NCEA does not endorse the Common Core?
Charlotte Hays of the Catholic National Register writes about the implications and problems Catholic schools are facing with the adoption of the Common Core in her article, Common Core Education Standards Generate Catholic Concerns.Having children in Catholic school, I have witnessed their full support of the standards and the zeal with which national Catholic educators have pushed the standards.
That’s why I was shocked to see that the National Catholic Educators Association claimed they do not endorse the Common Core standards. Really?
“Although the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) isn’t endorsing the controversial Common Core State Standards, the NCEA is helping Catholic schools across the nation prepare for CCSS implementation.”
However, on their website they have the following:
“The NCEA website characterizes the standards as a “call for excellence in academic programs,” adding that “one way” many schools are “ensuring excellence, appropriate challenge, and relevance in their curriculum is by utilizing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).”
What is it then? Officially they don’t endorse it, but unofficially they promote it to schools. As a parent, I’m concerned that the NCEA would encourage schools to adopt Common Core when they don’t endorse it and I would like to know specifically why they don’t endorse it. The education of our children is too important to be directed by standards that our Catholic educational leaders can’t endorse. Something is wrong with this picture.
They are treating it like yet another government program (irony) that just needs a little more power, a little more money, and it will work.
Progressives….
Had a job interview for math teacher at a K-8 Catholic school. In the interview, the principal asked me if I had had any Common Core training. She emphasized that Common Core required them to do “real world” problems and have students work in “teams”. Common Core does not dictate such pedagogical details. School districts and prof development vendors are supplying such interpretation. But I kept my mouth shut. Didn’t get hired anyway.
I think it is the mathematical practices being incorporated into the CC content to produce this pedagogy.
The math practices do not require any particular kind of pedagogy. They are being interpreted that way. The practices can be interpreted so they do NOT produce the pedagogy being encouraged by PD vendors, and school districts. See:
http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/standards-for-mathematical-practice-the-cheshire-cats-grin/
http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/standards-for-mathematical-practice-cheshire-cats-grin-part-two/
http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/standards-for-mathematical-practice-cheshire-cats-grin-part-three/
pghcatholicsagainstcommoncore.com is asking the same question:
If NCEA does not endorse Common Core Standards then why are they promoting it in our schools? Exactly what do they not endorse?
Everyone should e-mail the NCEA with these questions at
NCEAdmin@NCEA.org
Or ask them in person at the NCEA Common Core Conference in Nashville Tennessee from June 30-July 2 at the Doubletree by Hilton Nashville Hotel 315 4th Ave North, Nashville TN 37219-1693. 615-244-8200
Sr. Dale McDonald the Director of Public Policy and Educational Research for the NCEA, outlines the NCEA position in an EDUtalk Radio interview that you can listen to here: http://www.catholicschoolstandards.org/78-tools-a-resources/120-perception-surveys
At about 16 min. and 58 seconds she answers a question about how the NCEA is going to help get the Common Core rolling. In her answer she outlines the “why” for participation – which is basically ‘the go along to get along’ public policy position. She says:
“as we began to study it (Common Core) more, we realized that this is really something that will impact Catholic schools whether they choose to be impacted or not and it’s better to be pro-active rather than reactive. And what I mean by that is that down the road, very shortly down the road, the textbooks, the media resources, even the testing will be all geared toward the Common Core Standards outcomes”
So that it would be important for our schools to be part of that, so that they are able to take the same kinds of experiences or have the same experiences that other students and other schools do and eventually they take the same SAT tests or the ACTs whatever so that they have to be prepared for that.”
Make no mistake, this is not about academic excellence or rigor. It is about everyone being the same – everyone being on the same page. Forget the advice that Pope Francis gave our young people: ‘Swim against the tide. It is good for the heart’.
Sister dale Mcdonald is speaking very vaguely and purposefully skirting any finite reality. However her delivery and lack of content reveal reasoning that is unprofessional, AntiCatholic and deceptive, meant to obscure the truth. Leading those paying attention to not only be repelled by cccii and ccss but to be highly suspicious of the NCEA and their motives and methods.
Here is a real world problem:
chronic lying by Catholic leaders.
Here is another real world problem:
How to get unaccountable partnerships to get out of or lives.
Lets apply the ccss to these real world problems for starters, critically think about the liers and deeply engage with some of their doublspeak text.
Oh also it is funny how sister Dale is just la de da well we just have to go along,… when the truth is that she and her cohorts such as lorraine Ozar have made outcome based education and global new age UN political agendas their Lifes Work! Really, Academy Award material here… Well maybe rotten tomato…
What a tangled web…