In education, ideas are routinely recycled. For example, phonics and whole language approaches have been recycled on multiple occasions. Outcomes-based education was recycled to the modern rendition of standards-based education. Now, with distance learning becoming more commonplace and the trend toward a centralized national curriculum, standards-based education is being recycled into the Common Core State Standards.

So what are the Common Core State Standards? Collaborating with teachers, administrators, and other experts, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is a plan by the states, "to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce" (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012, About the Standards, para. 1). The idea behind the Common Core Standards is that learning should scaffold from kindergarten through to high school graduation with the ultimate goal of preparing students for post-secondary education and the workplace. The Common Core Standards purport to incorporate the best ideas from around the globe into a one national set of standards for language arts and one other set for mathematics.

Some of the issues surrounding Common Core Standards include whether they are too low pandering to the lowest common denominator, are skills-based to the exclusion of content knowledge, are asking language arts teachers to address content areas outside of their field of expertise, can be implemented effectively, and are establishing a national curriculum that will ultimately be run by the federal government impeding the right of the states to establish their own educational standards and of teachers to actually teach (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012). Washington Post writer Marion Brady (2012) raises several more concerns not the least of which is an indictment that the construction of the standards involved too little public dialogue.  Brady also asserts that the Standards will hinder innovation and freedom of thought.

While the controversies may linger, implementation of the standards is moving forward in those states where the standards have been adopted. With a goal of assisting educators across the nation, this series will examine not only the issues around the Common Core Standards but also the daily issues of their implementation. Where appropriate, issues unique distance education will be called out as well as those affecting traditional face-to-face education.

References

Brady, M. (2012, August 21). Eight problems with Common Core Standards. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com.

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2012). Common core state standards initiative. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/.