Indiana standards review process, not producing results

March 20, 2014 9 Comments

Two of the lead people controlling the standards review process defended the draft standards on the Greg Garrison Show today. Claire Fiddian Green, the director of the Center for Education and Career Innovation, and State Board of Education member, Brad Oliver, called on Hoosiers to trust the process to produce high-standards, even though after two drafts the standards still reflect the Common Core. They claim it is a “work in progress.”

It begs the question, “How long should we sit in a theater that’s burning down?”

There is only a short window before the State Board of Education will be voting on the new standards and opportunity to change them is narrowing. Should we sit, as instructed, and wait till the exit is on fire, with no opportunity to escape?

The established negative aspects of Common Core haven’t been removed, like lengthy jargon-filled process standards, and any redeeming aspects, such as requiring students to know by memory their addition facts, are gone. It’s more of what parents oppose and less of what they want.

The process is moving the standards backwards, not forward. Still, we are told to sit and wait, like good little comrades, and let the powers that be do what they want, which is obviously a Common Core rebrand. After two rounds of drafts, the analyses performed by the IDOE showed that the English standards for grades 6-12 are 90% Common Core.  That’s not a lot of progress.

If Governor Pence and Glenda Ritz want our trust, they need to earn it, not burn it.

The podcast of the interview should be available soon at http://www.wibc.com/garrison/.

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Comments (9)

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  1. Bonnie Corn says:

    Who is running this side show?indiana needs to make a wise choice in this Federal common core mess. Parents are you awake and doing your due diligence in checking out what they are teaching your children? Or do the children belong to the government? Come Governor Pence and Glenda Ritz let’s get things on the right track

  2. Wayne Scott says:

    I’ve heard Dr. Oliver speak about the “process” for a couple of months now. Well, the process is not working as far as I can see.

    Neither, have I seen any substantial action by either Glenda Ritz or Gov. Pence to lead me to believe that Indiana is willing to draw a line in the sand and rid the state of federal control of education. This is indeed a great opportunity for them to lead for the good of the children, the parents and the teachers who are the most impacted by this.

    I do hope they are aware that not only are Hoosiers, but the national grassroots are watching these events. We are watching to see what standards we end up with, as well as what testing assessments will or will not be used in ensuing years. We will be continually watching what books come home, what work is done on iPads and which gaming software children will be exposed to. We will be watching the accrediting agencies and the various Non-Governmental Organizations that they partner with to create assessments and use our tax dollars to guide how districts are run. After all, the easiest way to learn all the players in “education reform” is to simply watch the flow of money and who sits on which boards of directors.

    Meanwhile, 2 and 2 still make four and the classic literature still sits on the shelves. Teachers are still eagerly waiting to perform the profession and not be turned into classroom facilitators following scripts guided by testing thing tanks and psychometricians developing one-size-fits-all assessments.

    I hope Common Sense prevails.

  3. Jamie says:

    Gov. Pence is in ALEC’s pocket. I don’t expect him to do anything but toe the line to the money masters. If Indiana parents are to overturn Common Core and assessment testing, they will have to put the pressure on through elected officials who are not ALEC controlled.

    https://ista-in.org/pence-headlining-at-alec-policy-summit-promotes-corporate-takeover-of-schools

  4. Renee says:

    What more can we do to fight this initiative? I was called “unAmerican” today by someone who disagreed with my stance on Common Core [advocating rejection of it]. Yet, I am asked to believe it is not indoctrination. Meanwhile, my child comes home identifying “trigons” in math and answering questions in history such as, “Put yourself in the place of X leader. Knowing what you do today, what would you have done differently?” rather than being taught the forces and influences in that time period that led to various historical events.[His teacher, who I respect greatly, tries to do this with extra work and supplements he sends home on top of CC.] At the same time, my husband and I spent time at Kdg. information night being told there is no “real curriculum” as no one can figure out exactly how to interpret the standards and that “too many students come in at too many levels and there really is too much to cover to ever have time to really think about what we’re doing.” The emperor truly has no clothes. Thank you for continuing to be a voice fighting against this atrocity in education.

  5. Keep fighting, Hoosiers,and good luck!

  6. Pete Boggs says:

    Leadership is unambiguous; that which you’re providing here, but unfortunately remains a
    “structural deficit” at both ends of Market Street.

    Leadership appeal that gets many elected, is scared off, after they’re in office. One job of the activist, is to reintroduce the elected to their leadership responsibilities.

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