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Whether you watch the news or are on social media, you’ve probably at least
heard about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). More than likely
what you’ve heard is negative, too. A lot of the news stories, status updates or
viral videos are sensational, opinion-based and simply not accurate. So, what
are the CCSS and why are some states, political pundits and parents running
scared?
2012 2009
The CCSS are benchmarked standards that define what students should
know and be able to do in Math and English Language Arts at every grade
level in order to prepare for life after high school whether it is a career or
college. Benchmarked standards are no different than what educators call
Grade Level Expectations (GLE). The CCSS are a higher set of expectations
for our students than in years past.
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A global education survey released in December 2013 portrayed dismal results
for American education ranking 36th in reading, science and math. More than
a half million 15-year-olds from 65 countries participated in the 2012 Program
for International Student Assessment. The US was average in reading, average in
science and below average in math. The US failed to make the Top 20 in any of
the tested subjects. Several countries that once lagged behind the US in 2009 have
now surpassed American students in science and math.
In Missouri,
schools align
with the Missouri
Learning Standards,
which include CCSS.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls
America's performance education stagnation.
"The brutal truth...that urgent reality...must
serve as a wakeup call against educational
complacency and low expectations," Duncan
said. "The problem is not that our 15-yearolds are performing worse today than
before...the problem, instead, is that they are
simply not making progress. Yet, students in
many other nations...are advancing, instead
of standing still."
More than three quarters (77%) of math
and