He inherited the Common Core from
his 2014 election victory and despite his best efforts to stop the effects of
Common Core, Georgia's State School Superintendent, Richard Woods, must
convince the State Board and Governor Brian Kemp to get rid of the
developmentally inappropriate standards. Woods ran as the anti-Common
Core candidate and has made noble efforts to stop Common Core's influence in
Georgia. However, the truth remains. Georgia still has Common Core in Reading
and Math, and it's not working.
The new 2019 NAEP scores,
known as the nation's report card, is out and the progress for our nation's
education system continues to stagnate.
What is NAEP? According to the
Georgia Department of Education press release (10/30/2019):
NAEP, or the “Nation’s Report Card,” is a nationally
representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and
can do in various subject areas. The test is administered every two years to a
sample of fourth and eighth graders from a sample of schools across each state.
Even after the adoption of the famed
Common Core State Standards initiative, which promised greater achievement and
the claims of being internationally benchmarked with other countries, the
Common Core has proven to be the biggest education disaster since No Child Left
Behind.
The nation and the state of Georgia
must turn course now. Most of the states that adopted Common Core has proven
they have not been able to meet the predictions of these so-called
"internationally benchmark" standards.
The evidence continues to mount that
the Common Core is not working, and now the 2019 NAEP results continue to add
to the talking points backed up by ten years of data.
·
Nationally,
ACT scores in math achievement are at a 20-year low. Georgia had a slight improvement in 2017, but the gains are far from significant, but rather
anemic.
·
SAT
scores dropped until they changed the test to align to the Core – anything to
change the goal post and create a perception it is working. After the change to
the Core, national scores increased only by0.7 percent.
·
On
the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (2017), comparing
58-countries, U.S. fourth-graders dropped almost 10points on the reading test.
·
U.S.
dropped from fifth to 13th on the Progress in International Reading (2017)
– the study said the U.S. made no statistically significant improvement.
·
Program
for International Student Assessment, or PISA, results in science and math
show “stagnant” for 15
year-olds.
·
NAEP
scores, “the Nation’s Report Card,” shows similar trends in the data
nationwide, and Georgia’s rate of change is also not significant in the NAEP, anddropped in reading for fourth graders in 2017.
·
AP
course taking in AB and BC calculus has been rising steadily over the years,
yet the number of students who scored a passing grade this year – 3 and above –
has plateaued in BC calculus and declined in AB calculus for many demographic
groups.
This map shows which states adopted
the implementation of Common Core, and the parallelisms of the 2019
NAEP results cannot be more clear. Get rid of Common Core and its
assessments.
(Picture - Education Week)
2019 Math:
Below is a screenshot image of the
overall performance of the NAEP nationwide for 4th-grade math for 2017 to 2019.
The data shows that over 40 states, most who adopted Common Core, have no
change or a decrease in achievement results.
- In
2019, average mathematics scores for the nation were 1 point higher at
grade 4 and 1 point lower at grade 8 than in 2017.
- Georgia
continues not to be proficient in 4th-grade math on the nation's
report card.
- Georgia
improved overall by 1 point in 4th-grade math, and that is not
significant.
The eighth grade math results are lower for Georgia.
- Nationally, eight graders decreased by one 1 point while Georgia decreased in performance by 2 points.
Reading:
Nationally, 4th grade students dropped 2 points while 8th grade students dropped 3 points. For Georgia, 4th grade students continues to score below proficient.
- Most states that adopted Common Core, had no change or dropped significantly in reading for 4th and 8th graders.
(8th Grade 2019 - Georgia)
Eighth grade:
- Nationally, the 8th grades look significantly lower and that can also be said for Georgia's eighth graders.
- The nation had a 3 point drop in reading while Georgia had a 4 point drop, that is significant.
The Achievement Gap in
Georgia:
The covenanted
achievement gap widens, although the efforts from the National Governor's
Associations claim that the achievements would close significantly. If
anything, they are getting wider and wider. Common Core is not developmentally
appropriate for all children.
How many times do
legislators and state Department of Education officials have to be told that
Common Core is causing more problems than it is helping?
Score Gaps for Student
Groups
- In 2019, Black students had an average score that
was 27 points lower than that for White students. This performance gap was
not significantly different from that in 1998 (30 points).
- In 2019, Hispanic students had an average score that
was 23 points lower than that for White students. Data are not reported
for Hispanic students in 1998, because reporting standards were not met.
- In 2019, female students in Georgia had an
average score that was higher than that for male students by 8 points.
- In 2019, students who were eligible for the
National School Lunch Program (NSLP), had an average score that was 33
points lower than that for students who were not eligible. This
performance gap was not significantly different from that in 1998 (32
points).
The Common Core has run
its course in Georgia and in the nation. It's clear; Common Core must go. I would
like to say to the education establishment and the policymakers to control their
enthusiasm for these "innovative" testing pilots and their Responses
to Interventions programs. If we cannot get the content standards right with
effective teachers in place that KNOW their content, how are we ever going to
implement such "innovations"?
It's time to stop
telling us to be patient. We have been for ten
years now. It's time to stop feeding us the line that this would cause teachers
to quit if we change the standards again. We already have a teacher retention
issue, and its not solely due to the standards. Districts cannot adapt to these
standards and no amount of money will help. Let's get rid of these standards
now. Almost two generations of students have been impacted by these standards
and the achievement disparities continue for our minority students.
The "needle" is not moving in the right direction. This is the 9th inning of the game. It's over.
Currently, there is an effort to change the standards. The Georgia Department of Education and Governor Brian Kemp's office have put a timeline to review and rewrite the standards. I hope after reviewing the 2019 NAEP scores that there will be significant efforts not to just rewrite the standards but to completely wipe them out.
Author:
Jeremy Spencer, Ed.S. - former teacher, educator, and state department official.