New Indiana standards will be voted on without an analysis of final draft
The Associated Press reported that Indiana will not do an analysis on the final draft of standards released April 15th before being voted on by the Indiana Education Roundtable on April 21st:
The governor’s special assistant for education innovation and reform, Claire Fiddian-Green, said the more than 6,000 hours spent revising the standards and including expert advice mean the latest version is a “substantially different document” compared with what one expert called “half-baked” standards that were included in the last draft.
Fiddian-Green said no analysis is planned to compare this version with the previous draft and with Common Core. [emphasis mine]
The last draft, which was never publicly released, was submitted to national experts for review on March 15th. Their reports, released two days ago, were very negative and reflected a vast amount of revisions were needed. According to Fiddian-Green, the final draft recently released is a “substantially different document” than the draft reviewed by the experts. If that’s the case, some analysis should be completed to ensure that the parameters for the standards have been met. As it stands, there has been no expert analysis or public commenting by parents and teachers on this new final draft that is substantially different from the one publicly released.
Why not vet the final standards that will effect the education of every student in our state as our state has always done? Are the non-educators on the Indiana Educational Roundtable suppose to make an informed decision on the final draft without any input from experts in the area of mathematics and English within less than a week over Easter weekend? If I were them, I would vote NO due to a lack of pertinent information being withheld by CECI and the Indiana Department of Education.
What Pence promised to be a transparent and thorough process, has resulted in a total SHAM!
I emailed Governor Pence about allowing the new standards be reviewed prior to being adopted, and this was the response I got:
STATE OF INDIANA Michael R. Pence
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR Governor
State House, Second Floor
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Dear Mrs. Gentry:
Thank you for contacting Governor Pence regarding your thoughts on the development of Indiana’s academic standards.
The review of Indiana’s standards was initiated last year by the General Assembly when they tasked the State Board of Education with a comprehensive evaluation of the state’s standards for math and English/language arts, which are the Common Core State Standards. New legislation this year also called for the existing standards to be replaced by July 1, 2014.
The evaluation process was directed to include information from the Department of Education, the Legislative Council, and a financial review by the Office of Management and Budget.
In contrast to 2010, when Common Core was adopted, the State Board of Education and Department of Education have received more than 2000 comments on the proposed drafts for the new standards, either online or during three statewide public hearings.
The new draft standards were developed by Hoosier teachers, who were recommended by their school corporations from across the state, and who bring a wealth of classroom experience to the evaluation process. These educators, as well as experts from Indiana’s institutions of higher learning, have reviewed multiple sets of existing standards through a blind selection process (not identifying the origins) and provided recommendations on the educational skills Hoosier students must master at each grade level.
The release of the final draft on April 15, 2014, represents more than 6000 hours of work by Hoosier educators in selecting the educational goals they believe will offer our Hoosier students an effective and excellent education. These efforts by Hoosiers demonstrate my belief that educational decisions are best made at the state and local levels. The state standards which set the educational goals and expectations for Hoosier students do NOT dictate local curricula or textbooks to school corporations. Local school boards and teachers rely on their expertise and knowledge of community to determine which tools, worksheets, and texts will be utilized in individual classrooms.
The Education Roundtable will consider the standards on April 21 and provide a recommendation on their approval to the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education will vote on adopting the standards on April 28. Public testimony will be accepted at the State Board of Education meeting, and emails for all SBOE members are listed at http://www.in.gov/sboe/2396.htm should you wish to communicate with them directly.
Thank you for interest in Indiana’s educational standards. Again, thank you for contacting Governor Pence and for being an engaged citizen.
Sincerely,
Kristen Kane
Constituent Services Representative
Office of the Governor
I just spoke with a man who was fielding calls for Governor Pence. I explained that education policy was a primary issue for me and the reason I voted for Governor Pence. I said that I knew Mike Pence had the courage to vote against the “No Child Left Behind” when he served in congress. I detailed all of my concerns and objections regarding the Common Core Standards and I asked about the lack of review and the impending vote on the Indiana standards. I mentioned that we, as citizens, lack representation and special interests rule. I pointed out that Indiana is the national news and Governor Pence is considered a bold leader for his stand against the Common Core Standard initiatives. I asked how will it affect the Governor’s political aspirations if Indiana succumbs to the clever ruse of Common Core Standards under a different title, as former Governor Huckabee recommends? I received a polite response and was told that the meetings continue to be held. He assured me that he would forward my message to Governor Pence.
Thank you Erin and Heather for all of your efforts on behalf of Indiana children.
Vickie Doherty
We have battled as so many common core opponents across the country, only to experience the same obfuscation, deception and renaming of the standards. Let’s face it. Our opponents have too much to gain (billions of dollars and control over the next generation) to give in easily. They will come at us again and again and we must block them again and again. The answer is really at the Federal level with the eradication of the US Department of Education. Since its inception, costs have risen dramatically and results have declined. Over $200 billion is spent per year on over 230 programs and graduation rates have declined about 10% and SAT scores suffered as well.
We must also recognize that it is not just the children of America, but a World wide effort under Agenda 21: http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/17930-common-core-and-un-agenda-21-mass-producing-green-global-serfs
The goal is to create global citizens who blend with group think on sustainability, smashing out individualism, exceptionalism, nationalism, religion and other “troublesome” traits globalists dislike.
Make no mistake, this is an existential battle for freedom and the future of our children. We must fight until the very roots of this evil are destroyed!