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Although the U.S. Constitution never mentions the word "education," the U.S. Department of Education was formed in 1979 during the Carter administration. Many think the decline in learning started then and believe educational decisions by the state and local governments would better prepare students for college and highly specialized careers.
After experiencing the problems and failures of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, the federal bureaucracy has come up with still another approach to teaching whose aim is to revolutionize the classroom. Under Common Core, teachers will teach to fewer standards, with emphasis placed on lessons that promote problem solving and critical thinking skills. Teachers must draw out from students why an answer is correct and get them to offer fuller explanations for everthing they study. Instead of a quiet classroom when the teacher gives a lesson, the goal is a dynamic classroom environment with more student input and collaboration.
When reading "To Kill a Mockingbird," students will read articles on the Great Depression, gender, race, and other ideas prevalent at that time. However, these extra lessons will require teachers to eliminate other fictional works that are now part of the curriculum.
Very controversial is the de-emphasis on taking Algebra I by the eighth grade. In some districts nearly every eighth-grader has more than 80 minutes of daily instruction in order to prepare them for more rigorous math and science coursework in high school. Common Core's philosopy is to build a lengthier prealgebra foundation in middle school.
As you might imagine, Common Core requires a good deal of teacher retraining. To that end, in one large district of 54,000 students, 44 teachers are spending this entire school year away from the classrooms. They are charged with revising the curriculum to better align with the new learning objectives. Although many teachers are already incorporating Common Core concepts in their lessons, the formal rollout over the next two years involves English and Math with the expectation that other core subjects will be added later.
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