's why it has to be destroyed."

Let me bring up another issue: college. Mike Rowe, famous for Dirty Jobs, has an amazing campaign with his organization trying to encourage students NOT to saddle themselves with the debt of a 4-year college education (not to mention the possibility of post-grad work) because "it's what they need to do." He's encouraging the trades and apprenticeships.
http://profoundlydisconnected.com/

Despite urgings from others, I don't believe I will ever set foot in another classroom for the purposes of being educated. What I need to succeed is here at my fingertips. If I want to learn, I can read, watch, listen, ask questions and do it on my own time, at my own pace, in the way I feel is best. Not only do I focus on what I think I need to know for whatever I am doing at the time, but I can retain the information better.

Let me quote one of the books I've restored...
"[T]he Socialist displays a total ignorance of human nature. Think what a vast and complex machine the Socialist State would be. It would be necessary in order to ensure smooth working that every man should behave exactly as the State officials had calculated that he would behave. Any irregularity would upset their plans and cause confusion."

By the way, that would be from The Case Against Socialism, plainly stated for the man in the street written in England in 1909. E-book for $1.